Kola Owolabi has been named associate professor of organ at the University of Michigan, where he will teach studio organ, improvisation, church music, and organ literature.
From 2007 to 2014 he held a faculty appointment at Syracuse University as university organist and associate professor of music. He has served as sub dean and dean of the Syracuse chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He holds degrees in organ performance and choral conducting from McGill University, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music. His former teachers have included John Grew, Martin Jean, Thomas Murray, Hans Davidsson, and William Porter.
In 2002, Dr. Owolabi was awarded second prize and audience prize at the AGO National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. He has performed solo recitals across Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Jamaica, and was a featured performer at the AGO national convention in Boston in June 2014, playing two concerts at Methuen Memorial Music Hall. He also performs regularly as organist and harpsichordist with the professional vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire, based in Miami, Florida.
Dr. Owolabi will join Dr. James Kibbie, professor and chair of the department of organ, Dr. Joseph Gascho, assistant professor of harpsichord, and Kipp Cortez, instructor and coordinator of carillon.
