Born in
Cleveland, Ohio, on September 14, 1926, he was a musical prodigy who studied piano and organ, first with his father Frederick Ellsasser, a musician in the Cleveland Orchestra, and later with
Winslow Cheney and
Albert Riemenschneider. Ellsasser also studied with
Joseph Bonnet. At the age of seven, he toured the eastern United States as an organist with various symphony orchestras. He made his New York organ debut in 1937. He graduated high school with high honors at the age of 14. He attended
Oberlin College briefly and later
Baldwin-Wallace College (from which he obtained his Bachelor of Music degree), and graduated at age 17. At the age of 19, he became the youngest person in history to have played, from memory, all 200+ organ works of
Johann Sebastian Bach, He went on to complete the tour, having performed for over 40,000 people. Ellsasser later went on to study at the School of Theology at
Boston University, and the School of Religion at the
University of Southern California (where he earned a Master's Degree in Theology). Ellsasser also earned a Doctorate from Boston University. For many years, Ellsasser was Minister of Music at Wilshire United Methodist Church in
Los Angeles, California, where he later created and directed a series of music festivals. In later years, he became Minister of Recitals at the
First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. NBC featured the young organist on the air with the production of "The Ellsasser Show." He had perfect pitch, and was also gifted in the art of improvisation and often included an improvisation as part of his concerts. This was typically in the form of a submitted theme in a sealed envelope. Additionally, he was founder and, for several seasons, director of the Bach Circle of Boston. A prolific recording artist, Ellsasser made numerous "private label" recordings during the 1950s for
MGM Records, primarily at the
Hammond Castle Museum in
Gloucester, Massachusetts. He also recorded several albums for
Kapp Records. During the 1960s, Ellsasser became a faculty member at the
National Music Camp in
Interlochen, Michigan. In 1967, Ellsasser recorded two albums for
Nonesuch Records at the Hammond Castle Museum. Shortly after completing these recordings, he suffered a stroke, which forced him into retirement. He came out of retirement in January 1972 when he accepted a position as Minister of Music at the United Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts (Boston); this was his last church position. He continued to conduct workshops, accompany musicals and perform in a few concerts during the last year of his life. He died on August 9, 1972, in New York City, some six weeks prior to what would have been his 46th birthday. Ellsasser "freely arranged for the modern organ" a lively
Rondo in G that he attributed to
John Bull centuries earlier. The
Rondo is "not known to have existed at all" before Ellsasser published his arrangement in 1951, and he is generally presumed to have been the composer. == References ==