Sarah Simko to First Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky
Sarah Simko is appointed organist for First Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky. She joins Paul Robinson, director of music and arts ministries. The sanctuary organ was built by the W. W. Kimball Co. and rebuilt by Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, appearing as the cover feature of the February 2008 issue of this magazine.
Simko has served many Presbyterian and Episcopal churches over her career as an organist in Michigan, upstate New York, and Ohio. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in organ performance from the University of Michigan. She has presented recitals at Trinity Church, New York City; St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor; Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, Detroit; Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit; Methuen Memorial Music Hall, Methuen, Massachusetts; and St. Paul’s Cathedral (Anglican), London, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and serves on the editorial board of the organization’s journal. She is a long-time member of the American Guild of Organists, serving multiple chapters as secretary. She appears regularly with Beyond Choir and Heri et Hodie chamber choir.
Simko is a recipient of a Presser Foundation Graduate Award for the purpose of creating a comprehensive set of recordings of organ music by living American female composers. She has given lectures (in person and virtual) and lecture-recitals on her work for the Women Organists and Organ Builders of North America; Historical Keyboard Society of North America; University of Michigan organ conferences; Grace Episcopal Church, Providence, Rhode Island; and the Pittsburgh and Detroit chapters of the American Guild of Organists.
In addition to her work in Lexington, Simko serves as the liturgical coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, maintains an active teaching studio, and performs regularly as both a collaborative and solo organist. Her scholarly work focuses on living women composers. She is a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2017.
For information: sarahsimko.com and fpclex.org.
Other recent appointments:
Matthew Noonan to Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter, Belmont, North Carolina
Elisabeth Urtel to Center for Church Music, Concordia University Chicago
