Churches to Carnegie Hall: Organist comes to GV

"My family was always late for church growing up, so we would sneak in the door behind the organist and the pianist. That's where I started to get acquainted with music," he said.

Hey has toured domestically and internationally as a concert organist, playing services and shows at churches including Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and performing on concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in China. 

He will perform Feb. 5, at Lutheran Church of the Risen Savior in Green Valley at 3 p.m.

The grind

Hey's musical journey began like most musicians: a passion for a genre and an inspiration from which to build.

"In fourth grade, we had a project in music class to research a composer, and I was assigned Frédéric Chopin. He wrote a lot of piano music. So what I did was I listened to his 'Minute Waltz' over and over and over again on a digital piano until I could play it by ear, and that's how I started playing," Hey said.

It was around that time that the Milwaukee native decided what he wanted to do with his life. Then came the hard work.

"It was a lot of practice and a lot of preparation that I did in high school," Hey said. "What's the saying? It's like, 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You practice, practice, practice.'"

After high school, he attended Juilliard, where he received his bachelor's and master's of music degrees in organ performance.

The payoff

Hey stayed in New York City after graduation and worked as an organist with Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. But he had his eye on the famed St. Patrick's Cathedral, just four blocks up the road.

"The job opened up. I applied, auditioned and I went through rounds of interviews, and I was just so fortunate it worked out for me," he said.

Michael was appointed associate director of music and organist with the cathedral in 2015, where he soon would perform for the first U.S. visit of Pope Francis.

"I was the organist when we had Vespers, that's a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral," Hey said.

He played during a mass at Madison Square Garden with the pope the next day. 

"I felt relaxed since I was part of a bigger production in such a notable event. It was just really cool to be part of such a historic moment. In fact, I think it was one of the most disruptive events that has taken place in New York City in my entire time there," he said, referring to traffic tie-ups. 

Getting around

Hey says his performances in Asia top the list, though.

"Just because it was so exotic, my trips to Singapore and Shanghai were probably two of my favorite places, just because it's so different than the United States," he said.

He has even played at the tallest cathedral in the world — the Ulm Minster (Ulmer Münster in German). He played piano at a concert in a German castle the night before.

"There's just so many different concert halls and castles and cathedrals and churches to remember what a favorite is," Hey said. "I think so many of them have unique histories and unique experiences."

Hey enjoys playing in churches and cathedrals, but he loves how the organ sounds and the reactions it gets in live concert performances.

"Seeing as organs tend to be found in churches, oftentimes, it's nice to break the mold and play in concert halls for a change, just so that people know this is actually a concert instrument, too," he said.

When Hey performs at in Green Valley, he will showcase the organ's vast array of capabilities beyond its label as a church instrument.

"People can expect to hear music that they've probably never heard before and to see that the organ is the most complex musical instrument," he said. "Just seeing the capabilities of such a complex machine to make such beautiful music is what people can expect to see at this concert. You don't have to be religious at all to attend or enjoy the music that the organ has to offer."