Russell Woollen

Charles Russell Woollen (January 7, 1923, Hartford, Connecticut – March 16, 1994) was an American keyboard artist and composer. With composers Robert Evett (1922–1975), and Robert Parris (1924–1999), he was a key figure in what might be considered a “Washington School” of composers, as termed by Irving Lowens, that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. His many compositions, both vocal and instrumental, have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. Music career Woollen began his musical training with piano lessons at the age of six. Many of his relatives were active in the church choir, and within a few years he was accompanying them in family sing-alongs. This early connection with the Catholic Church and choral music made his high school choice of the Pius X, a minor seminary in New York City, a natural one. “There he signaled his intention to study for the priesthood with a focus on liturgical music.” During this period, he spent a summer working with Father Franz Wasner at a music camp in New Hampshire and studied organ with Ernest White at the Anglican Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York. Later, Woollen moved to Washington to complete his studies for the prie