Mariko Morita, an assistant adjunct professor at the University of Northern Iowa, will be the featured artist at the first Wartburg College Bach’s Lunch organ recital series of the 2025-26 season.
A free lecture will begin at noon Friday, Sept. 13 in the Wartburg Chapel Commons, followed by a recital at 12:30 p.m. in the Wartburg Chapel sanctuary.
Morita’s selections will include pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Liszt. She also will perform an arrangement of “Samba of Orfeu” from the film “Black Orpheus.”
A native of Japan, Morita began electric organ studies at the age of 4 and grew up performing on the stage. At Nanzan Junior College, she began pipe organ studies and decided to pursue more formal pipe organ studies in the U.S. After earning degrees in organ performance from Seton Hill and Emory universities, she was honored to be the first Japanese to receive a Doctor of Music degree in organ performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
She also serves as the organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo.
Participants are invited to bring a lunch to eat at the lecture.
