Clay Christiansen

Clay Christiansen is an American organist who previously played for the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir He accompanied the Choir in Salt Lake City and when it was on tour Christiansen gave organ recitals in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the Conference Center Christiansen had a fascination with music from an early age He was born in the small city of Emery Utah in 1949 He would play on the piano for hours on end When neighbor children would come to play he would rather stay in and practice the piano He played his first piano solo We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet in church at the age of six He played by ear until the age of eight when he took his first piano lessons He was the accompanist for his church Sunday School and Priesthood services and a substitute ward organist at the age of eleven Christiansen has a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University and masters and PhD in Music Composition from the University of Utah 1988 From 1972 to 1982 Christiansen was the organist for St Marks Episcopal Cathedral in Salt Lake City Christiansen was also organist at Congregation Kol Ami a Jewish synagogue in Salt Lake City From 1982 to 2018 he had been one of the Tabernacle Organists Christiansen and his wife Diane are the parents of 13 children Christiansen is also a composer He wrote the music to the hymn In Fasting We Approach Thee He has written a broad variety of choral piano and organ compositions and transcriptions His works appear in the catalogs of MorningStar Music Publishers Shawnee Press Jackman Music Press and SDG Press