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Michael Koenig, M.A., FRCO - Betts Scholar in Organ Studies

Michael Koenig became the Betts Scholar in Organ Studies at Oxford University in 2024, succeeding Dr Katie Pardee after her highly successful tenure of twenty-three years. As a graduate scholar at St Catherine's College, Michael is currently pursuing a DPhil in Music and Global History, supervised by Prof. Laura Tunbridge and Prof. Andrew Thompson. Michael also serves as the Graduate Organist at Exeter College; in this role, he is the principal chapel organist there, co-directs the choir and facilitates the weekly organ recital series.

Before coming to Oxford, Michael earned MA degrees in organ performance and music education from Vienna University of Music (as a student of the late Michael Radulescu), an MA in African Studies from Copenhagen University and an MA in World History and Cultures from King’s College, London. He is also a prize-winning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Musicians' Company. 

Between 2008 and 2017, Michael completed over two dozen extended trips to Kenya and Nigeria as a visiting organ teacher and recitalist. In 2015, he also acted as the official organist at a Eucharistic service presided over by Pope Francis in Nairobi. Furthermore, Michael worked as a recording producer for the Austrian National Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and was the creator, producer and director of The Organ Show, a magazine show dedicated to organ music that was webcast by the Royal College of Organists during the COVID-19 pandemic.