A world-renowned organist, Marie-Claire Alain has divided her passion between her activities as a concert performer and teacher. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on August 10, 1926, her conservatory teachers included Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé and Simone Plé-Caussade. First prize organist at the Geneva Competition in 1950, she succeeded her father Albert Alain as organist at Saint-Germain-en-Laye church in 1971, then taught at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Paris from 1994 to 2000. As a concert artist, she gives concerts around the world (some 2,500) and has recorded more than 280 discs, including three completeorgan works by Johann Sebastian Bach and numerous complete works from the Baroque repertoire (Buxtehude, Couperin, Pachelbel, C. P. E. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi). Open to all styles and periods of classical music, she is also renowned for her recordings of Mozart, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Messiaen, and of her brother Jehan Alain. Marie-Claire Alain was made Commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1998) and Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur (2012). The woman known abroad as "The Lady of the Organ" died on February 26, 2013, aged 86, after a career spanning six decades. Several compilations trace her career through recordings and the variety of her interpretations, including L'Orgue Français (2014), Une Vie pour l'Orgue (2023) and L'Encyclopédie de l'Orgue (46 CDs, 2026).
