Biography

Yarno Missiaen (Veurne, 10 March 2005) is a Belgian organist who is regarded as one of the most remarkable young talents in the contemporary organ world of the Benelux. Despite his young age, he has already gained recognition for his interpretations of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, his stylistically mature playing, and his broad interest in both historical and contemporary organ music.  

At the age of seven, he received his first piano lessons at the music academy of Veurne with Veerle Elst, with whom he studied for eight years. It was only at the age of fifteen that he discovered the organ, an instrument that quickly became his artistic focus. He received his first organ lessons at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven with Bart Jacobs. Missiaen is currently studying organ at the Ghent Conservatory with Ignace Michiels.

In 2023, Missiaen completed his first major recording project: a complete recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599–644), released by the Belgian label Etcetera Records in 2024. The recording was made on the Potvlieghe/Contius organ of Saint Catherine’s Church in Wondelgem near Ghent. Critics particularly praised the remarkable maturity of his interpretations, his sense of structure and phrasing, and his technical mastery. The French music magazine Crescendo Magazine referred to him as “an early mature talent” and emphasized the exceptional seriousness with which the young organist approached this monumental Bach project.

The recording marked an important turning point in his career and led to a rapidly expanding concert activity in Belgium and abroad, both as a soloist and in collaboration with various choirs and orchestras. He has performed in cities including Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven, Dendermonde, Hasselt, and Knokke, as well as in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Breda, and Amsterdam. He has also performed in England and Germany, with concerts in London, Truro, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig, and Munich.

In 2025, he was invited to participate in a large-scale project dedicated to the complete organ works of J.S. Bach, organised by Hugo van Geet and Bart Naessens. Within this ambitious initiative, six organists perform complete cycles of Bach’s organ repertoire. Together with Bart Naessens, Missiaen also released a new CD in 2026 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of organ builder Marc Nagels.

Missiaen has worked with various contemporary composers and has performed works by, among others, Kristiaan Van Ingelgem, Leander Schoormans, Jo Sporck, and Christopher Marshall.