Trailblazers: Women’s Impact on Organ, Carillon, Harpsichord, and Sacred Music

Brooks Grantier

Brooks Grantier, FAGO, is music director emeritus of the Battle Creek (Michigan) Boychoir, and was for thirty-eight years director of music at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, Michigan.

The 59th annual University of Michigan conference on organ music took place on the Ann Arbor campus September 29 through October 1, 2019, with important pre-conference events on the Friday and Saturday preceding. The theme for 2019 was “Building Bach: His Foundations and Futures.” In view of (and din of) construction equipment all over the campus, the theme seemed exceptionally apt.

Pre-conference event: Isabelle Demers

In an impressive memorized program, Isabelle Demers set a high bar in her recital at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Detroit on Friday, September 27. Alongside a few familiar works, Ms. Demers offered colorful, varied fare from Swedish composer Oskar Lindberg and Australian-American composer Jason Roberts. Transcriptions included movements from Handel’s Fireworks Music, and a bracing reading of the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, bringing out all of the composer’s intent—tempo, rhythm, texture, and formal shape. The recital was brought to a bravura conclusion with Thalben-Ball’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini.

The Eighth Annual Improvisation Competition

On Saturday, September 28, three finalists played the very fine three-manual, fifty-seven-rank Wilhelm organ at Ann Arbor’s First Congregational Church, site of a number of conference events. With no combination action nor the assistance of registrants, the three competitors were on their own in impressive displays of contrapuntal prowess and formal tautness. Competing were Christopher Ganza (first prize), David McCarthy (second prize) and Héctor Salcedo (third prize). All three players showed themselves at the top of today’s outstanding class of improvisers.

Sunday, September 29

Julia Brown (Mayflower Congregational Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan) opened the conference proper with a recital on the two-manual, thirty-five-rank Silbermann-styled Fisk organ in the Blanche Anderson Moore (BAM for short) Recital Hall at the School of Music on the University’s North Campus. Serving up a meat-and-potatoes menu of Buxtehude, Scheidemann, Müthel, W. F. and J. S. Bach, Ms. Brown’s playing was marked by a gracious flexibility in rhythm, sensitive to the organ’s flexible winding and the intimate acoustics of the BAM recital hall.

Returning to the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church, Kola Owolabi’s faculty recital considered “Bach’s Circle: Musical Influences and Missed Connections.” Playing with astute finesse and a seasoned musical intelligence, Dr. Owolabi gave us music of Weckmann, Frescobaldi, Kerll, Corea de Arauxo, Buxtehude (the superb Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein), and Bach (the “Dorian” Toccata and Fugue).

Monday, September 30

The morning opened at the BAM Fisk organ with a lecture-recital by Kevin Bylsma (Mariner’s Church, Detroit) and Randall Engle (North Hills Christian Reformed Church, Troy, Michigan) on “Bach, the Teacher.” Mr. Bylsma gave the context of several pieces in Bach’s Orgelbüchlein. After each brief essay, the audience rose to sing a stanza of the chorale, followed by Dr. Engle’s performance of the Orgelbüchlein setting.

A recital by U of M organ students followed. Joseph Mutone, Arthur Greenlee, Samuel Ronning, Michael Mishler, and Sarah Simko (a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2017) played works by Bach and by Grand Rapids composer Larry Visser. The students were candidates for various degrees in organ and church music, and in some cases also for degrees in computer science and engineering—a sign of the times for organists in our age. All were players of fine attainment, carefully prepared, and confident in performance.

Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra displayed her many-sided musical interests in a lecture-recital called “Bach’s Nest.” Just as a bird gathers material from many places to build the nest, so Dr. Ruiter-Feenstra has borrowed from many sources to put together improvisations modeled on the works of Bach. After playing various works of Bach to demonstrate her own Bach-inspired improvisations, she concluded with an improvised French suite on the American tune, “We shall overcome.”

Accompanied by a box lunch (a “Bach’s lunch”) outdoors, we were treated to the first of two carillon recitals, this one by U of M carillonneur Tiffany Ng, playing the sixty-bell instrument located near the School of Music. Always an adventuresome programmer, Dr. Ng chose newly composed works written with some reference to Bach. The euphoniously tuned Dutch carillon was in contrast to its English companion on the U-M central campus, which we heard later that day.

Returning to the School of Music, Michael Barone (of Pipedreams renown) gave us generous samplings of recorded works commissioned and/or played by the late Marilyn Mason. Founder of the U of M organ conference and the longest serving faculty member in the history of the university (sixty-seven years), Dr. Mason enriched the organ repertoire with some ninety commissioned works.

Then, using the BAM Fisk, George Stauffer and Renée Anne Louprette (Rutgers University) gave a tandem lecture recital entitled “Bach Under the Influence.” Dr. Stauffer identified several compositional strands that came together in Bach’s organ music and in later works that flowed from his inspiration. Ms. Louprette then played works by Bach and later composers that strongly correlated Dr. Stauffer’s insightful points. Both artists deserve much credit for this thoughtfully devised, elegantly presented program.

Moving to the U of M central campus, we heard a second carillon recital, by Roy Kroezen (carillonneur of the Centralia, Illinois, carillon), on the fifty-three-bell Baird Carillon, given to the university in 1936 by athletic director (!) Charles Baird. This carillon is much in the English style, with the unusual harmonics of the bells given clangorous free play. Mr. Kroezen’s program included music by Bach, Buxtehude, and Kirnberger. Thus we were treated to two very distinct styles of carillon, two highly varied approaches to repertoire, and a pair of most artistic players. Who could ask for anything more?

Our day finished in the legendary Hill Auditorium, whose organ is an amalgam of Farrand & Votey, Hutchings, Skinner, and Aeolian-Skinner. A mongrel? Of course, but in this case a friendly beast, very much at home in the spacious acoustics and parabolic interior of Hill Auditorium. Steven Egler (Central Michigan University) played a one-composer program entitled “Organ Music of Gerald Near: Futurist Building on the Foundations of Bach.” Dr. Egler’s selection proved a strong case for bringing the essence of Bach’s style into our time in music of contrapuntal ingenuity and polished sonority. In the music of Bach, a composer can find no finer mentor, and in the playing of Dr. Egler, a composer can commend no finer advocate.

Tuesday, October 1

We began the day with three discussion programs back-to-back. First, a group of researchers in such arcana as “mathematics and computational medicine and bioinformatics” gave a presentation on mapping brain activity during performance of Bach’s trio sonatas. While the research is in its infancy—stay tuned. When linked with findings in neuroscience, the work will provide fascinating insights into how the brain processes information on several planes simultaneously, as in the trio sonatas. Isabelle Demers returned us to the organ as an expression of musical communication, with observations of the continuing persistence of Marcel Dupré’s articulation of Bach’s G Minor Fugue, through recorded performances spanning several decades.

The final discussion, led by Dr. Tiffany Ng, was on “Women and Organ Improvisation.” Three women from the conference roster plus jazz studies professor Ellen H. Rowe related how they came to the practice of musical improvisation. The panel noted that nearly all improvisation prizes are awarded to male performers, speculated on reasons for this, and highlighted improvisation among women players.

Matthew Bengston of the U of M keyboard faculty and Mark Kroll (professor emeritus, Boston University)presented lectures on the suites of Bach and Dieupart, and on Bach and Couperin, both using the harpsichord in superb illustration of Bach’s French style. Another recital by U of M students followed, using the Wilhelm organ. Performers Jenna Moon, Allison Barone, Kaelan Hansson, and Emily Solomon (a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2019) played music of Scheidt, Böhm, Müthel, and Tunder respectively. As in the first recital, all were carefully prepared, and all played with style and confidence.

The conference closed with Bach and Handel, played by U of M’s Baroque Chamber Orchestra in the spacious acoustics of Saint Francis Catholic Church, with its excellent Létourneau organ. The centerpiece was Bach’s Cantata 146, Wir müssen durch viel Trubsal in das Reich Gottes, featuring a quartet of singers and Dr. Owolabi playing the important organ part. Directors Joseph Gascho and Aaron Berofsky gave all that we could ask for in an edge-of-the-seat compelling performance.

As a welcome interlude, before the final performance, organ department chair James Kibbie invited everyone to gather at Ann Arbor’s Cottage Inn restaurant, a favorite haunt of the
U of M community, in a toast in memory of Marilyn Mason. As we raised our glasses, Dr. Kibbie offered his own brief salute, and then invited all in attendance to share their own “Marilyn” stories with those around us. It was meet and right so to do. And a fitting close to a memorable conference.

Photo credit: Colin Knapp

Susan Powell

Susan Powell, composer, conductor, and organist, is passionate about making artistically robust music accessible to amateur and developing musicians through engaging performances, community ensembles, and new compositions. She is currently pursuing graduate studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she lives with her husband Mike (a fellow organist), and their three children, Jacob, Meredith, and Joshua.

Held on St. Olaf College’s beautiful hilltop campus in Northfield, Minnesota, June 13–14, the 2019 Musforum conference was “for, about, and by women.” Participants from around the country ranged from those at the peak of their careers to young artists still studying at collegiate and graduate institutions.

I had the privilege of being one of three performers in a recital showcasing young women. I thought it only fitting to program a piece by Libby Larsen, who I first encountered during my studies at St. Olaf College. Returning to my alma mater to work and network was a heady experience. As I have reflected on the conference this summer, I have grown increasingly grateful for the opportunity for friendships old and new and for the lasting impression of the depth and talent of women in my field, past and present. The music I encountered has taken root in my sense of my own emerging career and inspired me to intentionally honor the work of women, whether in selecting choral anthems by Cecilia McDowall and Judith Weir, programming recital repertoire by Judith Bingham and Jeanne Demessieux, or studying the compositions of Melissa Dunphy and Odile Pierre as I hone my own craft.

The days of the conference were jam-packed from morning to night with lectures, recitals, and lecture-recitals, breaking only for meals together and a few opportunities for conversation. WindWorks, an all-female quintet of local music professors, and See Change Chamber Choir, a new women’s choral ensemble from the Minneapolis area, provided a delightful opportunity for us to hear collaborative music. While we organists can be uniquely solitary creatures, we are almost invariably tasked with the nurturing of communal song through work with congregations and choirs. Presentations on these aspects of our profession were a highlight of the conference for me. During Therees Hibbard’s interactive lecture, “Creating Community through Singing,” we sang selections from the new Justice Choir Songbook with their composer, Abbie Betinis. The following afternoon, I had the opportunity to converse with hymn-poet Susan Cherwien after her overview of women hymn writers. I felt lucky to get to meet a writer whose texts I have long wanted to set.

Lecture-recitals were the main component of the event. Marie Rubis Bauer, who commissioned Dan Locklair’s Windows of Comfort, presented an ambitious program, shaped around the way women have inspired and participated in organ culture over half a millennium. Earlier that morning, immediately following Karen Black’s polished and virtuosic lecture-recital on the music of Pamela Decker, Kathrine Handford presented us with an impressive list of women who have contributed to the corpus of organ literature in twentieth-century France alone. I was struck not only with how formidable all these figures were—from Nadia Boulanger to Cecilia McDowall—but how formidable my own contemporary colleagues are. Rubis Bauer, Black, and Handford are cultivating careers at the top of our field, and their performances were brilliant. Handford inspired me with passing descriptions of her own practices as a teacher and performer. For example, she demands that her majors bring a self-taught piece of serious repertoire appropriate for use as a church voluntary to every weekly lesson, resulting in an acquisition by the end of four years of an anthology of learned music large enough to supply them with voluntaries for an entire year of services. I have since begun to develop my own repertoire in a similar way.

Lyn Loewi’s keynote lecture, “From the Exiled Edges: Women Composers and the Episcopal Church,” presented us with the results of her yearlong experiment as interim director of music at Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, during which she programmed compositions by female composers on average once per week. We came away with an extensive resource list and a more accurate picture of the immense scope of the work of composers like Elizabeth Poston, a prolific composer known widely for only a single anthem, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. (If you would like access to this list or other resources from the conference, you will find them available on Musforum’s website, www.musforum.org.)

One of the first moments of the conference was Nancy Ypma’s account during her lecture-recital of Fanny Mendelssohn’s wedding march. Fanny wrote it on the very eve of her wedding, since her brother Felix accidentally left behind the score to the march he had written when he traveled home to attend the ceremony. Known to us as Prelude in F Major, it is every bit as compelling as the works of her brother. Fanny was a world-class musician during an epoch when women were not even given consideration as professionals.

That epoch has given way to a new one, and there is important work to be done even as we celebrate the progress that has afforded increasing recognition and opportunity to women in our field. There is still a significant gender disparity in our churches and academies, and Musforum hopes to be a rallying point and a clarion voice. Our third biennial conference closed with a gala recital featuring three performers, bookended and filled with outstanding music by women. Catherine Rodland opened the evening with new compositions by Mary Beth Bennett and Augusta Read Thomas; Shelly Moorman-Stahlman shared her passion for South America through a tango by Francisca Gonzaga; and Nicole Keller’s stunning performance of Florence B. Price’s Suite No. 1 for Organ concluded the entire conference. Our intention as members of Musforum is to promote each other and to serve each other, encouraging our colleagues while enriching the world with an increasing awareness of the work of this formidable sisterhood.

The University of Michigan Organ Department, School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Ann Arbor, Michigan

James Kibbie

The University of Michigan Organ Department, one of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most recognized programs, is an international leader in the fields of organ, harpsichord, carillon, and sacred music. Its home, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, is a highly selective professional school offering programs in music, dance, theatre, and musical theatre on a welcoming campus in the culturally rich college town of Ann Arbor. The school combines the rigor of a conservatory with the academic breadth and depth of a major public research university. Students pursue a comprehensive program of performance and study that embraces a liberal arts education and emphasizes innovation and diversity in the arts. The faculty—eminent performers and scholars with a broad range of specializations—share a profound commitment to teaching. The Organ Department’s reputation for fostering talent is evidenced by the number of graduates enjoying careers as recitalists, university professors, published composers and scholars, and music directors of major churches.

Faculty and staff

• James Kibbie, Professor of Organ and Chair; University Organist

• Kola Owolabi, Associate Professor of Organ and Sacred Music

• Joseph Gascho, Assistant Professor of Harpsichord and Early Music

• Tiffany Ng, Assistant Professor of Carillon; University Carillonist; Digital Studies Institute Affiliate Faculty

• Jerroll Adams, University Organ Technician

• Colin Knapp, Organ Conference Coordinator

• Andrew Meagher, Hill Auditorium Scheduling Coordinator

• Distinguished former faculty members include organists Palmer Christian, Robert Noehren, Marilyn Mason, Robert Glasgow, Robert Clark, and Michele Johns, carillonist Margo Halsted, harpsichordist Edward Parmentier, and composers William Bolcom and William Albright.

Guest artists

The Organ Department sponsors recitals, masterclasses, and workshops by leading international artists. Recent faculty residencies have featured Vincent Dubois (Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris; Conservatory of Strasbourg) and Daniel Roth (Church of St. Sulpice, Paris). Recent guest artists and clinicians include Olivier Latry (Cathedral of Notre Dame; Paris Conservatory), Keith Hampton (Chicago Community Chorus; specialist in the Black Gospel tradition), Jaap ter Linden (Royal Conservatory of the Hague and Amsterdam Conservatory, the Netherlands, early music specialist), Nicole Keller (Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Berea, Ohio), Jörg Abbing (Hochschule für Musik Saar, Germany), Andrzej Szadejko (Gdańsk Music Academy, Poland), Jaroslav Tůma (Academy of Performing Arts, Prague, Czech Republic), and Jean-Baptiste Robin (Royal Chapel of Versailles).

Degrees offered

• Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance and Sacred Music

• Bachelor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance

• Master of Music in Organ Performance

• Master of Music in Sacred Music

• Master of Music in Harpsichord Performance

• Master of Music in Early Keyboard Instruments

• Master of Music in Carillon Performance

• Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance: Organ

• Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance: Sacred Music

• Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance: Harpsichord

• Dual degree programs with six other University of Michigan colleges and joint degree programs with other departments in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance are also available.

Organ and sacred music

Student career preparation includes development of artistry, technique, scholarly research skills, and the ability to play music of all periods with integrity. Students attain knowledge of specific performance practices, supported by a wide range of courses in repertoire and technique. Hymn-playing and choral accompaniment are pursued with the same seriousness as solo repertoire. Studies in improvisation enable students to develop their creative voices as church musicians and performers. In sacred music, a graded curriculum exposes students to the musical practices of diverse cultures and liturgical traditions. Choral conducting and continuo are offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Harpsichord and early music

Both solo and continuo playing are emphasized for harpsichord students, who also build a strong foundation in historical performance practices. Other early music opportunities include participation in Renaissance Choir, Baroque Chamber Orchestra, and a wide variety of chamber music events. Students have the opportunity to study and perform on period instruments, including those in the university’s extensive Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. Recent performances include a fully-staged production of Charpentier’s opera La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.

Carillon

The carillon program is built on the dual pursuit of innovative artistic excellence and inclusive community engagement and offers one of the only Master of Music in Carillon Performance degrees in existence. Students enjoy frequent performance opportunities and new acoustic and electroacoustic music collaborations, develop socially engaged outreach projects for diverse audiences, and pursue original research in campanology. Alumni hold faculty and performance positions throughout the country.

Organ, harpsichord, and sacred music courses

In addition to studio instruction in organ, harpsichord, and carillon, students elect from a rotating sequence of courses designed to prepare musicians for professional careers as organists, church musicians, harpsichordists, and carillonists:

• Organ Literature: Antiquity to 1750

• Organ Literature: 1750 to Present

• Early Music for Keyboard

• Baroque Organ Music

• Music of the French Baroque

• Organ Music of the 19th Century

• Contemporary Organ Music

• Topics in Historical Performance

• Basso Continuo

• Basso Continuo II

• Advanced Continuo and Partimento

• Organ Pedagogy

• Harpsichord Pedagogy

• Harpsichord Maintenance

• Improvisation I

• Improvisation II

• Contrapuntal Improvisation

• Advanced Improvisation

• Service Playing

• Creative Hymn-Playing

• Blended Worship Music Styles

• Contemporary Issues in Sacred Music

• The Church’s Song: Critical Issues in Hymnology

• African-American Spirituals and Gospel

• Students also find arts leadership development, entrepreneurial opportunities, and grants in the EXCEL Department (Excellence in Entrepreneurship Career Empowerment & Leadership).

Research

Organ Department faculty and students engage in major scholarly and creative projects within the nation’s top-ranked public research university (as recognized by the National Science Foundation in 2018). Recent faculty grants have supported a project to develop applications of data science to performance issues in the Bach trio sonatas; innovations in carillon scholarship, technology-augmented performance, and multimedia publishing; audio and video recordings integrating scholarship and recording on historic instruments; the pioneering of team teaching with architecture; and scholarly publications. Current graduate students are receiving grant support for projects including a series of compact disc recordings of organ music by women composers and research and performance on North German Baroque instruments.

Organs

The University of Michigan recognizes the pipe organ as the only instrument suitable for practice, teaching, and performance of the organ repertoire. Students perform, study, and rehearse on 16 pipe organs on campus, including:

• Frieze Memorial Organ, Hill Auditorium: four manuals, 124 ranks, electro-pneumatic action; Farrand & Votey (1893), Hutchings (1913), Skinner Organ Company (1927), Aeolian-Skinner (1955);

• Marilyn Mason Organ, Blanche Anderson Moore Hall: two manuals, 27 stops, mechanical action; C. B. Fisk, after instruments of Gottfried Silbermann;

• James Walgreen Organ, School of Public Health: two manuals, 12 stops, mechanical action; Orgues Létourneau;

• Organ teaching studios: three manuals, electro-pneumatic instruments by Reuter and M. P. Möller;

• Italian positiv organ: one manual, three stops, mechanical action; unknown 16th-century Italian builder;

• Kistorgel (continuo positiv): one manual, four stops, mechanical action; Henk Klop;

• Portativ organ: one manual, one rank; Wendhack, Redeker & Kreuzer, after a medieval model;

• Practice organs: eight two-manual mechanical and electro-pneumatic instruments by A. David Moore, Aeolian-Skinner, Reuter, and M. P. Möller;

• Students also study and perform regularly on instruments in Ann Arbor churches by Karl Wilhelm, Orgues Létourneau, and Schoenstein.

Harpsichords

• Keith Hill: German double manual;

• William Dowd: Franco-Flemish double manual after Ruckers;

• Peter Fisk: French double manual;

• Hubbard/Eckstein: French double manual;

• Hill and Tyre: German single manual;

• David Sutherland: Flemish single manual;

• William Post Ross: Italian single manual after De Quoc;

• Two Zuckermann kit instruments;

• Randall Scott: clavichord after a 1784 instrument of Christian Gottlob Hübert.

Carillons

• Charles Baird Carillon, Burton Memorial Tower: 53 bells cast by John Taylor & Co., England, 1936;

• Robert & Ann Lurie Carillon: 60 bells cast by Royal Eijsbouts, the Netherlands, 1996;

• Three practice keyboards.

Conferences, competitions, and workshops

The annual Organ Conference, a tradition for almost sixty years, presents recitals, workshops, and masterclasses by international artists and performances by University of Michigan students and faculty. The summer Early Keyboard Institute, presented by University of Michigan faculty and resident artists, provides an intensive six-day experience focusing on harpsichord and fortepiano.

Co-sponsored by the American Center of Church Music, the annual Organ Improvisation Competition has featured finalists from North America, Europe, and Asia. The Schoenstein Competition in the Art of Organ Accompaniment, presented with support from Jack M. Bethards, Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders, recognizes artistry in the accompaniment of solos, choral repertoire, and hymns.

Recent special events have included the 2018 Annual Conference of the Historical Keyboard Society of North America, with over 70 performances, lectures, and other events on the theme “Kenner und Liebhaber.”

The UM Summer Carillon Series presents leading international recitalists each year. Supported by a UM Bicentennial Grant in 2017, “Resonance & Remembrance: An Interdisciplinary Bell Studies Symposium,” pioneered new directions in scholarly and applied campanology research and technology-augmented performance.

Performance opportunities

Organ students perform for the annual Organ Conference, the bi-weekly Brown Bag Recital Series on the James Walgreen Organ, AGO recitals, and outreach recitals at churches. There are also frequent opportunities to perform with the university orchestras, bands, and choral ensembles. Carillon students perform on the daily recitals at both carillon towers, at student guild recitals, official university events, and during field trips to area carillons. Harpsichord students perform in solo recitals, chamber ensembles, and with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Early Music Choir.

International organ study tours

Students in the Organ Department have the opportunity to participate in European study tours to play historic organs, study with eminent artist-teachers, and perform in group recitals. Student expenses are funded in part through fundraising recitals at area churches. During their 2019 tour to the Netherlands and Germany, students studied 13 historic organs by van Covelens, Schnitger, Silbermann, Trost, Ladegast, and Sauer and performed in masterclasses with Pieter van Dijk, Thiemo Janssen, Ullrich Böhme, and Johannes Trümpler.

Application and financial aid

The Organ Department supports students with financial aid packages that reward artistic and academic excellence, while also considering a student’s overall financial resources. Undergraduate applicants are eligible to compete in the annual Undergraduate Organ Scholarship Competition. Master’s students are considered for a variety of scholarships, and nearly all DMA students receive full-tuition fellowships and are also eligible to apply for fellowships to fund research, travel, and performance. For further information and to apply, visit smtd.umich.edu.

The Diapason Staff

The Diapason’s fifth “20 Under 30” selections came from a large field of nominations. The nominees were evaluated based on information provided in the nominations; we selected only from those who had been nominated. We looked for evidence of such things as career advancement, technical skills, and creativity and innovation; we considered a nominee’s awards and competition prizes, publications and compositions, and significant positions in the mix. Our selections were not limited to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord and clavichord, carillon, church music, and organ and harpsichord building. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves and their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

Nominations will again open for 20 Under 30 in December 2022 for our Class of 2023. Please carefully consider those you may know that deserve this honor and begin to take notes for your nomination. We can only honor those who are nominated.

The Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America (APOBA) is graciously providing a one-year subscription to our 20 Under 30 Class of 2021.

Amos Burch

Amos Burch was born in central Illinois, homeschooled, and from a young age studied piano. Throughout high school, he spent summers in his grandfather’s workshop, learning woodworking from him, an excellent furniture maker. Around this same time Amos developed a love for concert music, especially Bach’s keyboard works and cantatas. In 2010, he attended a recital at the Indiana Landmarks Center, Indianapolis, featuring a historic Sanborn organ, recently renewed by Goulding & Wood. At age 16, it did not cross his mind that he would join that same company nearly a decade later.

In 2013 he moved to Phoenix and studied guitar building and repair at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. After graduating, Amos moved back to Indianapolis and worked as a guitar repair specialist and also built instruments in his free time. Later moving on to a job as a custom cabinetmaker, he worked first in Cincinnati and finally at Kline Cabinetmakers in Greenfield, Indiana. After a few years there, he rediscovered Goulding & Wood and applied for a job immediately. He was hired in 2019, and his career search was complete. A love of the keyboard and woodworking finally married, as he became a pipe organ builder. He is continually motivated to push his skills and expand his knowledge of both woodworking and pipe organs by the experienced crew at Goulding & Wood.

An interesting fact: Besides music and woodworking, my greatest interest is art, particularly Japanese and American tattoo art. I enjoy collecting paintings and prints from artists across the world, and my apartment looks a bit like a museum because of it.

Proudest achievement: My proudest accomplishment to date is being a member of the Goulding & Wood team, and more specifically, having a part in building and installing our Opus 52 organ for Saint John’s Cathedral in Knoxville Tennessee. I had to continually remind myself that it was reality and not a dream to be working on such a beautiful instrument.

Career aspirations and goals: It is my goal to continue to absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible in the organ shop. Woodworking is my passion, and I can’t think of a more than incredible application of the craft than to be a pipe organ builder.

Daniel Chang

Daniel Chang is a Doctor of Musical Arts degree candidate at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, in the studio of David Higgs. He began his music studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory Department where he studied composition with Michael Kaulkin and piano with June Choi Oh. He continued his education at the San Francisco Conservatory for a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree in composition, studying composition with David Conte and piano with Alla Gladysheva. Daniel served as organ scholar at Saint Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco under Simon Berry. At Eastman, where he has earned his Master of Music degree, Daniel was awarded the Gerald Barnes Prize in 2017 and the Cochran Prize in 2020 for excellence in organ performance. Daniel was awarded third prize in the 2018 National Young Artists’ Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP), sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, and was a semi-finalist in the 2020 NYACOP. Daniel is director of music at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Canandaigua, New York.

An interesting fact: As a teenager I had to learn the Ballade in G Minor by Chopin by ear because my reading skills were so bad.

Proudest achievement: I am proudest of being the first person in my family to pursue a doctorate.

Career aspirations and goals: Career-wise I would like to teach, play for the church, compose, and perform. A personal goal of mine is to reach a point in my career where I can teach students that cannot afford lessons for free.

Daniel Colaner

A sixteen-year-old native of Akron, Ohio, Daniel Colaner captured international media attention at the age of twelve with his same-day performances on piano at Carnegie Hall and on organ at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Since then, his talents have been showcased on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The Harry (Connick Jr.) Show, and the BBC World Service Newsday. As a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, Daniel was featured on the NPR radio show From the Top (Show #377), performing “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. He is a 2021 National YoungArts Winner in organ/classical music and was the first prize and audience prize winner in the Sursa American Organ Competition (high school division) in 2019.

Earlier this year, Daniel premiered Variations on Doxology, a new work for organ and orchestra, with the American Pops Orchestra. His performance will be featured in One Voice: The Songs We Share, which will air nationally on PBS. Daniel studies organ with David Higgs of the Eastman School of Music and piano with Sean Schulze at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he is a scholarship student in the pre-college program and an avid chamber musician. He currently serves as organ scholar at Cleveland’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral under Todd Wilson.

An interesting fact: First exposed to music as cognitive therapy after being diagnosed with stage IV cancer as an infant.

Proudest achievement: Promoting the organ and the study of classical music on television and radio, in addition to helping to raise thousands of dollars for music education and music therapy for a variety of non-profit organizations.

Career aspirations and goals: A versatile career as a solo and collaborative musician who engages and enlightens audiences of all ages.

Website: www.danielcolaner.com.

Michael Delfín

Praised for “beautiful performances of great warmth” (Classical Voice of North Carolina), Michael Delfín is a versatile performer of historical keyboard instruments and the modern piano. Michael is the recipient of the 2018 Historical Keyboard Society of North America Bechtel/Clinkscale Scholarship and 2017 Catacoustic Consort Early Music Grant. He has performed for the Historical Keyboard Society of North America and the Central California Baroque Festival and has given lectures on historical performance topics for Early Music America, HKSNA, and the Case Western Reserve University Music Department. He is artistic director of Seven Hills Baroque in Cincinnati and has taught figured bass and improvisation at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Michael has attended the American Bach Soloists Academy and the University of Michigan Early Keyboard Institute and performed in masterclasses for Richard Egarr, Joseph Gascho, Corey Jamason, Edward Parmentier, and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra.

Michael is now pursuing doctoral studies in both piano and harpsichord at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He previously studied piano at CCM, San Francisco Conservatory, and Peabody Conservatory, as well as history at Johns Hopkins University. His mentors include Awadagin Pratt, Yoshikazu Nagai, Boris Slutsky, Michael Unger, and Carol Oaks.

An interesting fact: I enjoy cooking the Latin American food of my family’s heritage.

Proudest achievement: My wife’s hand.

Career aspirations and goals: I look forward to blending historical and modern performance as a solo and collaborative performer, Baroque ensemble director, and college educator.

Website: www.michaeldelfin.com.

Samuel Gaskin

Samuel Gaskin completed graduate studies in organ performance from the University of North Texas (Master of Music, 2018) with Dr. Jesse Eschbach. Samuel has studied with notable organist-improvisers such as Thierry Escaich, Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard, Franz Danksagmüller, and Thomas Ospital. As a performer, he is interested in music of all kinds, playing jazz piano in ensembles throughout his graduate school studies and harpsichord with the San Antonio Symphony under the baton of Jeannette Sorell (Apollo’s Fire). He is also active as a collaborative pianist with both instrumentalists and vocalists. In 2013, Samuel was a finalist in the Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition held in Kaliningrad, Russia, and in 2016 he won first prize in the University of Michigan International Organ Improvisation Competition. Samuel began composition studies with William James Ross, S. Andrew Lloyd, and finally Ethan Wickman. Transcribing served as an important purpose to furthering his interest in composition, first focused on improvised works for organ, then on jazz improvisations, including tracks from the album Equilibrium by Ben Monder (guitar) and Kristjan Randalu (piano), for future publication by the Terentyev Music Publishing Company. He is interested in exploring the sometimes-contradictory relationship between improvisation and composition.

An interesting fact: I once delivered pizza to Tony Parker (the former point guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs).

Proudest achievement: Carving my own niche as a musician. Leaving behind formal organ studies during my undergraduate studies led me to have a greater appreciation of the instrument. It also allowed me to experience playing in non-classical genres on the keyboard and gain appreciation for musical skills like the nuances of groove, arranging parts, and learning by ear. Later, this also led me to have a better appreciation of the nuances of legato and rubato within a musical phrase at the organ.

Career aspirations and goals: I would like to continue to develop as a collaborative musician. There is a lot of fascinating music out there, and some of the best involves playing with other musicians. Learning how to communicate and relate to other musicians is something I find personally satisfying, and besides, I think instrumental/timbral variety within a program generally resonates with listeners. I would also like to continue incorporating new music and improvisation into programs.

Instagram: samuelgskn391.

Josiah Hamill

Josiah Hamill is an organist, violinist, pianist, and church musician who is reputed for bringing passion, musicality, and virtuosity to every performance. Among other recent awards and recognitions, he won first place and the audience prize at the 2019 Sursa American Organ Competition. He was named one of twelve finalists in the 2020 Musikfest Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg, the final round of which was unfortunately canceled due to Covid-19. Additionally, he was runner-up in the American Guild of Organists Regional Competition for Young Organists and a finalist in the Poister Scholarship Competition in Organ Playing.

He is a rising third-year Doctor of Music degree student in organ performance at Indiana University, studying with Christopher Young. As the recipient of the prestigious Robert Baker Award, Josiah received his Master of Music degree from Yale School of Music, as well as the Certificate in Church Music Studies from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, under the tutelage of Martin Jean. He received his Bachelor of Music degree with dual concentrations in organ and violin, graduating summa cum laude with distinctions from Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, where he studied organ under Joseph Galema. He was Lamont’s Presser Scholar and is a lifelong member of Pi Kappa Lambda.

An interesting fact: In addition to my organ career, I also have an extensive string and symphonic background, which significantly influences my approach to the magnificence of the organ and its repertoire. One of my favorite engagements was performing the entire Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Arapahoe Philharmonic Orchestra, and I have been privileged to meet and work with such illustrious musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Midori Goto, Vadim Gluzman, and Glenn Dicterow, among others.

Proudest achievement: While every music performance and achievement has a special place in my heart, I would have to say that my proudest achievement is the Students’ Choice for Best Colloquium Presentation, which is awarded annually by the student body of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music via ballots. This was bestowed upon fellow student Laura Worden and me for our colloquium presentation, “Religious and Musical Culture in the Manzanar Incarceration Camps.” This highlighted the impact of music and religion on the Japanese American incarceration experience at Manzanar Relocation Center during World War II. My grandfather, Bruce Kaji, was an American citizen incarcerated in Manzanar before becoming a war hero, peacemaker, and community leader while living an exemplary life. He is my hero, and this presentation and academic award seemed to be a perfect posthumous homage to him and his legacy.

Career aspirations and goals: My biggest aspiration is to have a successful and active career as a concert organist, hopefully under management. Especially given the dearth of live performances due to the pandemic, I have continued to discover that my true passion is in performance. I aspire to create memorable performances for audiences of all walks of life, whether as a solo performer, collaborative musician, or church musician. It is my hope that the temporary lull in live concerts will only strengthen audience interest and participation as life continues to return to normalcy.

Website: www.josiahhamill.com.

Thomas Heidenreich

Thomas Heidenreich is a third-year Doctor of Musical Arts degree student at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music studying with Dr. Michael Unger. He was organist for the world-premiere recording of Swedish composer Frederik Sixten’s St. John Passion, which will be released in 2022 by Ablaze Records. A Cincinnati native, Thomas began his musical studies at age five taking piano lessons at the CCM Preparatory Department.

From 2017–2018 he was the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM) Gerre Hancock Organ Fellow at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina. He performed at the 2019 AAM national conference in Boston. Previously, he studied with Alan Morrison at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, completing his Master of Music (2017) and Bachelor of Music (2016) degrees in organ performance. At Westminster, he was the 2016 winner of the Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance and a two-time Andrew J. Rider Scholar, an award recognizing the top students academically in each class. In Princeton, he served as organ scholar at Trinity Episcopal Church and, for three years, as co-director of music for The Episcopal Church at Princeton.

An interesting fact: I have played the organ in services at both Westminster Abbey and Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. Also, when in tenth grade after only having studied the organ for a few years, I played the 2000 Gerald Woehl “Bach” organ at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.

Proudest achievement: I am very proud of the role I played in developing the musical quality of, and depth of community in, the Lux Choir, which sings at the Episcopal Church at Princeton. Through a combination of supportive clergy, dedicated musicians, and God’s help, the choir is a great asset in worship and a strong personal blessing to all those involved and has continued to flourish in recent years.

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to pursue a career of service to the church through my work as an organist, accompanist, and choir director. I am particularly passionate about working with and/or developing an intergenerational music program that provides opportunities for children through adults to participate in choral singing at the highest levels. I know the power of the organ and its ability to move people to worship, and I want to share this with people in any church to which I am called to serve.

Alex Johnson

The campus tour guide didn’t even know the name of the instrument. All he said was that students could learn to play the bells. Alex Johnson was hooked immediately. He registered for the class his first year, fell in love, and registered every semester thereafter. This was at the University of Rochester, where Alex not only played heaps of carillon music, but also majored in physics, completed research in linguistics, learned to play gamelan and mbira, and also how to swing dance. With the world’s most prestigious competition in his sights, Alex then studied at Bok Tower Gardens as a Carillon Fellow. That contest, held every five years in Mechelen, Belgium, is the International Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition: in 2019, Alex won. He then spent a year studying at the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in the same city on a fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation. In his travels, Alex has performed dozens of carillon recitals across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Alex is currently exploring yet another career option by substitute teaching kids of all ages, from kindergarten to calculus.

Interesting fact: Alex serves on the Franco Composition Committee of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

Proudest accomplishment: Alex’s proudest accomplishment is winning the Queen Fabiola Competition, in which he not only won first prize overall, but also first prize for improvisation and the prize for best performance of a contemporary Belgian work.

Career aspirations and goals: Alex is considering graduate studies in music composition, carillon positions, and returning to the content of his bachelor’s career to teach high school math or physics.

James Kealey

James Kealey is associate director of music/organist at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York. There, James oversees and coordinates children’s music ministries, assists in the running of youth music, and accompanies the Chancel Choir as well as sharing service playing duties with Peter DuBois, director of music/organist. James will begin a part-time Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in the fall of 2021.

A recent graduate of the Eastman School of Music, James obtained the Master of Music degree from the studio of Professor David Higgs. While a student, James was also music minister at Church of the Ascension, where he oversaw the senior choir and began both a youth choir and a yearly arts festival. A native Brit, James has held positions at Chester, Blackburn, Wells, and Sheffield cathedrals before moving stateside.

James has performed most recently at Westminster Abbey, England; Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City; and Hereford Cathedral. Future recitals include Cathedral of Saint Philip, Atlanta, Georgia; Church of the Covenant, Cleveland, Ohio; and the Organ Historical Society convention in 2022. James was recently placed as a semifinalist in the American Guild of Organists NYACOP Competition. He is the current sub-dean for the Rochester AGO Chapter and works with several committees within the Organ Historical Society.

An interesting fact: I would like to gain my private pilot license in the coming years, although the winters in Rochester may make that a little more tricky!

Proudest achievement: I am proudest of achieving a place to study at Eastman School of Music, which has given me many opportunities and much guidance to fulfill my desire to work as a musician in the United States.

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to have a multifaceted career. Alongside my passion for church music ministry and choral music, I hope to work as a recitalist and educator in the future.

Noah Klein

Noah Klein is finishing his fourth year at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, pursuing an organ performance degree under Dr. Janette Fishell. While at school, he is the musical intern for Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Back home in Northfield, Minnesota, Noah plays for local churches in the area as well as for organ recital series throughout southern Minnesota. He was the winner of the Great Lakes Regional RYCO at the 2019 regional American Guild of Organists convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Noah also had the opportunity during the summer of 2019 to play at Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City as part of their “First Friday” series, which features undergraduate and graduate organ students from leading music conservatories across the United States and Canada. This fall he will begin his Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music.

An interesting fact: During my year abroad in South Korea after high school, I gave an impromptu organ recital in a coffee shop on a bamboo pipe organ.

Proudest achievement: The achievement I’m most proud of is winning the Great Lakes Regional RYCO because it was one of the first big competitions I’ve won, and it proved to me that all my hard work and dedication has paid off as well as encouraging me to pursue more competitions.

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to continue performing recitals and sharing my passion for the organ and its music both in the United States and abroad. Also, I hope to continue working with sacred music as an organist and music director.

Zoe (Kai Wai) Lei

An emerging Hong Kong organist, Zoe Lei is an advocate for new organ music and frequently plays twentieth- and twenty-first-century repertoires. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in sacred music (organ) at the University of Michigan, where she studies the organ with James Kibbie, carillon with Tiffany Ng, and harpsichord and continuo with Joseph Gascho. Prior to that, she attained her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in music at the University of Toronto and Hong Kong Baptist University, respectively, and has been awarded various scholarships in Michigan, Canada, and Hong Kong.

Currently based in the United States, Zoe has performed as a recitalist in various venues and concert series in Hong Kong, Toronto, and Michigan. She has also collaborated with the Baroque Ensemble at the University of Michigan, the Contemporary Ensemble at the University of Toronto, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute Orchestra. She is looking forward to working with Aero Quartet and IZR Organ Trio, the latter of which was set up by Zoe along with her friends Ryan Chan and Ivan Leung. This summer, the IZR Organ Trio will give recitals in Hong Kong. In addition to organ performances, Zoe now gives carillon recitals every other Thursday at the Burton Memorial Tower in Ann Arbor.

An interesting fact: When I am not practicing the organ, carillon, or harpsichord, I enjoy hanging out with friends, traveling, and doing calligraphy.

Proudest achievement: I gave my organ debut in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall in 2017, which has one of the largest pipe organs in Asia. After that, I received an interview invitation from Radio Television in Hong Kong. I always feel humbled and honored by this fantastic opportunity that was provided by my organ teacher, Miss Kin Yu Wong.

Career aspirations and goals: I will work harder in the coming years, and I am passionate about contributing more to the organ, carillon, and sacred music fields. I am currently preparing for different organ competitions, and organ and carillon recitals in the summer while doing a carillon arrangement of BWV 543i. My goal is to travel to different places to give organ and carillon concerts, especially more places in Asia, in order to promote these instruments to Asian audiences in a creative and culturally diverse way. I also hope to build a carillon in Hong Kong and introduce the carillon repertoire to Hongkongers.

Website: www.zoelei.com.

Jackson Merrill

Jackson Merrill is a graduate student of James Kibbie in organ performance at the University of Michigan. At Michigan, he was awarded the Marilyn Mason Scholarship, the Patricia Barret Ludlow Memorial Scholarship in Organ, and the Chris Schroeder Graduate Fellowship. Merrill presently works with Huw Lewis at Saint John’s Church, Detroit. Merrill came to Michigan from Hartford, Connecticut, where he was organist and director of music ministries at Trinity Church. In addition to this work, he was the choral director of Trinity Academy in Hartford and sang in various choirs at Yale University. Merrill holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Jacksonville University where he was awarded such honors as the Harvey Scholl Prize in Piano and the Excellence in Performance Award. He was also the 2016 College of Fine Arts Student of the Year. While in northeast Florida, Merrill performed occasionally with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

An interesting fact: I am originally from northeast Florida. The city of Saint Augustine is in northeast Florida, and there are wonderful organs in historic churches there along with many important monuments. The first pipe organ I ever played was the incredible Casavant organ at the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Augustine, built in 2003. Saint Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous United States.

Proudest achievement: I am most proud of my work for three years with the outstanding young musicians of The Choir School of Hartford at Trinity Church, Hartford, Connecticut.

Career aspirations and goals: My goal is to use my time studying with James Kibbie to become a more comprehensive organist and performer. After graduate school, I hope to continue with my work in music ministry. I have developed a specialization for urban music ministry, and I particularly love working with young singers.

YouTube channel: youtube.com/channel/UCCC2-sMGEWCq65asbD8mZCw/videos.

John J. Mitchell

John Joseph “JJ” Mitchell has a passion for organ and sacred music pedagogy. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from the University of Houston (UH) on a graduate tuition fellowship. He is the organist of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas, serves as an organist of Saint Philip Presbyterian Church, also in Houston, and is a graduate teaching assistant in the music history department at UH. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and the University of Notre Dame; he also studied at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse, France. JJ has served as organist on the music staff of churches such as Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, Texas; Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, Arlington, Virginia; and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, South Bend, Indiana. He has performed in these churches as well as at Boston Symphony Hall, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and various other venues in the United States, Canada, France, and England. He is the winner of the Nanovic Grant for European Study for Professional Development and was a finalist for the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant. He has been featured on the Sounds from the Spires SiriusXM Radio program and has contributed to Vox Humana organ journal.

An interesting fact: I drive a manual transmission car as an enthusiast of Formula 1.

Proudest achievement: I have achieved some wonderful things in my life thus far, but overcoming performance anxiety and finding consistent calmness in my playing has been undoubtedly my best achievement.

Career goals and aspirations: My ideal career is to be a director of music at a cathedral where I will teach sacred music to the next generation. I also am considering work in academic positions as well.

Curtis Pavey

Curtis Pavey, originally from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, enjoys a diverse musical career as a harpsichordist, pianist, and educator. As a harpsichordist, he has performed in prestigious settings including the Oregon Bach Festival as a participant of the Berwick Academy. Peter Jacobi of the Herald Times praised Curtis as “an artist of considerable finish and even more promise” after his solo recital debut at the Bloomington Early Music Festival. His recent submission to the Jurow International Harpsichord Competition advanced him to the semifinals for the upcoming 2021 competition. Besides his performing activities, Curtis is passionate about pedagogy and has presented lectures on Baroque music and ornamentation at national conferences. In addition, he maintains a private music studio at Willis Music Kenwood in Cincinnati, Ohio. Currently completing doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati, Curtis studies harpsichord with Dr. Michael Unger and piano with Professor James Tocco while maintaining a graduate assistantship in the secondary piano department. Curtis graduated from the master’s degree program at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where majored in early music, harpsichord and piano performance. He worked with Professors Elisabeth Wright, Edward Auer, and Evelyne Brancart.

An interesting fact: I enjoy cooking and baking when I am not practicing, teaching, or studying.

Proudest achievement: I am almost done with my doctorate—I will be proudest of achieving this once it is finally complete!

Career aspirations and goals: My dream career allows me to balance my passion for teaching and performing at both the harpsichord and the piano. I hope to attain a professorship where I can teach applied lessons and courses in harpsichord, performance practice, and piano. In the future, I would like to establish my own early music ensemble. Ultimately, I hope to make a difference in my community and beyond through my teaching and performing activities.

Website: www.curtispavey.com.

Solena Rizzato

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Solena Rizzato is a shop technician at the Red River Pipe Organ Company in Norman, Oklahoma, interim organist at Wesley United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City, and a non-degree-seeking graduate student at Oklahoma City University, where they study with Dr. Melissa Plamann. Prior to their studies at OCU, Solena graduated in May of 2020 from the University of Oklahoma where they earned dual Bachelor’s degrees in organ performance and viola performance, as well as the organ technology emphasis and a history minor. In the summer of 2019, Solena pursued an internship with Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc., of Northampton, Massachusetts, working on the restoration and maintenance of pipe organs in the New England area. As an organist, Solena began their formal studies at the age of eighteen with Dr. Adam Pajan at the University of Oklahoma, having come to the instrument with over thirteen years of experience as a violist. Because of this, Solena enjoys transcribing orchestral works for the organ. Their recent transcriptions include movements of Dvorák’s 8th Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919), and Gershwin’s An American in Paris. Solena’s next move will take them out of Oklahoma, where they will begin pursuing their Master of Music degree in organ performance. Solena continues to remain active as a professional violist as well, and enjoys cooking, weightlifting, and long-distance running.

An interesting fact: Prior to my studies in music, I spent several years in the culinary industry, training to be a professional chef.

Proudest achievement: This year, I successfully went through the process of applying for Master of Music degree programs in organ performance. Due to my late start as a keyboardist, this felt like a far-away dream. I am definitely most proud to represent Oklahoma City and am so thankful to all of my friends and mentors that supported me through this process.

Career aspirations and goals: Beginning at the end of last year, I had the opportunity to serve in more of a leadership role at Red River Pipe Organ Co. This experience, combined with my own experience as an adult learner of a new instrument, confirmed that I definitely want to be in a teaching role in some capacity! If I can help even one person along in their own journey, I will have considered that the highest level of success possible.

Jennifer Shin

Jennifer Shin is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of David Higgs, after having completed her Master of Music degree at Eastman in 2020. She received her Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Kola Owolabi and James Kibbie. During her time in Michigan, she held the position of organ scholar at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and participated in the University of Michigan’s University Choir and Early Music Choir both as accompanist and singer.

Most recently, she was chosen as a semi-finalist in the 2020 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance hosted by the American Guild of Organists. Other competition awards include first place in the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists for the Seattle chapter (2015) and the San Diego chapter (2013), second place in the Regional AGO/Quimby RCYO (Region IX) in 2013, and first place in the national Rodgers Organ Competition in 2012. In 2016, she was awarded an E. Power Biggs Fellowship to attend the Organ Historical Society convention in Philadelphia. She has participated in masterclasses and coachings with Alan Morrison, James David Christie, Diane Belcher, Ann Elise Smoot, Daniel Roth, and Vincent Dubois, among others.

An interesting fact: I enjoy cooking and making desserts.

Proudest achievement: Something I am proudest of achieving this past year is starting a small studio of private piano students! Hopefully this will grow and expand into organ students soon.

Career aspirations and goals: In addition to concertizing as a solo organist, I would like to continue making music in collaboration with other musicians such as accompanying a choir or playing with other instrumentalists/singers, whether it is in a liturgical or a concert setting. I also would like to continue expanding teaching experiences to include a wider level of students from beginners to collegiate level, while, of course, playing for and directing a church music program.

Augustine Kweku Sobeng

Augustine Sobeng is a native of Shama in the Western Region of Ghana and is currently a master’s degree student in organ performance at Setnor School of Music, Syracuse University, studying with Annie Laver and Alexander Meszler. He studied medical laboratory technology as an undergraduate at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. Influenced by family background and musical exposure, his expressive tendencies found outlet especially in organ and choral music. He served as a conductor of the school choir in Prempeh College and organist/choirmaster for the University Choir-KNUST.

Throughout and after his undergraduate study, he worked and trained with the Harmonious Chorale-Ghana, where he was a part of several large concerts every year for seven years, serving as principal organist. Although he did not receive any formal musical education, he put himself through music theory and practical exams with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), earning a diploma certificate in the 2018 organ practical exam. That same year he was awarded the best keyboardist in Ghana, and the following year, received admission with a Visual and Performing Arts Fellow Scholarship to study for his Master of Music. He was a participant in the masterclass of Christa Rakich during the 2019 conference of the Organ Historical Society at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

An interesting fact: I have a twin brother who looks nothing like me.

Proudest achievement: Two of my proudest moments were when I won the VPA fellow scholarship for the masters’ program at Syracuse University, and when I won the best keyboardist of Ghana award in 2018.

Career aspirations and goals: Aside from becoming an astute organist of international repute, it is my goal to help raise the standard of organ playing in Ghana. In line with my ambition to institutionalize a good standard of organ music and organ playing, I aspire to establish organ faculties in the music schools of some of the country’s universities. The goal is to carve out a path toward professionalism for young organ enthusiasts in Ghana.

Facebook official page: Stine_Sobeng.

Raphael Attila Vogl

German organist Raphael Attila Vogl has taken part in various competitions, winning second prize at the “Jugend musiziert,” and in 2015 was awarded the Promotion Prize 2014 as the youngest prize winner of the Kulturkreis Freyung-Grafenau. He has also received prizes in the International Mendelssohn Organ Competition in Switzerland, the International Tariverdiev Competition in Russia, and at the Boulder Bach Festival’s World Bach Competition. Raphael studied at the Hochschule für Katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik in Regensburg, Germany, including organ and church music with Stefan Baier and Markus Rupprecht. While studying at Hochschule, Raphael spent one year at the Franz-Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, where he studied with Laszlo Fassang, and graduated from the Hochschule in 2018. Raphael made his debut at Alice Tully Hall when he performed the New York premiere of Sophia Gubaidulina’s The Rider on the White Horse at the Focus Festival at Lincoln Center in January 2020. Raphael Attila Vogl graduated from The Juilliard School of New York City in May 2020, where he studied for his master’s degree in organ performance with Paul Jacobs.

An interesting fact: I am half Hungarian and half German. I am proud to have access to both cultures, and I enjoy their differences such as in history, food, music, architecture, mentality, and traditions.

Proudest achievement: Playing recitals on the biggest cathedral organ in the world in Passau, Germany, with more than 1,300 people in the audience. That is an amazing feeling to bring joy and music into that magnificent Baroque space with that incredible and unique instrument.

Career aspirations and goals: My goal would be to become a successful concert organist performing my own transcriptions for the organ. Besides the wonderful existing literature for the organ, there are gorgeous pieces for orchestra or piano that can bring a symphonic organ much closer to the audience by a spectacular and exciting performance. I am also interested in teaching students and sharing my knowledge about the organ.

Website: raphael-vogl.de.

Destin Wernicke

Destin Wernicke grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he started playing piano and drums at an early age. He continued studying both instruments through high school and then decided to pursue music at the University of North Texas. During his jazz percussion bachelor’s degree, Destin was the drummer for the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and had the opportunity to work with accomplished artists such as Maria Schneider, Gary Smulyan, and Regina Carter. He also played with One O’Clock at the 2020 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship and recorded the recently released album Lab 2020. Destin is now continuing his studies at UNT by working on a graduate Artist Certificate in organ performance, studying with Dr. Jesse Eschbach.

Destin has served as the organist for Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Denton for the past two years, leading congregational singing along with a small but dedicated choir. In March 2020, he won first prize in the undergraduate division of the William C. Hall Pipe Organ Competition in San Antonio, earning a cash prize and the opportunity to play a recital at Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church.

An interesting fact: I am also a photographer! In 2016, the Natural History Museum in London displayed a photo I took of a Galapagos sea lion in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year gallery, and I earned an honorable mention in the competition.

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement so far is playing my first organ recital at UNT while an undergraduate jazz percussion major. I played a varied program of works by Clérambault, Bach, and Jean Guillou.

Career aspirations and goals: Over the past year, I have been preparing a program including Jeanne Demessieux’s Six Etudes, which I will perform at the Marcel Dupré conference held in North Texas this October. Following the conference, I plan to take this program to audiences across the country, playing concerts in Texas, the Midwest, and New York. Long-term, I am hoping to continue working as a church organist and keep learning challenging, seldom-played repertoire that I can perform and compete with at a high level.

Collin Whitfield

Hailed by Mason Bates as “a fine citizen musician,” Collin Whitfield is an award-winning composer, pianist, and organist based in Michigan. He has been the recipient of the James Highsmith Award for new orchestral music, first prize in the American Choral Directors Association Choral Composition Competition through Central Michigan University, and first prize in the Biennial Art Song Composition Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory. His music has been praised by librettist Nicholas Giardini as “beautiful, rapturous, and unabashedly romantic, without any of the failings that so often accompany these qualities.”

Collin Whitfield is an active recitalist and frequently collaborates with his wife, soprano Erin Whitfield. He was awarded the 2017–2018 Tacoma American Guild of Organists Scholarship and the 2020 Kent S. Dennis Memorial Scholarship. Since 2018, Collin has served as director of music ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Saginaw, Michigan, where he directs the chancel choir, guides the concert series, and accompanies the congregation on their 70-rank Casavant Frères, Limitée, Opus 3660 organ. Collin Whitfield holds a Master of Music degree in organ performance from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His primary teachers have included Mason Bates, David Conte, Steven Egler, and Paul Tegels.

An interesting fact: I like to go on long hikes and long drives, especially exploring beautiful sites in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Proudest achievement: Winning the James Highsmith Competition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the unique opportunity to hear an orchestra perform my music.

Career aspirations and goals: I plan to pursue a doctorate in music and hope to teach collegiately in the future. I also want to continue my church music work, remain active as a recitalist, and expand my presence as a composer.

Website: collinwhitfield.com.