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Name & billing
Full
Adán Alejándro Fernández
Short
Adán Fernández
Billing
Dr. Adán Alejándro Fernández, organist
Roles
Organist · Harpsichordist · Conductor
Say it
ah-DAHN ah-leh-HAHN-droh fer-NAHN-dess
Biography, one line

Organist, harpsichordist, and conductor, working where the pipe organ, the Catholic liturgy, and the sacred music of Latin America meet.

Biography, short

Dr. Adán Alejándro Fernández is Director of Music and Liturgy and Organist at Holy Family Catholic Church in Glendale, California, and University Organist at California Lutheran University. He plays harpsichord with the early music consort Hortus Musicus, teaches music theory at the Colburn School, and founded and led the Glendale Youth Symphony for seven years. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in sacred music from the University of Southern California.

Biography, full

Dr. Adán Alejándro Fernández is an organist, harpsichordist, and conductor, and a composer and writer besides. A dedicated liturgical musician, he serves as Director of Music and Liturgy and Organist at Holy Family Catholic Church in Glendale, California, where he has built a full music program of adult, youth, and children's choirs, a handbell ensemble, and a chamber ensemble.

He is University Organist and a member of the piano faculty at California Lutheran University, where he mentors a studio of young organists and directs a recital series that brings international artists to the Borg Peterson Memorial Organ, including the monthly Afternoon Bach Recital Series. He also teaches music theory at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and performs as harpsichordist with Hortus Musicus, an early music consort.

He has played organ and harpsichord with the New West Symphony, the Westlake Village Orchestra, and the Symphony of the Verdugos, and founded the Glendale Youth Symphony, a nonprofit supported by the Colburn Foundation, which he led from 2019 to 2026. He also directs the High Holy Days choir at Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills. His choral music is published by MusicSpoke and GIA Publications, with a focus on Latin American and indigenous composers, and he has lectured on Latin American sacred music in Colombia, London, and Canada and for the Hymn Society. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in sacred music from the University of Southern California, a Master of Arts in organ performance from Claremont Graduate University, and a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Azusa Pacific University.

He began as a pianist, took up the organ with Neil Stipp and then Carey Robertson, and won second prize as organist at the International Liszt Organ Competition and the Rudolph Polk Memorial Scholarship. He has appeared on Hour of Power and on Glee, and performs in Paul Bockhorst's documentary Design for Modern Living: Millard Sheets and the Claremont Art Community.

At a glance
Based
Glendale, California
Positions
Director of Music and Liturgy and Organist, Holy Family Catholic Church, Glendale; University Organist and Interim Director of Choral Activities, California Lutheran University; Music Theory Faculty, The Colburn School; Choir Director for the High Holy Days, Kol Tikvah
Degrees
DMA in Sacred Music, University of Southern California; MA in Organ Performance, Claremont Graduate University; BM in Piano Performance, Azusa Pacific University
Certifications
Colleague (CAGO) and Choirmaster (ChM), American Guild of Organists
Member of
American Guild of Organists, American Choral Directors Association, American Musicological Society, American Early Music Society, North American Academy of Liturgy, Organization of American Kodály Educators, American Academy of Religion, Music Teachers' Association of California
Management
Seven Eight Artists, Michael Ging, michael@seveneightartists.com
Languages
English and Spanish
Programs

Six programs he has given and can bring. Every program is tailored to the instrument and the occasion; these are starting points.

Preludes and Fugues

Bach, Brahms, Buxtehude, and Boulay. An evening built on the form the organ does best.

Bach and Franck

The two poles of the organ repertoire on one program, from the Leipzig chorales to the Chorale in B minor.

Music from Ages Past

Baroque and before, on organ or harpsichord, as given for the Madrigali Singers in Ojai.

The Sacred Music of Spain and Latin America

Padilla, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, and Colón, with the Spanish baroque at the harpsichord. Available as a recital, a lecture-recital, or a choral program with the presenter's choir.

Latin American Styles at the Organ

A lecture-recital on improvising for worship in the styles of Latin America, developed for GIA's Summer Music Institute.

Requiems

Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, Palestrina, or Trotta's Seven Last Words, prepared with the presenter's choir over a residency.

Masterclass & lecture topics
  • Pipe Organ for Pianists
  • Improvisation at the Organ in Latin American Styles
  • Creating a Children's Choir Ministry
  • Retrieving Identity: The Music of South and Central American Masses after Vatican II
  • Kodály for Spanish-Speaking Choirs
  • Transformational Leadership in Church Music Programs
  • Sacred Counterpoint: Emotion and Reason in the Sixteenth-Century Motet
  • Music and the Prosperity Gospel
Has performed at and with

Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, Occidental College, and the Colburn School, with the Colburn Orchestra, the New West Symphony, the Westlake Village Orchestra, the Symphony of the Verdugos, Street Symphony, the Los Angeles Camerata, Kontrapunktus, and Hortus Musicus.

Media
  • Featured performer, Design for Modern Living: Millard Sheets and the Claremont Art Community, a documentary by Paul Bockhorst
  • Appearances on Hour of Power and on Glee
  • Podcast interview, El Director Musical Como Estratega Pastoral, GIA, 2026
  • An early music album of the Padilla villancicos and Bach chorales with Acis Productions is in progress
Press
  • Meet Dr. Adán Fernández, Executive Director and Artistic Director of the Glendale Youth SymphonyShout Out LA, 2025
Honors & fellowships
  • Conducting Fellow, Kansas City Chorale, with Charles Bruffy 2026
  • Fellow, Yale Sacred Music Academy 2025
  • Panelist, Los Angeles Commission of Arts 2025
  • Conducting Fellow, Anderson Conducting Academy 2024
  • UCLA grant to record the works of Carlos Colón 2024
  • Grants from the California Choral Directors Association and the American Bach Society 2024
  • Artistic Fellow, Bach Collegium San Diego 2023
  • Conducting Fellow, International Conductors Guild, UCLA 2023
  • Grants from the Colburn Foundation and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2023
  • UCLA community grant to record unpublished villancicos 2022
  • Holy Family choirs named National Finalist, the American Prize 2021
  • Fellow, Los Angeles Conducting Institute; Choral Conducting Institute, University of Illinois 2019
  • Fellow, Oregon Bach Festival Organ Institute, with Paul Jacobs 2018
  • Second Prize, International Liszt Organ Competition; Rudolph Polk Memorial Scholarship 2014
Service
  • Dean, American Guild of Organists, Ventura Chapter, 2021 to 2023
  • Editorial board, GIA Spanish hymnal, 2023
  • Editorial board, CrossAccent Journal, 2020 to 2023
  • Executive board, Border CrosSing, 2023 to 2026
  • Director of Organ and Chant, San Pedro Region advisory board, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2018 to 2021
Technical & hospitality

Organ recitals are played on the presenter's instrument; he asks for practice time on the instrument the day before and the day of the concert, and a registrant if the console requires one. Harpsichord programs need a tuned instrument at A=415 or A=440 as agreed in advance. For choral residencies he sends scores and rehearsal plans six weeks ahead. Travel and hospitality are arranged through Seven Eight Artists.

Photographs

Photographs courtesy of Seven Eight Artists. Please carry the credit wherever they appear.

Portrait, dark jacket and purple shirtDownload · 2400 × 2805
Portrait, dark jacket and purple shirt
At the organ console, facing the cameraDownload · 3000 × 2000
At the organ console, facing the camera
At the organ console, playingDownload · 3000 × 2000
At the organ console, playing
The organ console from the loftDownload · 3000 × 2000
The organ console from the loft
Conducting at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the AngelsDownload · 1024 × 1024
Conducting at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Conducting in the churchDownload · 960 × 958
Conducting in the church
Conducting with orchestra in the churchDownload · 960 × 958
Conducting with orchestra in the church
Conducting, black and whiteDownload · 960 × 960
Conducting, black and white
At the organ console, black and white, smilingDownload · 1206 × 1500
At the organ console, black and white, smiling