Thierry Mechler
was born in 1962. He started piano and organ lessons in his home town of Mulhouse, France and then went on to Strasbourg, France where he studied piano with Helene Boschi and organ with Daniel Roth at the Conservatoire National de Région.

In 1981, he won first prize with highest congratulations at the “Concours International de Paris.” In 1984, he went to Paris to study with Marie-Claire Alain, where he won, in succession, a gold medal and a first prize of excellence with congratulations from the jury. In 1986, he won a laureate in improvisation and a first prize for virtuosity with congratulations from the jury in the concert class from Marie-Claire Alain in Paris.

He also studied the art of improvisation with Jacques Taddei, and won the medal of honour at the composition competition in Mulhouse. In 1991 he was accepted in the S.A.C.E.M. (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) as composer; also in 1991, he received the Europäischen Förderpreis in Dresden, Germany as an award for his international career and his many recordings.

He is regular performer at numerous European Organ Festivals. As a renowned teacher and juror, he is invited every year to Germany, England, Finland, Ireland, USA, Korea, and France to give masterclasses in various academies. He has made many recordings as both organist and pianist.

Titular organist of the Cathedral Primatial Saint-Jean in Lyon, France from 1991 until 1999, curator and organist of the organ of the Auditorium Maurice Ravel in Lyon, an instrument previously built by Cavaillé-Coll for the Trocadéro Palace. In 1995, Thierry Mechler performed the complete organ works of J. S. Bach in a famous series of twelve recitals.

In 1998, he performed all Six Vierne Symphonies. Member of the Jury of international Competitions, in 1998 Thierry Mechler became Professor for Organ and Improvisation at the University (Musikhochschule) in Cologne, Germany. Since 2002, Thierry Mechler has been organist and a curator of the prestigious Philharmonie of Cologne.

Thierry Mechler’s career has taken him worldwide – both as organist and pianist. He has built a reputation as an exciting performer and improviser. Fêted also as a composer, his ” 6 Métamorphoses on B.A.C.H ” Opus 14 was performed at the Philharmonie of Cologne in January 2009. In 2012, he played all 48 Preludes ans Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier of J.S. Bach at the Bach Festival in Schauenberg. In 2016 he participated on the 30th anniversary of the Philharmonie in Cologne, with the world premiere audition of ” I-FORMATION ” for two orchestras and organ solo by Vito ZURAJ, with the Gürzenich orchestra, conducting by Francois-Xavier Roth and the Symphonic WDR orchestra conducting by Jukka-Pekka Saraste.