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Richard William Knapp, 80, of West Simsbury, Connecticut, died February 21. Born in Mineola, New York, on May 15, 1935, Knapp earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1957 and a master’s degree in nuclear science from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford Graduate Center, in 1959.

A pianist, organist, harpsichordist, and choral conductor, his early musical studies were with his father-in-law Glenn H. Smith of West Hartford. Knapp won the American Guild of Organists Hartford Chapter “Young Organist Award” in the late 1940s. A church musician for sixty years, he served as organist and director of music at the First United Methodist Church, Hartford, from 1957 through 1988.

As a teenager, Knapp installed a pipe organ in the family residence in West Hartford. Later, he designed, sold, and installed numerous instruments throughout New England as regional representative of Casavant Frères, of St-Hyacinthe, Québec, from 1966 until his death.

A firm believer in the positive role of nuclear power in promoting clean air and energy independence, Knapp worked for forty years in the commercial nuclear power field, starting as an experimental physicist with Combustion Engineering, Inc., in Windsor, Connecticut; he retired as director of nuclear systems business development for ABB-Combustion Engineering in 1997. He authored and presented numerous technical papers and received two patents and various awards for his work in nuclear power.

Richard William Knapp is survived by his wife Ann Stanford Baird Knapp, daughter Charlotte Knapp of Silver Spring, Maryland, son Jonathan of Tolland, Connecticut, daughter Lucelia Fryer of Tariffville, Connecticut, son William of Palm City, Florida, and several grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Demaris Smith Knapp, in 2005 and brother Peter J. Knapp in 2014.

 

Organist and physician Robert B. Scoggins, 83, died March 27 in Richmond, Virginia, where he and his wife of 56 years, the former Nancy Lee King, moved in 1965. The Scogginses became members of St. James’s Episcopal Church, where Bob substituted regularly on the four-manual Austin organ and twice served as interim organist. He served on organ committees at St. James’s that selected the 80-rank Rieger organ installed in 1974 and destroyed in the fire of 1994 and the 61-stop Fisk Opus 112 that was dedicated in 1999.  

A dermatologist trained at Emory and Harvard and an officer of the U. S. Public Health Service at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, where he conducted research, Dr. Scoggins came to Richmond to join the medical faculty at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University). He entered private practice in 1969, remaining as a volunteer on the medical school’s faculty, eventually as clinical professor of dermatology, until his retirement at age 70. 

Born January 18, 1933, in Athens, Georgia, he took organ lessons there before entering high school at age 12. He was appointed organist of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Griffin, Georgia, playing the 1929 Pilcher 2-manual organ while completing high school. He worked as an organist for churches in Atlanta and elsewhere during his undergraduate and medical training at Emory University, including St. Paul’s and Grace United Methodist Churches. The Scogginses were married in 1960 in Atlanta at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, where Bob was the organist. During his residency in dermatology and work as a Harvard research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Scoggins pursued his musical interests with organ lessons given by John Cook.

Bob and Nancy Scoggins served many arts and cultural organizations, including the Richmond Symphony, the Richmond Fan District Association, the Federated Arts Council of Richmond, the Virginia Opera, the Riverside School, and the Vestry and various committees of St. James’s Church. Robert Scoggins is survived by his wife Nancy, daughter Elizabeth of Richmond, son Robert and grandson Ben of Colorado, and sister Joanne Taylor of Tallahassee, Florida. ν

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Robert V. (Bob) Clement, 67, of Avondale, Pennsylvania, died November 18 after a brief illness. An electrical engineer by profession, his greatest passion was music. He started piano lessons at age five. and on a visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel at age 17 he discovered the pipe organ. He immediately began lessons and continued to play at churches for weddings and other services throughout his life. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, and moved to South Carolina after graduation to work for the DuPont Company in the Fibers Division. He served churches for 25 years, ending at Hanover Presbyterian Church.

Clement retired in 2011 after 38 years with DuPont/INVISTA. He married his interests in designing, model building, and music by building his own Hauptwerk organ in the basement of his home. He became treasurer of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival, joined the board of the Delaware American Guild of Organists chapter, and became the director of the English Cathedral Tour, which offered the chance to play pipe organs in famous cathedrals around the United Kingdom. 

Clement’s other hobbies included architecture (he designed two homes that were built in Lugoff, South Carolina), home computers, and learning about the Titanic. One of his lifelong dreams was completing a trans-Atlantic crossing by boat, which he did in 2012 during the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. He was fascinated with London, its history and cathedrals, and golf. 

Robert Clement is survived by his wife Karen Hudson of Avondale, Pennsylvania; son Chris Clement of Newark, Delaware; daughter Renee and husband Dan Roush of Haymarket, Virginia; grandchildren Megan Diehl, Davis Roush, and Maggie Roush; mother Shirley Fouts; and siblings Brian Clement, Carol Abraham, and Rosemary Schultz.

 

Richard Gordon Enright, 93, died December 23, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia. Born on November 29, 1923, in Freeport, Illinois, he had completed two years of study at the University of Dubuque when World War II broke out. Subsequently he served in Patton’s Third Army of the 26th Infantry Division from 1943 until the war ended in 1946.

Enright received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 1948, followed by a Master of Music degree a year later and a Doctor of Music in 1961. While at Northwestern, he met his future wife, Clara Mae (Sandy) Sandehn, an organist and singer. They were married in 1949. Enright served on the faculty of the School of Music at Northwestern for 35 years, becoming chairman of the department of church music and organ in 1969 and serving until his retirement in 1989, when he was named Professor Emeritus of Church Music and Organ.

Enright pursued additional study at the Royal School of Church Music in England and at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Frankfort, Germany. His text on organ instruction, Fundamentals of Organ Playing, continues in wide use. He lectured at Chicago Theological Seminary and at the Music Teachers Conference in Berkeley. He presented numerous recitals across the United States. He served as associate organist and choirmaster at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago under the direction of his teacher Barrett Spach, followed by a 22-year tenure as organist and choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church in Evanston. He then served the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest as organist for 23 years, retiring at age 70. In 2005 Dick and Sandy relocated to Atlanta to be closer to their daughter and her family. 

Richard Gordon Enright is survived by his wife of 67 years, Sandy, daughter Catharine (Walton Reeves) and son Steven (Krista) of Fort Worth, and grandsons Harrison Reeves and Kevin and Scott Enright. A memorial service was held January 6 at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Donations may be made in his memory to the Adele McKee Music Fund of Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30327.

 

Thomas Harmon, organist and educator, died November 14 at age 77 in Medford, Oregon, after a long illness. Born in Springfield, Illinois, on February 28, 1939, he began playing the piano at age 6 and organ at age 11. He played regularly at the First Methodist Church, on radio, and in local restaurants and lounges. He also is remembered for renovating the theatre organ from the Orpheum Theatre and moving it to Springfield High School.

Harmon earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in music with honors at Washington University, St. Louis, and a master’s degree in music with honors at Stanford University. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study organ in Austria with Anton Heiller. It was there that he met and married fellow Fulbright student Sue Snow in June 1964. His special research interest was the organ works of J. S. Bach.

Harmon’s academic career was devoted to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he began in 1968 as assistant professor and university organist. He went on to become full professor and served as chairman of the Department of Music for seven years. Harmon performed frequently as organist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, American Youth Symphony, UCLA Philharmonic Orchestra, UCLA Wind Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Thomas Harmon performed recitals across the United States, with broadcasts on American Public Radio, the BBC, as well as in Mexico, Japan, and numerous European countries. As university organist, he oversaw a major renovation of the UCLA concert hall organ after damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. During his tenure at UCLA he also served for 20 years as organist of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica.

Harmon retired in 2002 to Medford, Oregon, where he continued to perform in concerts and churches. He was preceded in death by his domestic partner, John Crutcher.

Thomas Harmon is survived by his brothers, Charles Harmon of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Bob Harmon of Jacksonville, Florida, and his former wife, Sue Harmon of Ashland, Oregon. A memorial service was held on November 21. Donations may be made to the American Guild of Organists/Southern Oregon Chapter, c/o Margaret Evans, 1250 Green Meadows Way, Ashland, Oregon 97520.

 

Sister Marie Juan Maney, OP, died December 2, 2016, at Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. Sister Marie Juan was born April 25, 1927, in Big Bend, Wisconsin. She made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican 1947 and her final profession in 1950. She taught music for 37 years, served as liturgist and music director for six years, and directed numerous choirs and coordinated musical events for 24 years, serving communities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota. As a liturgist and music director, she served St. Cajetan Parish, Chicago, 1984–1988, as well as St. Peter Parish, Forest Lake, Minnesota, 1988–1990. She was organist and choir director for St. Augustine Parish, Platteville, Wisconsin, 1990–2010, as well as at her motherhouse in Sinsinawa from 1990 until 2014. There, she also orchestrated the Elizabethan Dinner, the Sinsinawa Summer Organ Concert Series, and the annual Messiah concert at “Sinsinawa Mound.”

Sister Marie Juan Maney is survived by two sisters, Eileen Nettesheim and Margaret Loughney, and her Dominican Sisters with whom she shared life for 69 years. The funeral Mass for Sister Marie Juan Maney was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa, December 5. Memorials may be made to the Sinsinawa Dominicans, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, 53824-9701 or online at www.sinsinawa.org.

 

Philip D. Minnick, 68, died December 26 in Columbus, Ohio. He was born August 25, 1948, in Springfield, Ohio, and attended Capital University of Columbus, from 1966 to 1969, majoring in voice and organ studies. His interest in the pipe organ began in 1960 with the installation of an organ by
M. P. Möller in Central Methodist Church (now Faith United Methodist Church), Springfield. While in college he worked for A. W. Brandt Pipe Organ Company of Columbus. During this time, he met his future business and life partner, Robert W. Bunn, Jr. In 1969, the Bunn=Minnick Pipe Organ Company was formed in Columbus, a firm which has built organs for installations in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Philip Minnick was a founding member of the Ohio Village Singers, a member of the Columbus Maennerchor, the Broad Street United Methodist Church of Columbus, and the American Institute of Organbuilders.

Philip Minnick is survived by his business and life partner, Robert W. Bunn, Jr., of Columbus, sister Lisa of Ft. Myers, Florida, and adopted sister, Karen Freudigman of Columbus.

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James F. Hyde, Jr., of Ripon, Wisconsin, died August 1 at the age of 83. Born June 6, 1933, in Corning, New York, he earned a bachelor’s degree in German from Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1955, and master’s and doctoral degrees in German from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1957 and 1960, respectively. He taught at the University of California, Davis, and was appointed assistant professor of German at Stanford University in 1961. From 1964 until his retirement in 1999, Hyde taught at Ripon College in Wisconsin. In 1968, he founded an international study center in Germany, initially in Hamburg but later moved to Bonn. Hyde was proficient on violin, piano, and organ and was concertmaster for the Ripon College Orchestra. His expertise in architectural acoustics and organ building led to several consulting jobs for organ installations in churches; he served on the editorial board of the Acoustical Society of America. 

James F. Hyde, Jr., is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Sylvia and George Schuster, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, a niece, Katherine Schuster of Gainesville, Florida, a nephew, Thomas Schuster of Tigard, Oregon, as well as extended family members. 

 

Temple Painter, organist and harpsichordist, died August 6. He was 83. Born June 14, 1933, in Pulaski, Virginia, Painter was a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. He performed as solo organist with members of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center under Hermann Scherchen, as harpsichord soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and as solo harpsichordist for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He performed as solo pianist, harpsichordist, and organist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and concertized extensively in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

Painter was for 40 years the harpsichordist for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and for 45 years the organist at Congregation Adath Jeshurun, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Painter was also served as associate professor of music at Haverford College from 1969 to 1982, and lecturer in music at both Immaculata University and Temple University. Among his several recordings, “Temple Painter-Harpsichord Recital” (Artia-Parliament label, 1962) was cited by the New York Times in 1964 as “the most satisfying” of five harpsichord recordings reviewed that year. Painter also championed the music of American composer Harold Boatrite, recording his harpsichord music and commissioning his Harpsichord Concerto. 

Temple Painter is survived by friends and extended family.

 

Robert J. Shepfer, 96, of Indianapolis, Indiana, passed away May 26. He was born July 25, 1919, in Defiance, Ohio. He attended Wittenberg College, now University, Springfield, Ohio, and the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, Illinois. At Wittenberg, he studied with E. Arne Hovdesven, and at American with Frank Van Dusen. He met and studied with Marcel Dupré during the latter’s visits to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957 and 1961, and studied again with him in Paris in 1962 and 1964. As a recitalist, he performed throughout the Midwest and the East Coast. He was organist-choirmaster for Forest Park United Methodist Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, Michigan. From 1966 until 1996, he served as organist-choirmaster for Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis. At Second Church, he developed an extensive choir school program, with many ensembles having a waiting list to participate. The choirs frequently traveled the Midwest to present workshops and clinics. Early in his tenure, the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. installed its Opus 1490, a four-manual instrument in the church, finished in 1968. In 1974, Casavant Frères, Limitée, installed its Opus 3239, a two-manual organ in the chapel.

Robert Shepfer is survived by his wife of 66 years, Rosa Dene Shepfer, his daughter Susan David, son Graham Shepfer, and granddaughter Rosa Dene David. A memorial service was held August 6 at Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis.

The Class of 2016: 20 leaders under the age of 30

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The Diapason’s second annual “20 under 30” selections came from a field that included over 130 nominations, a response that exceeded the previous year’s. The nominees were evaluated based upon 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 merely to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves and about their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

Since we had to decline multiple nominees for each one we chose, selecting only 20 from a field of very worthy nominees was quite a challenge. We encourage you to participate in the “20 under 30” awards next year—a person must be nominated in order to be selected.

 

Stephen Buzard

Stephen Buzard, 27, was born in Urbana, Illinois, into a family of church musicians—his father is president of the Buzard Organ Company and his mother is organist-choirmaster at the Episcopal Chapel of St. John the Divine. Stephen studied organ with Ken Cowan at Westminster Choir College and served as organ scholar for Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton, and director of music for the Episcopal Church at Princeton University. He spent a year as senior organ scholar at Wells Cathedral in England. He earned a Master of Music degree from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Thomas Murray and improvisation with Jeffrey Brillhart. He served as organ scholar for Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, and as organist for Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School, and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. Stephen was appointed assistant organist to John Scott at St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue in New York City where he accompanied the choir of men and boys and assisted in the training of choristers. Following John Scott’s untimely death in August 2015, Stephen served as acting organist and director of music at St. Thomas Church, alongside his colleague Benjamin Sheen. 

Stephen has released a compact disc on the Delos label, In Light or Darkness. He won the 2010 Arthur Poister Competition and the 2009 Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance. Stephen plays recitals, leads choral workshops, and accompanies extensively.

An interesting fact: My wife Lieve and I first met at RSCM summer choir camp when we were 11 years old.

Proudest achievement: Maintaining the St. Thomas choral tradition in the wake of John Scott’s sudden passing and being able to minister to the boy choristers, most of whom had never experienced the loss of someone so intimately involved in their lives. John was their mentor, hero, and in many ways the largest figure in their lives. But we know that John would have wanted us to carry on just as he would have done, and he taught us that the calling to glorify God through music is greater than any one of us.

Career aspirations and goals: To do exactly what I am doing this year. I often say I have gotten my dream job, it just came to me by way of a nightmare. Regardless of where I serve in the future, I want to continue to teach children to worship God in song in the centuries-old tradition of being a chorister.

 

Alcee Chriss

Alcee Chriss, III, 23, a native of Dallas, Texas, is a doctoral student in organ at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where he studies with Hans-Ola Ericsson. He received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied organ with James David Christie, Olivier Latry, and Marie-Louise Langlais, and harpsichord and continuo with Webb Wiggins. He has also studied harpsichord and continuo playing with Hank Knox. In May 2015, he was the harpsichordist for Oberlin’s production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera Les Plaisirs de Versailles at the National Museum of American History and the Boston Early Music Festival. 

He won first and audience prizes in the Miami Organ Competition (2014), the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition and the Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists in 2013, and the Fort Wayne National Organ Competition in 2016, along with second prize in the 2015 Taylor National Organ Competition in Atlanta; he performed as a “Rising Star” at the 2014 national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Boston. Chriss also received a grant from Oberlin’s 1835 fund to spend January 2014 in France studying historic organs and repertoire. In June, he will compete as one of ten finalists in the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. He has performed in such venues as the Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas), John F. Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, Caruth Auditorium, St. Olaf’s Catholic Church in Minneapolis, and at the Festival Myrelingues in Lyon, France. In addition to his organ and harpsichord studies, Alcee Chriss is active as a conductor and jazz pianist.

An interesting fact: I didn’t read music well for the longest time because I was a jazz and gospel musician first and foremost. I saw my first pipe organ at the ripe age of 15, only two years before I applied to the Oberlin Conservatory. I guess it was a stroke of luck that I’ve made it this far! 

Proudest achievement: Being accepted as one of the finalists at the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. 

Career aspirations and goals: To be a concert organist and teacher, and perhaps one day go to law school and integrate my expertise in music and interest in intellectual property.

 

Kipp Cortez

Kipp Cortez, 27, is the Joseph F. Marsh Endowed Assistant Professor of Music at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia; he teaches studio organ and carillon and oversees the renovation of the 48-bell Marsh Family Carillon and the 1968 Casavant organ. He is using his 2015 Graduate Music Award from the Theodore Presser Foundation to research American composer Frederick Marriott (1901–89), who studied organ with Marcel Dupré and carillon with Jef Denyn. Cortez’s debut CD (in production) features Marriott’s compositions. A carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, Cortez holds the Master of Music in sacred music from the University of Michigan, where he has served as coordinator of carillon, and the Bachelor of Music in church music from Valparaiso University. While serving as acting parish musician for Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, Illinois, he conducted performances of Duruflé’s Requiem and Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. Kipp is a doctoral candidate in organ and sacred music at the University of Michigan, where he has studied organ with James Kibbie and Marilyn Mason. His carillon instructors include Dennis Curry of Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 

An interesting fact: I love to cook. I learned how mostly from watching my Dad. It is something we still do when we can. Like him, I love to cook with lots of spice and peppers. The more heat, the better.

Proudest achievement: During the summer of 2014, I coordinated a successful carillon recital series on the Charles Baird Carillon at Burton Tower in downtown Ann Arbor. Six other carillonneurs and myself gave recitals that drew many guests. For many of those who came out, they had never before seen a carillon. After each recital, I invited people to come upstairs to see the instrument. Watching them absorb what it is they were seeing was a real thrill. It remains a great joy for me to share the carillon with people. 

Career aspirations and goals: I have one goal: to use music to inspire people. That can take many forms: giving recitals on organ and carillon, teaching in the classroom, giving private lessons, or leading the song of the people on Sunday morning.

 

Monica Czausz

Monica Czausz, 22, is a fourth-year student of Ken Cowan at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas, where she will complete the five-year Bachelor of Music/Master of Music program in organ performance in May 2017. She was appointed cathedral organist at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), Houston, Texas in September 2015 following three years serving as cathedral organ scholar. She has received first prize in the 2015 American Guild of Organists Regional Competition for Young Organists (Region VII: Southwest), the 2015 Schweitzer Competition in the Young Professionals’ Division, as well as the 2013 William C. Hall, 2012 L. Cameron Johnson, and 2011 Oklahoma City University competitions.

An increasingly sought-after recitalist, Monica was a featured performer in 2015 at the Organ Historical Society national convention in western Massachusetts, the AGO regional convention in Fort Worth, Texas, and the East Texas Organ Festival in Kilgore, Texas. She will perform at the 2016 national convention of the AGO in Houston, Texas, both as a “Rising Star” and as cathedral organist for Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral. Additionally, she will perform at the 2016 national convention of the Organ Historical Society in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, the 2017 regional convention of the AGO in Dallas, Texas, and the 2017 AGO/Royal Canadian College of Organists regional convention in Montreal. Monica’s performances have been broadcast on WRTI Philadelphia, 91.7 Houston, and KTRU Rice Radio.

An interesting fact: I enjoy swing dancing in my spare time.

Proudest achievement: I’m proud and honored to be able to make incredible music with Robert Simpson and the Cathedral Choir at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston.

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to continue to hone my skills as a musician, both solo and collaborative, in the pursuit of realizing the most nuanced interpretations of a variety of repertoire.

 

Trevor Dodd

Trevor Dodd, 27, a native of Battle Creek, Michigan, is an organbuilder and service technician for John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois. From a young age, Trevor has manifested extraordinary interest in and ability to work with pipe organs of all kinds. He acquired and set up two pipe organs in his home before he finished high school. A 2006 E. Power Biggs Fellow of the Organ Historical Society, he studied organ at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, while earning a bachelor’s degree in construction management. During these years, he was an active freelance organ technician with clients in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. He provided restorative services for several pipe organs played at the 2012 national convention of the Organ Historical Society and thoroughly restored an Aeolian-Hammond roll-playing organ that was exhibited as a surprise addition to this convention, the first electronic organ to be exhibited at an OHS convention. Since 2014, he has been a full-time team member of the Buzard firm, where he has successfully completed significant and challenging rebuilding and restoration projects, especially in restoration of vintage electro-pneumatic actions. 

An interesting fact: I reside in Urbana, Illinois, with my beautiful wife and two rambunctious dogs.

Proudest achievement: Restoring a Hinners Harp while working with the Buzard firm.

Career aspirations and goals: I want to continue bridging the old craft of organ building with technology to make the technician’s and organbuilder’s jobs more efficient and streamlined.

 

 Joey Fala

Joey Fala, 24, is pursuing a master’s degree in organ at Yale University, studying with Martin Jean. He is a 2015 graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, with bachelor of architecture and master of science in lighting degrees. 

A native of Hawaii, he began organ studies with Katherine Crosier at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and later coached with Alfred Fedak and Christian Lane during his undergraduate career. Joey previously served as organist and choir director at First United Presbyterian Church in Troy, New York, and as organ scholar at Central Union Church in Honolulu. A recipient of the Robert T. Anderson Award and a Pogorzelski-Yankee Memorial Scholarship from the American Guild of Organists, Fala was a recitalist for the 2015 national convention of the Organ Historical Society. 

Joey Fala has worked as a designer with HLB Lighting in Boston, and in research at the Lighting Research Center in Troy. Aside from music he loves being in the water—surfing, swimming, and most recently playing water polo for the Yale team.

An interesting fact: I’m known for eating and making sushi. My college roommate and I built and ran a sushi bar out of our apartment that was frequented by fellow students and even some professors. If I had to choose another career, maybe I’d open a Japanese fusion cuisine restaurant.

 Proudest achievement: I shared a pretty proud moment with my first organ teacher when I told her I was admitted to the program at Yale, especially since we both thought I had ended my music career after graduating from high school and leaving for architecture school. Being in a music program for the first time, I am discovering how clueless I am about some pretty basic things people expect me to know as a musician, but my teachers and especially colleagues here at Yale have been amazingly supportive in helping me to learn the ropes.

Career aspirations and goals: While my knowledge of choral music is almost non-existent, being surrounded by the mega-talented performers and scholars of this repertoire at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music has really inspired me to delve into this uncharted territory of my musical knowledge. I would also love to perform abroad someday on some of the great legendary European organs.

 

Thomas Gaynor

Thomas Gaynor, 24, is a Doctor of Musical Arts (and Artist’s Certificate) candidate studying with David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he received a Master of Music degree and the Performer’s Certificate. Assistant director of music at Christ Episcopal Church, Pittsford, he works with a newly established youth chorister program, the adult choir, and with organist David Baskeyfield. 

Born in New Zealand, Thomas was Richard Prothero Organ Scholar at Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul and later honorary sub-organist. His teachers included Douglas Mews, Michael Fulcher, and Judith Clark. He later held the Maxwell Fernie Scholarship at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington.

The winner of the Third International Bach-Liszt Organ Competition in Erfurt/Weimar, Germany, Sydney International Organ Competition, and the Fort Wayne National Organ Playing Competition, Gaynor has won prizes in the St. Albans International Organ Competition, the Miami International Organ Competition, and the Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition. In 2015 he was awarded the Dr. James B. Cochran Organ Prize, an annual award to an exceptional Eastman organ student. He recently released his first CD, recorded at Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul, New Zealand. Jamal Rossi, dean of the Eastman School of Music, picked this CD as one of five recent recordings that best represent the current Eastman School sound.

An interesting fact: In my spare time I love reading about and occasionally experimenting with molecular gastronomy.

Proudest achievement: Achieving first prizes in organ competitions in three different countries on three different continents.

Goals and aspirations: To be an organist that balances a wide variety of musical activities between academia, church music, and solo and collaborative recitals.

 

Wesley Hall

Wesley Hall, 26, is a graduate of the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied organ with Martin Jean and harpsichord with Arthur Haas. He holds both a master’s degree in historical performance and a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied organ with James David Christie and harpsichord with Webb Wiggins. He has had advanced studies in improvisation with Marie-Louise Langlais and Dutch organist Sietze de Vries. Wesley has concertized in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and was the first freshman chosen to represent the organ department at the Oberlin Danenberg Honors Recital in 2009. 

An active chamber musician, he has been a featured soloist and continuo player with such ensembles as Burning River Baroque, Three Notch’d Road, Credo, the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra, and Emmanuel Music in Boston. Wesley recently completed his tenure as organ scholar at Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut, and serves as the minister of music at the First Baptist Church of Worcester, Massachusetts.

An interesting fact: I am an avid bagpiper and have marched in many a parade!

Proudest achievement: A really beloved achievement for me was riding my bicycle across the U.K. from bottom to top.

Career aspirations and goals: Among other things, I hope to learn the entire organ works of J. S. Bach . . . I’ll get back to you on that.

 

Michael Hey

Michael T. C. Hey, 25, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated in 2014 from the Juilliard School in New York City, completing accelerated five-year bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance, studying with Paul Jacobs. Within one year of his graduation, Michael joined the Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists roster. 

He is assistant director of music for St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, where he was one of two organists who played for Masses celebrated by His Holiness, Pope Francis, during his 2015 visit to New York at St. Patrick and at Madison Square Garden. Michael has performed multiple organ concertos at Lincoln Center with the Juilliard Orchestra and New York City Ballet, has played organ twice with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, has had numerous solo performances at AGO and NPM conventions, and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Kimmel Center, and the Esplanade (Singapore). 

An interesting fact: Wearing my flower print shirt, I showed up five minutes before a rehearsal on Carnegie Hall’s main stage. Then, on the backstage monitor, I saw a choir ascend the risers in tuxes and black dresses, and it occurred to me that I was actually grossly underdressed because it was actually a concert. So, in the blink of an eye, a stagehand threw me his XXL black long sleeve polo shirt and pushed me on stage.

 Proudest achievement: Having the opportunity to share my love of music with so many people by performing throughout the world, teaching, and playing for services at St. Patrick’s, where nearly six million people visit annually.

 Career aspirations and goals: I’d like to keep learning and sharing my music with others, whether it’s performing solo or collaboratively, playing organ in concert, or in church.

 

Amanda Mole

Amanda Mole, 29, is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music, where she studies with David Higgs. She earned her bachelor of music degree in organ performance with honors from Eastman, studying with William Porter, and a master of music degree from Yale University studying with Martin Jean. Prior to Eastman, Amanda studied with Larry Schipull and
Patricia Snyder. 

The first-place and audience prize winner of the 2016 Miami International Organ Competition, winner of the 2014 Arthur Poister Organ Competition and 2014 John Rodland Memorial Organ Competition, and the 2014 Peter B. Knock Award, she was a finalist in the 2015 Bach-Liszt International Organ Competition and a semifinalist in the 2014 Dublin International Organ Competition, and has been featured several times on the radio show Pipedreams LIVE!. Last year, she was a featured performer at the New Haven Regional AGO Convention. This year, Amanda will perform at the OHS Convention in Philadelphia. 

Amanda Mole serves as director of music at St. Michael’s Church in Rochester, New York, and at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, New York, where she directs the adult choirs and the handbell choir. Amanda also sings in the Schola Cantorum of Christ Church, Rochester. 

An interesting fact: I’m completely obsessed with coffee and traveling! Whenever I travel to a new place, I always scope out the third-wave coffee shops and spend all the time when I’m not practicing trying to learn more about the taste, origin, and brewing processes of different coffees. I have a favorite place in Rochester called Fuego. 

Proudest achievement: I’m probably most proud of my first-place wins at national and international competitions. Just this spring, I won my first international competition (hosted in Miami) with a unanimous vote from the judges, and received the audience prize.

 Career aspirations and goals: First and foremost, I’d like to play. The organ is an amazing instrument that’s hidden in plain sight in our society, and everyone I meet wants to know more. Their overwhelming curiosity is exciting and has convinced me of my aspirations. Whether I play in concerts, in competitions, or in church, I want to always learn new music and share it with as many people as I can reach.

 

Adam Pajan

Adam Pajan, 29, completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, in 2014, as a student of John Schwandt. There he teaches courses at several levels in organ construction, history, and design, as well as teaching students in organ performance. He earned the Master of Music degree from the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, studying with Martin Jean and Thomas Murray, and earned his undergraduate degree from Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, studying with Charles Tompkins. Pajan won the Firmin Swinnen Prize in the 2013 Longwood Gardens International Competition, as well as first prizes in the Albert Schweitzer Competition, the Arthur Poister Competition, and the Clarence Mader Competition.

 Adam Pajan’s playing has been heard at conventions of the American Institute of Organbuilders, the Organ Historical Society, and the American Guild of Organists, and he has performed across the United States and in Germany, playing in the cathedrals of Mainz, Magdeburg, Fulda, and Altenberg and other historical churches. He will return in 2016 for a subsequent tour beginning at the Jesuitenkirche in Vienna. An enthusiastic church musician, he serves as organist and choir director at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Norman, Oklahoma, and was recently appointed as artistic director and conductor of the Oklahoma Master Chorale. 

An interesting fact: When I’m not practicing, you may likely find me wildly cheering for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team.

Proudest achievement: I am proudest of having earned my DMA and secured a university teaching position immediately after graduation.

 Career aspirations and goals: I hope to continue in teaching and earn a tenure-track position where I may continue to work in areas of performing, organbuilding, teaching, and choral and church music.

 

Nathaniel Riggle

Nathaniel A. Riggle, 27, is a freelance pipe organ builder based in Portland, Oregon. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music history and literature from the Dana School of Music of Youngstown State University, where he studied piano with Caroline Oltmanns and organ with Daniel Laginya. Originally hailing from Warren, Ohio, Nathaniel’s first experience with pipe organ building was with the A. Thompson-Allen Company’s restoration of Skinner Organ Company’s Opus 582 (1926) at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, Ohio, completed in 2011. Under the guidance of Nicholas Thompson-Allen, Nathaniel learned about the design of twentieth-century American Romantic orchestral organbuilding, as well as museum-quality conservation and restoration techniques. 

He subsequently worked under Charles Kegg of Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, and most recently, as general manager of Bond Organ Builders, Inc., in Portland, Oregon, working under the guidance of Richard Bond. Nathaniel is a member of the American Institute of Organbuilders. He resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with his wife, Emma Mildred, an active organist, teacher, and conductor.

An interesting fact: In addition to building and restoring pipe organs, I am actively involved in the restoration of classic American automobiles. I have restored a 1955 Pontiac Chieftain, a 1957 Buick Special, and am currently working on a 1962 Buick Invicta. 

Proudest achievement: I’m proudest of being a facilitator of harmony in a world of discord. Hearing a pipe organ for the first time never fails to awe and amaze the hearer. I feel that the greatest satisfaction in my work is experiencing with and observing the reaction of the listeners upon their first hearing of a new instrument. 

Career aspirations and goals: My greatest career aspiration is to continue to make the pipe organ accessible to people who love and appreciate its music. My goal is to promote the pipe organ in our society by continuing to build and preserve instruments that will perform for future generations through the highest level craftsmanship I can attain. “The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.” (Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parlement of Foules)

 

Caroline Robinson

 Caroline Robinson, 24, serves as assistant organist at Rochester’s Third Presbyterian Church, working with Peter DuBois. A graduate of the Curtis Institute as a student of Alan Morrison, she is currently

pursuing a master’s degree in organ performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying with David Higgs, and serving as executive assistant for outreach within the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI). 

Caroline will return to Eastman in the fall to pursue the doctorate of musical arts. (Caroline began her organ studies with another member of the Class of 2016, Adam Pajan.) She has performed as a featured soloist with the Kansas City Symphony in addition to giving solo performances at the Kauffman Center, the Kimmel Center, and numerous churches around the country. 

Caroline is a first-prize winner of the Schweitzer Competition and
the West Chester University Competition, and a winner of a Fulbright Grant for continuing studies in Toulouse, where she studied with Michel Bouvard,
Jan Willem Jansen, and Yasuko Uyama Bouvard. In 2015 she performed at the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, the American Guild of Organists Region III convention, and the Organ Historical Society convention, for which she will perform again in 2016. She was part of a national Pipedreams broadcast in 2007 at Interlochen and in another Pipedreams program devoted to winners of the 2008 Albert Schweitzer Competition. 

An interesting fact: I come from a family of musicians: my father is a conductor and percussionist, and both my mother and sister are violinists. I also played violin for eight years.

Proudest achievement: I’m proud of the year I spent living in Toulouse, France, during which I not only made a deeper connection with the pipe organ, but I also developed a greater understanding of different cultures and the experiences that tie us together as humans. I feel this enriches my music-making, as well!

Career aspirations and goals: My philosophical goal in being an organist is to promote a healthy future for the pipe organ and for those who play it. In my career, I see myself teaching at a university, holding a position at a church, and performing around the country and abroad. I also have a vested interest in helping to coordinate festivals and events that bring organists together around the topic of instruments and the repertoire. 

 

Jonathan Rudy

Jonathan Rudy, 27, originally from Batavia, Illinois, is a candidate for the Doctor of Music degree in organ and sacred music from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, where he earned his Master of Music degree, studying organ with Janette Fishell and choral conducting with William Gray and Richard Tangyuk. His undergraduate study was at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, studying organ and sacred music with Lorraine Brugh and Karel Paukert. He has served as conductor for the Valparaiso University Men’s Chorus, the AGO Bloomington Choralfest Ensemble, and the choral and instrumental ensembles at his church positions. He is presently music director for the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Cookeville, Tennessee, and has served as organist at Central Presbyterian Church, Terre Haute, Indiana, and as associate instructor of music theory and aural skills at Indiana University.

Jonathan won first and audience prizes for the American Guild of Organists’ National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2014. He was also a finalist in the National Organ Playing Competition in Fort Wayne, and was awarded second prize in the Regional Competition for Young Organists (Quimby Competition) in 2011. He will perform at the AGO national convention in Houston this June. He has released a compact disc, Three Halls, on the Pro Organo label. Jonathan’s recital engagements are managed by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

An interesting fact: I’m fascinated by airplanes and flying; one day, I’d enjoy getting my private pilot’s license.

Proudest achievement: I’m proud that I’m happily married to my beautiful wife, Katie, who is also an organist and an incredible musician. I’m also proud to be blessed with wonderful families and friends.

Career aspirations and goals: My goal is to be providing and/or teaching sacred music and organ. My home has always been in the church and its music, so I’d especially enjoy working full time as a director of music/organist. I’d also really enjoy having the opportunity to teach the next generation of aspiring organists and sacred musicians.

 

Patrick A. Scott

Patrick A. Scott, 29, is assistant organist-choirmaster at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia, where he plays for services and Evensongs, accompanies the Cathedral Choir and Schola, and leads a chorister program under the standards of the Royal School of Church Music. In 2014, Patrick won the first and audience prizes in the American Guild of Organists’ National Competition in Organ Improvisation in Boston, Massachusetts. A native of Picayune, Mississippi,
he holds a bachelor of music degree in organ performance from Birmingham-Southern College where he studied with James Cook. As a student of Judith and Gerre Hancock, Patrick earned both a master of music and a doctor of musical arts in organ performance and sacred music from the University of Texas at Austin. He has presented recitals, workshops, hymn festivals, and masterclasses for chapters and conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. An active recitalist and accompanist,
Patrick Scott has appeared in concert and with choirs throughout the United States, France, Scotland, England, and Ireland. He has previously served churches in North Carolina, Texas,
and Alabama.

An interesting fact: I like to cook and to travel.

Proudest achievement: Completing my doctorate in music. It was something that I had always wanted to do, and that took a long time to arrive at, but I am thankful everyday that I stuck it out and completed it. 

Career aspirations and goals: I love working in the church, and I love the opportunity to help mold the next generation of musicians, whether it be choristers at church or private organ students.

 

Thomas Sheehan

Thomas Sheehan, 27, is the associate university organist and choirmaster in the Memorial Church of Harvard University. Prior to this position, Sheehan served on the music staff of St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey. Tom is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received diplomas in organ and harpsichord, studying with Alan Morrison and Leon Schelhase. While at Curtis he served as assistant organist to Peter Richard Conte on the Wanamaker Organ.

He received both the Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, as a student of Ken Cowan. He has also studied improvisation with Matthew Glandorf, Ford Lallerstedt, and Bruce Neswick. In 2009 he was awarded first prize in both the Arthur Poister National Competition in Organ Playing and the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for the Mid-Atlantic Region (Region III). In July 2010, Tom was a performer at the American Guild of Organists national convention in Washington, D. C. He has performed as an organist throughout the United States and in Europe. He served as accompanist (rehearsal and concert) for Singing City under Jeffrey Brillhart for three years and as a rehearsal accompanist/harpsichordist for Choral Arts and the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, and served as Alan Morrison’s assistant at the Philadelphia Young Artist Organ Camp, which is now in its eleventh year.

An interesting fact: While I’m from an extremely musical family, I’m the first in the family to make my living in classical music, as the rest have all been involved in rock music.

Proudest achievement: Just having been lucky enough to actually make my living making music. A part of me certainly never expected to be able to do this as a profession!

Career aspirations and goals: To be able to bring excitement about the organ to a wider audience, particularly to later generations.

 

Wyatt Smith

Wyatt Smith, 25, born in Rapid City, South Dakota, completed a Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude at the University of South Dakota, studying organ with Larry Schou. In 2015, he earned the Master of Music degree in organ performance from the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University, where he studied with Martin Jean. Wyatt is currently a doctoral student at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he studies with Carole Terry. He serves as principal organist for Calvary Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Washington. 

Wyatt has been an exceptionally prolific performer, especially for someone his age, with hundreds of performances past and on his busy calendar for the future. He performed as a “Rising Star” at the 2012 national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also committed to commissioning and performing new compositions, including the work of David Cherwien, Carson Cooman, Emma Lou Diemer, and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, among others. He frequently performs in partnership with mezzo-soprano Tracelyn Gesteland, his former voice professor, with whom he has recorded a soon-to-be-released compact disc, Make a Joyful Noise.

An interesting fact: Now that I live in the Pacific Northwest, I am becoming more of an outdoor person. I love going for walks in different parks in Seattle, when the sun is out. I even became a member of REI.

Proudest achievement: Performing for 2,200 people during the International Summer Organ Festival at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, in San Diego, California. 

Career aspirations and goals: Once I finish my doctorate, I want to find a job in which I can balance church work and teaching, while continuing to perform.

 

Jacob Street

Jacob Street, 28, is a graduate of Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude. He received the Master of Music degree in Historical Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied organ and harpsichord under James David Christie, Webb Wiggins, and Olivier Latry. He is now pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University, where he studies with Thomas Murray and Arthur Haas. 

In 2013 and 2014, Street studied in Lübeck, Germany, under a Fulbright scholarship, taking lessons on the many historical instruments there and giving recitals throughout northern Germany. A prizewinner in multiple international competitions, Jacob most recently won the Prix de la ville d’Angers in the Jean-Louis Florentz International Organ Competition. He was awarded second prize in the 2012 Dieterich Buxtehude International Organ Competition in Lübeck. In 2010, he performed as a “Rising Star” in the American Guild of Organists national convention. 

He was recently appointed director of music at St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut. He is also artistic director for les soûls d’amour, ensemble in residence at Seabury Academy of Music and the Arts, Norwalk, a lively early music ensemble of singers, strings, and hurdy-gurdy. He is a frequent contributor to The American Organist magazine, interviewing young rising stars in the organ world. As a music critic, he won the inaugural Rubin Prize for Music Criticism while at Oberlin in 2012.

An interesting fact: I’ve tried several non-keyboard instruments over the years (baritone sax, tabla) without much success. Lately I’ve been attempting to learn the gamba, inspired by my wonderful former teacher Jim Christie, who would play the air gamba to demonstrate proper French Baroque articulation (TOO-tee TOO-tee).

Proudest achievement: I’ve had the chance to do a lot of amazing things as a musician, and I owe it all to the many remarkable mentors I’ve had over the years, like John Skelton, my first teacher. But I am probably proudest of training for and running a marathon just for the heck of it. I highly recommend the whole painful thing. (And thanks to the incredible Richard Webster for
the inspiration!)

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to be involved in collaborative music of all kinds—teaching, directing church choirs both amateur and professional, performing in early music ensembles, and so on. The exchange of ideas at the heart of music is the key, for me, which is one reason I love writing about it. And finally, I will (with a nod to the great Jeff Brillhart) someday improvise a spectacular fugue at a moment’s notice. But not today.

 

David von Behren

David von Behren, 21, is the first organist to receive Cleveland Institute of Music’s (CIM) prestigious Darius Milhaud Award, given each year to a student “who displays qualities of unusual talent and creativity, sensitivity, expressiveness, strong love for and dedication to the musical arts, outstanding musical accomplishment, and evidence of academic excellence.” A native of Falls City, Nebraska, David is an organ performance/music theory double major, studying with Todd Wilson at CIM. An accomplished violinist, he served as assistant concertmaster in the New York Summer Music Festival Chamber Orchestra. As a pianist, he won first prize in the 2011 Nebraska Federation of Music Clubs Piano Competition in Omaha and other awards. He currently serves as music intern at Plymouth Church, United Church of Christ in Shaker Heights, Ohio, working with James Riggs. A winner of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award on National Public Radio’s (NPR) From the Top, in 2013 David began the “Little Stars Summer Program,” a music program for children ages 3–6, in association with NPR’s From the Top and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

David has performed with the CIM orchestra at Kulas Hall and Severance Hall, and at the Oregon Bach Festival, collaborated with Grammy-winning clarinetist Franklin Cohen at the Cleveland ChamberFest Verve Gala, and joined the Harvard Organ Society tour of France and the Netherlands. The winner of the Tuesday Music Association Organ Competition in Akron, Ohio, the Henry Fusner prize for outstanding achievement in the CIM Organ Department, and the M. Louise Miller National Organ Scholarship, he holds the American Guild of Organists Colleague certificate. His website is www.davidvonbehren.com.

An interesting fact: I’m passionate about the violin and running. As a violinist, I’ve performed in orchestra festivals at Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center. As a runner, I have a guilty pleasure for racing half marathons costumed as various superheroes. I have been recognized as Superman and Batman as of late. Captain America and Iron Man are soon to make their appearances.

Proudest achievement: I actively advocate for introducing and exciting younger audiences about classical music. In 2013, I began “The Little Stars Summer Program,” a music program for 3-11 year-old children in Falls City, in association with NPR’s From the Top and The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. In June 2015, my music program won a one-year endorsement with the National Federation of Music Clubs. Beginning May 2016, the “Little Stars Summer Music Program” will partner with First Presbyterian Church of Falls City to introduce the pipe organ to nearly fifty young children within the program’s five-day curriculum. In Cleveland, I’ve introduced “Plymouth Kids’ Koncerts,” an informal concert venue for children and youth to share their musical talents in a supportive and encouraging environment. 

Career aspirations and goals: I hope for a diverse career as a recitalist, church musician, and conservatory/university professor. Ultimately, my goal is to improve the days and lives of others through sacred music.

 

Gregory Zelek

Gregory Zelek, 24, is the first and only organist to receive Juilliard’s prestigious Kovner Fellowship, which is awarded to students whose qualifications include a “personal capacity for intellectual curiosity, commitment to the value of art in society, and potential for leadership in the field.” A native of Miami, Florida, Zelek is a graduate organ student of Paul Jacobs at the Juilliard School, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He will be pursuing an Artist Diploma at Juilliard in the fall of 2016. He has won first prize in numerous competitions and regularly concertizes throughout the United States.  

Greg performed Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the Miami Symphony Orchestra in 2011 and played Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, with both the Juilliard and the MET orchestras, in Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall, respectively, in 2012. He was also the organist for five performances of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Faust, and performed with the New World Symphony in 2014. He is the music director and organist at the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy in New York City and served as organ scholar at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York, for four years. 

An interesting fact: Although I look very American, I am half Cuban and only spoke Spanish until the age of four. I spent summers playing the organ in a village in northern Spain called Ramales de la Victoria, and now work at a bilingual church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. 

Proudest achievement: I am proudest of my collaboration with ensembles. After having performed Strauss’s Alpine Symphony with the Juilliard Orchestra, I was invited to play that work with the MET Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, and later performed Gounod’s Faust with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, and Lukas Foss’s Phorion with the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas.  

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to broaden the audience for the organ, popularizing an instrument that is often misunderstood even by other classical musicians. I would also like to change the notion of the instrument as insular by presenting it in atypical performances and collaborating with other artists.

 

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Raymond Daveluy, Canadian organist, composer and teacher, died September 1. He was 89. As a youth he studied with his father, organist and bandmaster Lucien Daveluy. Daveluy studied music theory with Gabriel Cusson and organ with Conrad Letendre in Montréal and with Hugh Giles in New York City. Daveluy presided over the 5-manual 1960 Beckerath organ at the Oratoire Saint-Joseph on Mont-Royal in Montréal from 1960 until 2002. He served as president of the Académie de musique du Québec and director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

 

Peter Jay Hopkins, 57, died September 26. Born April 14, 1959, in Frankfort, Michigan, he was a singer, conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and a noted music and biblical scholar. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees with subsequent doctoral work at Michigan State University and studied with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany. He served the Oregon Bach Festival for thirty years as chorus master, harpsichordist, organist, vocal coach, and singer, winning a Grammy Award in 1997. He served as associate professor of music at Kalamazoo College and artistic director and conductor of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival. With his wife, Paula Pugh Romanaux, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to serve as minister of music for Westminster Presbyterian Church, director of the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, chorus master of the Grand Rapids Symphony, and founder of the Michigan Bach Collegium. Peter and Paula moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be co-directors of music for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church for 12 years. In 2014, Hopkins became director of music for St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia; he directed the Virginia Girls Choir and founded the Virginia Boys Choir. Peter Jay Hopkins is survived by his wife, Paula Pugh Romanaux, daughter Hannah Grace Hopkins, brothers James, Randy, Jeff, Paul, and Verne, sisters, Linda and Lynn, and their spouses and partners. 

 

Robert Burns King, 78, died September 27 in Burlington, North Carolina. Born in 1938, he grew up in Conway, South Carolina, where he began to play for Episcopal and Methodist churches. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music and French at Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, and a master of sacred music degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he studied organ with Vernon de Tar. He studied as a Fulbright Scholar in 1961–62 with Maurice Duruflé and Jean Langlais and was the first American to win the Prix de Virtuosité from the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Later, he studied in Germany with Michael Schneider.

His early career was spent as organist for churches in Greenville, South Carolina, Rockaway Beach, New York, and in Paris. After a year of teaching at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, he served for 45 years as organist-choirmaster for an extensive music program at Burlington’s First Presbyterian Church, retiring in 2007. During this time he taught at Elon College (now University), Elon, North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G). He was a consultant for various new organ projects, including Schantz and Andover organs at the First Presbyterian Church and for an Andover organ at UNC-G. He performed recitals across the United States as well as in Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, and Portugal.

Robert Burns King is survived by a brother-in-law, Daniel Burn Shelley, Jr., a niece and nephew, Susan Shelley Sisk and husband Mike, and Daniel Burn Shelley, III, and wife April, and extended family. 

 

Arthur D. Rhea Jr., former organist and choirmaster for 23 years at the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore and organ faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory, died August 14 of cancer at his home. He was 97. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Rhea studied music for two years at what is now Carnegie Mellon University, and also studied organ for two years with Carl Weinrich at the Delacroze School of Music in New York City. During World War II, Rhea served in Europe as a field artillery officer with Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.’s 3rd Army. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of captain. In 1949, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Yale University and in 1950 received a master’s in music from Yale. He studied further at the Berkshire Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Salzburg Music Festival, where he studied conducting under Herbert von Karajan.

In 1950, Rhea was named organist and choirmaster at historic Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1951 he was appointed music consultant and resident harpsichordist for Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., which provided him in 1953 a research grant to study 18th-century music at the British Museum in London. He was also instructor in organ at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and performed regularly at the Governor’s Palace, including command performances for such figures as England’s Queen Mother and the Crown Prince of Belgium.

Rhea came to Baltimore in 1961 when he was appointed organist and choirmaster at Redeemer. In 1963 he joined the Peabody Conservatory organ faculty, retiring in 1984. Rhea’s compositions included Toccata on an American Folk Tune, Te Deum Laudamus, and Psalm T wenty-Four. He also served on the Service Music Committee, which compiled and edited The Hymnal 1982 of the Episcopal Church. He was a past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians.

Arthur D. Rhea, Jr., is survived by his wife, Dorothea Rhea, sons Clifton L. Rhea and R. Douglas Rhea, and eight grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Arthur D. Rhea, III, in 2004.

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Jonathan E. Biggers, associate professor of music and Edwin Link Endowed Professor in Organ and Harpsichord at Binghamton University, died unexpectedly on September 27 at his home in Vestal, New York. Born on February 10, 1960, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to Robert E. and Margaret V. Biggers, Jonathan earned bachelor and master degrees in music from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music. He was awarded a Fulbright grant to study at the Conservatory of Music in Geneva, Switzerland. He won a unanimous first prize at the 1985 Geneva International Pipe Organ Competition, and also won the 1990 Calgary International Organ Festival Concerto Competition. Biggers presented hundreds of concerts in church and university settings throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, appeared as the featured soloist with orchestras in both the U. S. and Canada, and was featured many times on NPR “Pipedreams,” the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, and on radio and Television Suisse Romande broadcasts in Geneva, Switzerland. Jonathan E. Biggers is survived by his brother and sister in law, Fred and Caroline Biggers of Staunton, Virginia, and their children Claire and Sam to whom he was simply Uncle Jonathan.

 

George Bernard Bryant, Jr., died October 9 at the age of 77 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Born June 17, 1939, in Nyack, New York, Bryant began playing the organ at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Nyack, while in high school, before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ. He returned to Nyack to serve as organist for St. Ann’s Church from 1966 until retirement in 2014. He was a founding member of the Rockland County Music Teachers Guild and served on the music commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. In 1978, he became organist of Temple Beth Torah, continuing until 2014. In 1992, Bryant formed the Rockland County Catholic Choir, an organization that has toured Europe and Canada on several occasions. The George Bryant scholarship was created in 1997 to promote organ students and their studies. 

 

Emily Ann Cooper-Gibson died at her home in Marshall, Texas, on May 19, 2016, after an extensive illness. Born in 1935, she won the American Guild of Organists National Competition at the 1956 national convention in New York City. She studied with Robert Ellis at Henderson College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas (BM, 1957), David Craighead at the Eastman School of Music (Performer’s Certificate and MM, 1961; DMA, 1969), and André Marchal in Paris, France (Fulbright Fellow, 1958–59). Cooper-Gibson taught at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, and Hardin-Simmons University, Abeline, Texas, and served at churches in Abeline, Texas; Rochester, New York; Washington, D. C.; Potomac and Bethesda, Maryland; and McLean, Virginia. From 1957 through 1998 she played recitals throughout the United States and Europe. Active in the AGO, she served as dean of several chapters. Emily Ann Cooper-Gibson is survived by Gerald Gibson, her husband of over 50 years.

 

James A. Wood of Concord, New Hampshire, died October 16 at the age of 90. He was born on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, February 8, 1926. After graduating from Nantucket High School he studied at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, majoring in organ with E. Power Biggs and George Faxon, and choral conducting with Sarah Caldwell. During World War II he served as an Army medic in Europe. After the war he continued his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and Trinity College in London, England.

He served as director of music at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Nashua, New Hampshire, for 23 years, and at Saint Paul’s Church in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1970 until his retirement. In 1956 he joined the faculty of Saint Paul’s School in Concord and became head of the music department and director of chapel music in 1970. In 1955, he was a founder of the Actorsingers of Nashua, a community group of vocalists and actors producing musicals and operettas. He was a dean of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and was named honorary member in 2008. He was also a president of the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association.

James A. Wood was pre-deceased by his wife, Constance A. Wood, a daughter, Licia A. O’Conor, and a grandson, Alexander. A memorial service was held at the Old Chapel at St. Paul’s School on October 22. Donations in his memory may be made to St. Paul’s School Music Department, 325 Pleasant Street, Concord New Hampshire 03301, or St. Paul’s Church Food Pantry, 21 Centre Street, Concord, New Hampshire 03301.

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Nunc Dimittis

Harry Huber, 102, of Salina, Kansas, died January 13. He was born January 17, 1914, in Gibbstown, New Jersey. He studied at Temple University and Boston University, earning degrees in piano, music theory, and organ. His organ studies took him to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Köln, Germany. In 1945, Huber moved to Hutchinson, Kansas, to become director of music for First United Methodist Church. That year, he married Sara Watson. Two years later he accepted a position teaching music at Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, retiring in 1979 after 32 years of service. At the age of 96, he retired as organist of University United Methodist Church of Salina, after 58 years of service. A 33rd degree Mason, he was organist of the local Scottish Rite organization. 

Harry Huber is survived by his wife of 71 years, Sara Huber; nieces Sara Gault of Salina, Carole Gray and husband Milton of The Villages, Florida, and Jeanne Watson-Smith and husband Kirby of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; great-niece Mollie Purcell and husband Ben; great-great nephews Gage Roberts and Carter Purcell. A funeral service was held January 23 at University United Methodist Church, Salina. Memorial gifts may be made to the Huber Music Scholarship Fund, Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina.

 

Vaughan Ramsey, 102, died August 3, 2016, in New Suffolk, New York. Born in 1914 in Atlanta, Georgia, he studied organ with Joseph Ragan at All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta, where he served as assistant organist and junior choir director. Two years later, at age 17, he became organist at St. Mark’s Methodist Church, Atlanta, which he served for seven years. He received a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied organ with Alexander McCurdy. While at Curtis he was appointed organist at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Hamilton Village, Philadelphia, which had recently installed a new Aeolian-Skinner organ (1937).

In 1939 Ramsey was invited by a W. W. Kimball Organ Company representative to audition for the minister of music position at Flatbush Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York, where Kimball had recently rebuilt its 1912 organ. While serving this church, he continued his organ studies with David McKay Williams at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan. In 1942, Tompkins Avenue Congregational Church merged with Flatbush Church, and Ramsey was retained as music director of the Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church that, with over 4,000 members, became the largest Congregational church in the country. He directed a choir of more than 30 singers with paid section leaders. He was also organist at Temple Ahavath Sholom in Flatbush.

He married Margaret Irvine, the Tompkins Avenue church secretary retained in the merger. In 1975 he and Margaret retired to their summer home in New Suffolk, New York. Soon after, he was invited to become organist and choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church in Southold, New York. He remained there 22 years, resigning in January 1997. He then became organist at First Universalist Church of Southold, where he served for seven years until 2004, when eye problems prevented him from driving.

In addition to being an organist and choir director, Ramsey composed many choral and organ pieces for use in his various churches. Excessive modesty prevented him from publishing any of them, and he later destroyed most of the manuscripts. His estate intends to donate the relatively few surviving pieces to the Curtis Institute archives.

Ramsey also had a keen amateur interest in organ building, both theoretical and practical. Under his leadership, several projects for expansion of the organ at Flatbush-Tompkins Church came to fruition. Using recycled pipes and keyboards and new all-electric windchests which he built and wired, he made a small practice organ for his office at the church, a larger one for his home in Brooklyn, and later a still larger one for the church auditorium. He removed these when he retired and installed them in his New Suffolk home. After the death of his wife in 1982, he built and installed in her memory a chancel division for the organ at the Southold Presbyterian Church. In 2000, while at the Southold Universalist Church, he added a division of pipes to augment the resources of the existing organ.

Ramsey is survived by his daughter, Anne Vermeulen, of Belgium; four grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and several cousins by marriage.

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