David Hegarty

David Howard Hegarty (born March 1, 1945, in Mount Clemens, Michigan) is an American organist and composer. He has served as organist at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco since 1978. Career Hegarty’s interest in music was inspired at an early age by his father, who was a trombonist. He began playing the accordion at age 7, but was soon introduced to the organ at the church where his mother did cleaning. In an interview Hegarty recounted that when his mother went to the church to clean in the evenings, “I wouldn’t miss it. I’d go there with her so I could play the organ.” Hegarty taught himself how to play the organ, and by the time he reached high school he had a job as a church organist. He continued his study of music and the organ in college, receiving a B.A. in music from Loma Linda University in 1968, and going on to earn a master’s degree in organ performance from Andrews University in 1970 where he studied organ with C. Warren Becker. He also published articles on organ performance technique. In 1993 he founded Hegarty Music Press to develop and publish instructional material for organ performance, and to publish his original compositions. He also published works by the le