Ben van Oosten

Despite his nationality, Dutch organist Ben van Oosten has become recognized as one of the world’s leading interpreters and authorities on music from the French Romantic organ school. He has especially been associated with the repertory of Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Alexandre Guilmant, and Marcel Dupré. Indeed, van Oosten has recorded the complete organ works of Widor, Vierne and Dupré. Van Oosten is also active as a teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory and as church organist at the Grote Kerk in the Hague. He is also the author of a biography of Widor (Vater der Orgelsymphonie) and has made numerous recordings, mostly for the German label MD&G.
Among the honors and awards Ben van Oosten has received are the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d’Or. Three times in the 1990’s he was cited by the Paris-based Société Académique Arts, Sciences, Lettres for his services to French organ culture. In 1998, the French government awarded him the honorary rank of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his efforts in reviving the French Romantic tradition, and in 2011 and Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2010 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion by the Queen of The Netherlands.