The Diapason "20 Under 30" 2019

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.

The Diapason staff

The Diapason’s sixth “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 2024 for our Class of 2025. 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 2023.

Theodore Cheng

Theodore Cheng is a Hong Kong-born organist and composer with a diverse range of interests and projects that extends well beyond the realm of music. Theodore is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at The Juilliard School, studying with Paul Jacobs under full funding as a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow. Prior to arriving at Juilliard, he attained a Master of Music degree at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Craig Cramer. Theodore is a prizewinner at the 2022 Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Young Professional Competition and the 2022 Fort Wayne National Organ Playing Competition, and he has performed across three continents, specializing in pre-Baroque and contemporary repertoire. As a composer, his choral and organ works have been performed by choirs and ensembles in the United States and in Hong Kong.

An interesting fact: I enjoy visiting art museums, and I occasionally sing Gregorian chant in a schola. I also like to cook and have long endeavored to make the perfect French omelette, a goal that has so far eluded me.

Proudest achievement: Through my performances and collaborative projects, in which I endeavor to present a highly varied palette of styles from the Renaissance to the modern day, I feature commissions and my own compositions. I savor the meaningful connections a sincere and heartfelt performance could make between audiences and music that may be familiar or completely new to them.

Career aspirations and goals: I aspire to teach organ, music theory, and music history at the tertiary level and serving as an organ teaching consultant for emerging organ audiences and communities in southeast Asia. A simultaneous aim would be to work as an advocate for new organ music, especially of east Asian composers. I also look forward to spending more time exploring historical organ improvisation and writing choral music.

Website: www.theodorecheng-organist.com.

Asriel Davis

Asriel Davis is a Master of Music degree candidate at Syracuse University studying with Annie Laver. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, he quickly fell in love with music, playing piano and organ from the age of six. He began to show much promise in both instruments by his teen years, accompanying his high school choir and playing all around the metro Atlanta area.

He went on to study under Wayne Bucknor at Oakwood University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in piano performance. With a love for sacred music, Asriel has worked and played for many churches around the nation. He recently worked under James Abbington as organist and pianist at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta. He currently serves as organist for Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York.

Having accompanied world-renowned groups such as The Aeolians of Oakwood University and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers under the direction of Jason Max Ferdinand, he has shown he is equally suitable for performing solo or accompanying vocalists and choirs. With these groups, Asriel has traveled the nation and around the world playing organs and accompanying. He has played in Europe, South Africa, the Bahamas, and elsewhere. His skill set is vast and varied, ranging from Baroque to modern-era music. Asriel is quickly making a name for himself across genres with his exceptional talent and versatility. With his dedication, he continues to make waves in the music world. Whether performing solo or collaborating with other musicians, his passion for music is undeniable, and his future is bright.

An interesting fact: I love working on cars with my Dad in my free time.

Proudest achievement: I am simply most proud of how far I’ve come on my musical journey.

Career aspirations and goals: I plan to work in the church and teach. I will also work with professional choirs, singing and playing. Another goal is to become a commercial voice actor.

Nathan Elsbernd

Nathan Elsbernd is a church musician who supports community-centered music. He devoted the early part of his career to subbing at various North and Northeast Iowa churches in order to build a broad base of experience. His research focuses on community, hospitality, and their intersections with hymnody. Nathan enjoys interrogating the theology behind the music and texts.

Nathan serves as the first Luther College Church Music Fellow and choir and bell director at Decorah Lutheran Church. While serving as the church music fellow, he has promoted and coordinated the involvement of music students to expand the reach of bi-weekly chapel services. Nathan also works for the Luther College music department as a collaborative pianist, teaches organ lessons through the Luther College Community Music School, and sings in the Nordic Choir. During his time at Luther, he studied with Gregory Peterson and Alexander Meszler. Nathan will receive his Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College in May 2023 as a music major and religion minor.  

An interesting fact: This summer I will be fighting forest fires in Northeast California. 

Proudest achievement: I’m proud of my efforts to help various aging organs sing for their respective congregations that struggle to find organists.  

Career aspirations and goals: I hope to continue researching the intersection between church communities and music and plan to apply the insights learned to the programs at my future church position. I want to collaborate with clergy to help develop new hymns and liturgy settings that are grounded in an inclusive theology for today’s world. I believe that the organ has the potential for great vitality in the future and plan to spend my life promoting easier accessibility to organs and mentoring and teaching young organists.

Dominic Fiacco

Praised for the “remarkable sensitivity in his interpretations” and his “technical mastery” (American Guild of Organists Eastern New York Chapter newsletter), eighteen-year-old Dominic Fiacco has been playing organ since the age of eight. Fiacco studies with Stephen Best, lecturer in music at Hamilton College and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Utica, New York. In May 2018 he performed at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City. The following year he played at the Cadet Chapel at West Point, New York, home to the world’s third largest organ. He has also attended several summer intensives in Philadelphia, where he studied with Alan Morrison, who teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music, and with Peter Richard Conte, organist at the Wanamaker Organ in Macy’s, the second largest organ in the world.

Fiacco also studies piano with Sar-Shalom Strong, lecturer at Hamilton College. He has won multiple prizes in several piano competitions and has also performed several times on the Society for New Music’s Rising Stars programs on organ and piano.

The oldest of seven siblings, Fiacco is a homeschooled high school senior who has been accepted to multiple conservatories. He is pursuing a career in
organ performance.

An interesting fact: I like to go on solitary walks in the hills surrounding my rural village, sometimes hiking for a couple of hours at a time. The occasional snowmobiler may ride by, and I may pass through an Amish farm, but otherwise I’m alone. I occasionally stop to take photos of the landscape. Sunsets are especially stunning when viewed from the top of a snow-covered hill.

Proudest achievement: I am grateful to have performed on several major organs, such as the organ at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City and the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. It’s an honor to have played the Wanamaker, with its rich variety of sounds and unique setting. It was awe-inspiring to set hands on the legendary instrument that Marcel Dupré, Virgil Fox, and so many others have admired. I especially like its many rows of string and harp stops.

Career aspirations and goals:  I aspire to land a church job, since I have a strong interest in the liturgy, especially sacred music. I also intend to teach at some point. However, my main goal is to become a concert organist. Performers really have the ability to inspire people. I enjoy making emotional connections with audiences. It’s fascinating how a piece they may have never heard before, such as César Franck’s Prelude, Choral, and Fugue for piano, can resonate with them so much that they begin crying. I’d like to spend my life inspiring thoughts and emotions in people.

Anna Gugliotta

Anna Gugliotta is an organist, pianist, and teacher based in Central New Jersey. She graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University in 2022 where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance studying with Renée Anne Louprette. She was awarded the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award from Rutgers University for excellence in music performance. Upon her graduation, Ms. Gugliotta was appointed full-time director of sacred music at the Parish of Saint Thomas More in Manalapan, New Jersey, where she is principal organist and directs the adult, youth, and handbell choirs. In addition, she also has a passion for teaching and maintains a private piano and organ studio.

Anna Gugliotta participated in the University of Michigan Organ Conference (2019), the Church Music Association of America Sacred Music Colloquium in Philadelphia (2019), and the Catholic Sacred Music Project (2021 in Philadelphia, and 2022 in Menlo Park, California). She was awarded second place in the RCYO competition (Regions I and II) in 2020. Ms. Gugliotta has performed in organ masterclasses with Alcée Chriss, David Higgs, and Stephen Tharp.

An interesting fact: I enjoy doing different craft projects, the latest of which is paint-by-diamond kits. Similar to paint-by-number pictures, a special tool is used to pick up small, plastic “diamonds” and place them on color-coded spaces. It can sometimes be tedious, but I find it to be pretty relaxing, and I like how the final products turn out!

Proudest achievement: One thing that I am most proud of achieving is starting a youth choir at my current church job. Having primarily a keyboard background, it was a completely new experience for me to plan, advertise, form, and rehearse this new ensemble, but it has been a really exciting project! Planning for this choir began last summer, and then the ensemble was formed the following September. I currently have ten children that attend weekly rehearsals and sing at Masses twice each month, plus an additional 15–20 children that joined for Christmas and Easter. The children have successfully sung a variety of music (Gregorian chant, traditional hymns, and contemporary pieces) and especially enjoy singing in Latin! Several of the children are also learning how to serve as a cantor during Mass, and it has been very rewarding to see these children not only excited to learn about music, but also to learn more about their Catholic faith.

Career aspirations and goals: I’m not exactly sure what my future will look like, but I definitely see myself continuing to work in sacred music. I’ve felt like that was my calling since middle school, and I truly enjoy working as a church musician because it combines sharing my personal faith with musical collaboration!

Amelie Held

Known for her red organ shoes, organist Amelie Held quickly became an internationally acclaimed artist. She recently debuted at some of Germany’s major cathedrals and concert halls, such as the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Philharmonie Essen, and the international Speyer cathedral recital series. Her solo concert activities include performances in the world’s most important music centers, such as Milan, Paris, Zurich, London, Boston, New York, and Saint Petersburg (Mariinsky Concert Hall).

Raised in Munich, Germany, in a non-musician family, Amelie released her debut album in 2019 at the young age of twenty-two. She has won several prizes at international organ competitions and was one of the youngest finalists of the prestigious French Concours International de Chartres (2018). She has a broad repertoire, both as a soloist and with orchestra and chamber ensemble, ranging from early music to contemporary compositions as well as her own transcriptions.

Currently living in New York City, she is pursuing her Artist Diploma studies at The Juilliard School with Paul Jacobs. In addition to music, Amelie is passionate about literature and speaks four languages. In her free time, she indulges in dancing, working out, or riding motorcycles.

An interesting fact: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in violin.

Proudest achievement: I am proud of having followed my passions and dreams of becoming a professional musician, even though it was never an easy path to pursue, especially coming from an entirely non-musical background.

Career aspirations and goals: Simply put, I want to make the organ more popular again and get rid of the many stereotypes that we organists are being confronted with! I hope to free the instrument from its dusted image and make it more accessible to the audience! I want to pass my passion and knowledge about this instrument on to everyone who thinks the organ is boring—and everyone else as well, obviously.

Amelie’s website: www.amelieheld.com; Instagram: amelieheld_org.

Katherine Jolliff

Katherine Jolliff is an organist from Indianapolis, Indiana. She began piano studies at the age of five and started learning the organ in her freshman year of high school with Marco Petricic (University of Indianapolis). After completing her first two years of high school, she finished her studies at Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, Michigan. She majored in piano performance and organ performance and studied organ with Thomas Bara. Graduating with honors and the Fine Arts Award in Organ Performance, Katherine is currently attending Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, as an organ performance major studying under David Higgs.

In addition to being declared a winner at an AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists, she has also won first prize in the East Carolina University Young Artists Competition in organ performance (including the Bach Interpretation Prize and the Hymn Playing Award) as well as first place in the 2021 M. Louise Miller and Paul E. Knox Scholarship Competition. Most recently, she won first place in the Immanuel Lutheran Church Organ Scholar Competition in Evanston, Illinois, and the Taylor Organ Competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

An interesting fact: When I’m not practicing, I’m frequently hanging around (quite literally!) in the local circus school practicing aerial silks and other aerial apparatuses. I’m currently teaching both kids and adults who are just starting out on their aerial journeys.

Proudest achievement: I think what I am proudest of varies day to day. While I am of course proud of the competitions and recitals I have done, I find those achievements pale in comparison to the small choices and risks that I do and make daily. I’m proud of myself years ago, who chose to take a risk by trying an instrument that I wasn’t necessarily going to be good at. Despite setbacks and general insecurity, I decided to pursue something that I love with my whole being.

Career aspirations and goals: The end goal of my musical journey is to lead a life that helps inspire other people, both in music as well as in life. I plan to do this through a combination of teaching and performing as well as being a good role model as a musician and as a person.

Alex Jones

Alex Jones is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Houston, Texas, where he studies with Daryl Robinson and holds a graduate teaching fellowship. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, holding a Master of Music degree in organ performance and literature. He earned a bachelor’s degree in organ performance from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UK.

Before emigrating to the United States, Alex was a recipient of numerous awards including the Birmingham Symphony Hall Organ Scholarship and the Manchester Cathedral Organ Scholarship. Since emigrating, he has gone on to win several major awards including third prize at the 2022 Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition in Atlanta, George; second prize at the 2017 West Chester University International Organ Competition; third prize of the 2018 Royal College of Organists National Competition; and first prize of the 2017 American Theatre Organ Society’s (ATOS) “Young Artist” Competition. 

He is very active as both a classical concert organist and theatre organist, having performed in major venues across Europe and the United States, including as a featured artist at several ATOS conventions, and is currently serving as organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.

An interesting fact: I am a keen amateur sailor, and I love the game of snooker, which is a popular British sport. It’s similar to pool but played on a larger table and is more strategy based.

Proudest achievement: I would say my proudest achievement so far is winning the third prize at the Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition in Atlanta last year. This was my first really major international competition, and I was not expecting to have been selected as one of the six out of seventy-two candidates for the audition round, let alone to have come away with a prize.

Career aspirations and goals: My aspirations and goals for the future are to become a permanent resident of the United States and to continue my work as a performer, both as a classical and theatre organist, as a church musician, a teacher, and as an organ designer and consultant.

Instagram handle: aj_organist.

Caitlyn Koester

Caitlyn Koester is a harpsichordist and music director active in the early music communities of the Bay Area and New York City. Her international duo, AKOYA, releases its first album of Graupner’s complete sonatas for violin and harpsichord under the ATMA Classique label in fall 2023. Caitlyn holds degrees from the University of Michigan, San Francisco Conservatory, and The Juilliard School, and is on collegiate and pre-college faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Recent engagements include vocal coach and continuo of I Cantori di Carmel’s Vocal Academy and performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio around Northern California, and chamber music with musicians of Severall Friends in Santa Fe and Musica Angelica in Los Angeles.

An interesting fact: I have a two-year-old Great Pyrenees mix named Polyphony!

Proudest achievement: A lot of my proudest achievements are non-musical, but one of my proudest musical achievements thus far is being given the opportunity to teach theory and history classes at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Teaching has always been a vital part of my musical life, and the students at both the pre-college and collegiate level in the SFCM community are extremely talented, positive, and collaborative. It is a joy and an honor to be in my second year teaching at SFCM.

Career aspirations and goals: Teaching and performing have always been equally important parts of my life. I believe that they can maintain a mutually beneficial relationship in a musician’s life, informing and influencing each other with each new concert or class taught, and I hope to further both parts of my career. This winter I have taken DMA auditions in order to continue learning and developing both parts of my musical career, and upon receiving admissions results this spring I will be enrolling in a doctoral program for fall 2023.

Websites: caitlynkoester.com, akoyaduo.com.

Carson Landry

Carson Landry is one of the few students in the world currently pursuing a master’s degree in carillon, studying at the University of Michigan with Tiffany Ng and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. Previously, he earned a diploma from the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, while on a Fulbright scholarship, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music studies from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. His focus is on playing an active role as a musician in movements for social good, diversifying the carillon repertoire through commissioning and performing works by historically underrepresented composers, and improvising, particularly to fulfill audience requests for popular music by diverse artists. 

The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) awarded him and Grace Ann Lee its Student Composer/Performer Pair Grant, and he serves the GCNA on the Professionalism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and as a typesetter for music publications. A native of Orlando, Florida, Carson has held fellowships at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, and at the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon in Springfield, Illinois, and has given concerts in the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Lithuania.

An interesting fact: I’m an avid Trekkie!

Proudest achievement: Peaking a 14,000-foot-tall mountain despite not being athletic in the least.

Career aspirations and goals: I’m pursuing a full-time career in carillon performance.

Social links: https://linktr.ee/carilloncarson.

John Miller

John Miller received his training in pipe organ building through a 3-1⁄2-year apprenticeship under Germany’s dual education system for the trades. He received practical training at Johannes Klais Orgelbau in Bonn and education in organbuilding theory at the Oscar-Walcker-Schule in Ludwigsburg. John earned his journeyman certification in pipe organ building through the Industrie- und Handelskammer Bonn in February 2019 after examination.

In March 2019, John returned to his hometown of Milwaukee and started his own business. Along with maintaining around 100 pipe organs across the state, John’s workshop specializes in the restoration of self-playing mechanical organs (such as organ clocks, orchestrions, and street organs)—with a special emphasis on those operated by pinned cylinders. John is an organ advocate seeking to introduce new audiences to the organ through creative installations of pipe organs and automated mechanical music instruments.

An interesting fact: I am an urban beekeeper and am interested in sustainable homesteading.

Proudest achievement: I passed my journeyman’s exam, got married, and started the organ business all in the same year—then kept the business, still in its infancy, open and growing through the pandemic the following year!

Career aspirations and goals: Several monumental orchestrions were either destroyed in the World Wars or are currently in a state where conservation is more important than functional restoration. I would like to build copies (or close copies) of these instruments so they can inspire audiences once again.

Website: www.MillerOrganClock.com.

Victoria Shorokhova

Originally from Russia, Victoria Shorokhova graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with diplomas in piano in 2016, studying with Vladimir Shakin, and in organ in 2017, studying with Daniel Zaretsky. In 2019, she earned a master’s degree at Saint Petersburg State University, majoring in historical performance on keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, and carillon). In 2022, she received a Master of Music degree in organ performance at Georgia State University, studying with Jens Korndörfer, serving as a music intern at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta during her studies. Starting in January of this year Victoria has been pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at the University of Houston, studying with Daryl Robinson and holding an organ scholar position at Saint Luke’s United Methodist Church.

Victoria is a laureate of numerous international organ competitions, including the XXVI International Competition of Sacred Music in Rumia, Poland (2014, second prize), and the II International Braudo Organ Competition in Saint Petersburg (2019, first prize and special prize). She has participated in organ academies at Alkmaar, the Netherlands (2013), Graz, Austria (2014), Kotka, Finland (2015), and masterclasses with Ludger Lohmann, Arvid Gast (Germany), Gunther Rost, Johann Trummer (Austria), Iain Quinn (United States), Lorenzo Ghielmi (Italy), and Isabelle Demers (Canada). Victoria actively concertizes in Russia and the United States; her recent performances include venues such as Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and Saint Thomas Church in New York City and the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco.

An interesting fact: When I was 16, I created a rock band in about three weeks. We only had one gig, performing some covers on the Beatles’ songs, and I was the lead vocal. Funny, I lost interest to being in a band after this event, and have rarely played guitar since then.

Proudest achievement: I was born in a small settlement in Russia, where the biggest dream would be moving to the regional capital. I couldn’t imagine myself relocating halfway across the planet to continue my education and career development, and I’m proud to be where I am right now. It took a lot of persistence and courage to get to this point, and I will continue working. However, achieving all this wouldn’t be possible without support of my family and many good people that I meet here in the States (and a sparkle of pure luck).

Career aspirations and goals: I love being involved in music making whether it’s playing organ, or piano, or singing in a choir. My major goals are sharing the gift of music as a church musician and a concert performer, and teaching.

Nicholas Stigall

Nicholas Stigall, 22, is a senior majoring in organ performance at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he is a recipient of the Barbara and David Jacobs Scholarship and studies with Janette Fishell. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, he began organ lessons with Edie Johnson at the age of fifteen. Nicholas has been the recipient of many awards in organ performance competitions, including first prize in the 2019 RCYO Southeast Region and second prize in the 2022 Arthur Poister Competition. A passionate church musician, Nicholas currently serves as music intern at Trinity Episcopal Church, Bloomington, Indiana, where he formerly served for three years as undergraduate organ scholar under Marilyn Keiser. He is currently dean of the Bloomington Chapter of the AGO. Additionally, Nicholas was the organ scholar at the Chautauqua Institution for the 2022 season under the direction of Joshua Stafford. Throughout the nine-week season, he assisted in the service music for seven weekly choral services and also played three solo recitals. Nicholas looks forward to returning to Chautauqua again as organ scholar for the 2023 season.

In his free time, Nicholas enjoys exercising and drinking tea.

An interesting fact: I used to be a competitive gymnast and was on the Junior National Team.

Proudest achievement: I am probably proudest of winning the Southeast RCYO in 2019 while still a high school student.

Career aspirations and goals: I have always been equally passionate about performing organ literature and doing sacred music. I aspire to have a career in church music, while concertizing on the side and maybe teaching organ at the university level.

Joel Stoppenhagen

Joel Stoppenhagen is a native of rural Ossian, Indiana. His organ instruction began at age 11, his first teachers being Richard Brinkley and Randall Wurschmidt. In high school, Joel attended Lutheran Summer Music at Valparaiso University for two summers, where he studied with Chad Fothergill. During the summer of 2022 he served on the worship staff of the same program.

In December 2023, following a semester abroad at Westfield House seminary in Cambridge, Joel will graduate from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. During his time at Valparaiso University, he took lessons with Sunghee Kim and Stephen Schnurr and held several leadership roles in the university’s AGO chapter. He also worked in the university archives cataloging the works of the late Philip Gehring, longtime university organist, and in his work uncovered a transcription of a Langlais improvisation on “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” which was later published in CrossAccent, the journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. His other publications include organ music reviews for The Diapason and a score preface (co-authored with Katharina Uhde and Ryan Gee) for the publisher Musikproduktion Höflich. At the 2022 Association of Lutheran Church Musicians regional conference in Valparaiso, Joel gave a plenary address on the topic of youth and traditional church music and was a panelist for a discussion on the subject. He currently serves as director of music at Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Chesterton, Indiana.

An interesting fact: I grew up on an historic family farm established in 1895. My father and uncle raise beef cattle and all of the typical Indiana crops. I grew up being fascinated with antique farm machinery and equipment—and I still am!

Proudest achievement: I am most proud of my improvisation skills, which I’ve been honing my whole musical career. While I still have much to learn, I am certainly pleased with what I am able to invent.

Career aspirations and goals: Following graduation from Valparaiso University, I plan to pursue a graduate degree in sacred music or organ performance. It is then my intent to work at a Lutheran church, fulfilling my vocation as Kantor. My sole aspiration is to continue to serve Christ’s church through the noble art of music.

Alexander Straus-Fausto

Working on his master’s degree in organ performance at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, New Haven, Connecticut, Alexander Straus-Fausto, from Kitchener, Ontario, is thrilled to be studying under the direction of Martin Jean and playing on Yale’s Newberry Memorial Organ. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree at McGill University Schulich School of Music and his secondary school studies at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy. While still a teenager, Straus-Fausto undertook a Canada Council-funded summer 2019 concert tour of the UK, playing in historic churches and cathedrals. He has further expanded the organ’s reach by creating more than fifty original transcriptions of major orchestral works, reflecting his passion for the symphonic organ as a virtually unlimited medium for artistic expression. This summer he will be one of ten finalists at the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He has performed at venues such as Washington National Cathedral, Maison Symphonique, Trinity Church Wall Street, and Woolsey Hall. Alex credits his organ teachers, Martin Jean, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Alcée Chriss, Jonathan Oldengarm, Isabelle Demers, Christian Lane, Thomas Bara, Peter Nikiforuk, and Joe Carere.

An interesting fact: I love mountain biking and roller coasters! Like music, they are about movement and excitement.

Proudest achievement: At this point, I am proudest of studying at Yale. I also would not trade the experience of having attended Interlochen Arts Academy for anything in the world.

Career aspirations and goals: My aspiration is to be an organist in a large church in a big city with a great music program, while performing and recording.

Website: alexanderstrausfausto.com.

Andrew Van Varick

Andrew Van Varick is a doctoral student in organ performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, under the instruction of David Higgs. Previously, he received his Master of Music degree at Eastman, and he holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University, where he studied organ with Vincent Carr and John Miller, piano with Mark Pakman, and harpsichord with Hsuan-Wen Chen.

Andrew has played in coachings and masterclasses with Raúl Prieto Ramírez, Bálint Karosi, Michel Bouvard, Wilma Jensen, Simon Johnson, Ezequiel Menendez, Chelsea Chen, and Alan Morrison. As a recitalist, he has performed on the “Young Organ Artist” series at Central Synagogue in New York City, on the “Wednesdays at Noon” series at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, and for the Greensburg, Pennsylvania, chapter of the American Guild of Organists. In 2022, he was a semifinalist in the AGO National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance, and this September will be competing in the Ninth International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo. Currently, Andrew serves as director of music and organist at the Central Presbyterian Church in Geneseo, New York.

An interesting fact: I also work part time at the reference desk of the Sibley Music Library at Eastman, where I frequently assist scholars, musicians, and musical enthusiasts from around the world. It’s a fun gig!

Proudest achievement: To date, my proudest accomplishment was completing my master’s degree.

Career aspirations and goals: My hope is to pursue a career as a full-time organist and director of music. Additionally, I would love to teach organ and give recitals.

Website: andrewvanvarick.com.

Abraham Wallace

Abraham Wallace graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 with degrees in music (piano) and geophysics. He began seriously playing the pipe organ near the end of his undergraduate years and decided to pursue the study of the instrument more in depth upon graduation. He completed a Master of Music degree in organ performance from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. While at Yale, Abe served as organ scholar at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut, and as director of music for Trinity Lutheran Church, Milford, Connecticut. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in sacred music at the University of Michigan, studying organ with Peter Sykes.

Some musical highlights from the last few years include commissioning and performing an organ suite by Ethan Haman as a part of the 2021 American Guild of Organists Student Commissioning Project, curating a virtual evensong service in the height of the covid pandemic, and playing harpsichord in continuo ensembles for various early music projects in both Michigan and Ohio. Wallace is currently the organ scholar at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, Michigan, under the direction of Huw Lewis. In his spare time, he enjoys baking bread and making coffee.

An interesting fact: I know how to juggle! And I learned from my mother, who worked very briefly as a clown for hire before starting a family. After having kids, she hung up the proverbial red nose, but kept the costumes. Growing up, our entire family would dress up as clowns for Halloween.

Proudest achievement: My colleagues and I produced a virtual evensong in 2021. We crafted the liturgy, composed all of the music, and recorded everything by ourselves in our spare time. The liturgical and musical fruits of our labor were augmented by the work of a very talented projection designer. While that project was one highlight, more than anything I just feel incredibly lucky to (then and now) be able to make music with so many talented friends and colleagues.

Career aspirations and goals: I have fallen in love with church music and am really hoping to make a full-time career out of the pursuit. Ideally, I would like to hold the position of organist/choirmaster at a church in the United States.

Lynnli Wang

Based in New York City, Lynnli Wang is a talented carillonist, award-winning teacher, and fierce diversity and inclusion advocate. She currently plays at The Riverside Church, which houses a seventy-four-bell carillon, weighing more than 100 tons. Previously, she held the Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (IU JSOM) carillon associate instructor position, where she built and taught a vibrant carillon studio, dedicated two newly renovated carillons, performed weekly recitals, collaborated with student composers, commissioned a trio of new works by female composers, and authored her second children’s book on carillons. In recognition of her dedication to making the carillon accessible and exciting to performers, listeners, and composers alike, Lynnli was awarded the IU New Music Performance Award, the IU Lieber Memorial Teaching Award, and the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Teaching Award. 

Lynnli’s carillon journey began at Yale University in 2011, where she completed her undergraduate studies in literature. She passed the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) carillonneur exam in 2014; since then, she has concertized regularly across the United States. To advance the art of carillon, Lynnli serves on the board of the GCNA and various committees, including the Emerging Artist Grant, which provides funding for education, research, and performance opportunities to new carillonists.

An interesting fact: Lynnli’s love of big instruments extends outside carillons to include organs as well. In 2022, she completed her Master of Music degree in organ performance from IU JSOM, where she studied with Janette Fishell.

Proudest achievement: As the performer of a public instrument that can be heard from miles around, Lynnli loves to collaborate with fellow artists to ensure the carillon is an inclusive and welcoming space for all. She regularly mentors student composers, commissions works from underrepresented artists, premieres new pieces (including mixed ensemble works such as carillon plus handbells), organizes joint events with local organizations, hosts panels on inclusive programming, and more. One such collaboration with CBS premiered on prime-time national TV where millions saw Lynnli performing the March Madness theme song on the Indiana University Metz Bicentennial Grand Carillon!

Career aspirations and goals: Lynnli aims to build the next generation of carillon lovers by continuing to perform, teach, commission, and collaborate with artists and creatives across different fields. If you ever have an idea for the bells, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Alden Wright

Alden Wright is a student at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in organ performance with Nathan Laube. As a performer and national young competitor, Alden holds several distinctions, including being named winner of the 2019 Arthur Poister National Competition in Organ Playing and the Pogorzelski-Yankee Memorial Scholarship for undergraduate studies. Alden has performed in many student and solo recitals throughout the United States and England and has participated in masterclasses with many of the world’s top performers.

Alden holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman as well as the prestigious Performer’s Certificate, having graduated with highest distinction in May 2020. Alden most recently served as organ scholar at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, England, under director of music Christopher Gray from 2021 to 2022. He is currently serving as assistant director of music at Christ Church, Pittsford, New York

An interesting fact: Outside of music, I have a love of cooking and baking.

Proudest achievement: Being awarded the Performer’s Certificate from Eastman in my undergrad.

Career aspirations and goals: I would like to pursue professional and academic routes, hopefully having an opportunity to do both teaching and church music with a bit of performing.

Jonghee Yoon

Jonghee Yoon will begin study with Nathan Laube at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, in fall 2023 for an artist diploma. She is pursuing her master’s degree in sacred music and organ performance under David Arcus and Colin Andrews at East Carolina University and is an organ scholar at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, North Carolina. Jonghee graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Ewha Woman’s University, Seoul, studying with Min-Jung Gaang. An active musician, she is a multi-instrumentalist, conducting and playing organ, harpsichord, and violin. She has performed in many parts of the United States, as well as South Korea, the Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, and Spain.

Jonghee won the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra’s Rising Stars 2022 competition and performed as a soloist with them. She played for the independent movie Cofradia and has been a music director in several musical theatrical productions, including Les Miserables, Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Corpus Delicti. Jonghee played continuo with Saint Peter’s Bach Collegium and solo organ with Gödi Baroque Ensemble in Hungary. She has also worked with organbuilders at C. B. Fisk, Inc., in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she participated in making, designing, installing, and tuning pipes.

An interesting fact: There are multiple interesting facts that you might not know about me. My first musical instrument was violin, and I have been playing violin for at least thirteen years. Moreover, I am bilingual. I speak English and Korean fluently, and I also know the basics of various languages such as French, German, Japanese, and Hungarian. These are a couple of sports that I am most passionate about, surfing in summer and skiing or snowboarding in winter. Furthermore, I am an animal lover. And I also like to volunteer. In Korea, I used to volunteer to help children at Dream Purun school, Hanmaum Rural Children Center in Jelloa-do, Jangsung Women’s High School in Gangwon, and Deung Chon High School for students with special needs.

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement was being accepted into Ewha Women’s University. I put a lot of effort into applying for this school, and I was so happy as it was my dream to be enrolled there. During my time in Ewha, there were many challenges that I overcame. My colleague and I organized and performed in concerts. I also volunteered at various institutions, directed French music musicals and German language plays, mentored juniors, and received awards for my thesis among the entire students of Ewha University. Furthermore, I received a scholarship and had an opportunity to learn from Fisk, an overseas organ company. In addition to this, I have done various activities, and I have learned and achieved many great things after entering Ewha.

Career aspirations and goals: I have a large ambition, and I aspire to do my best to achieve my goals. There are multiple goals that I have set for myself. My current goals are to become a music director in a church and a concert organist. I would love to work and collaborate with other musicians in ensembles or orchestras. It is my desire to make the organ instrument known to more people by working in various fields. I enjoy improvisation, and I want to learn more about organ repertoire and also compose organ pieces. Furthermore, I want to become music director for musicals, and I want to compose music for musicals and movies with organ.

Joyce Johnson Robinson

Joyce Johnson Robinson is a past editor of The Diapason.

More than a century and a half after his birth, Ernest Martin Skinner (born January 15, 1866; died November 27, 1960) is still acknowledged to be one of the most innovative of American organbuilders. Skinner created instruments that emphasized orchestral-imitative stops (such as the French Horn and English Horn), with consoles that were models of practical design. He created exquisite and colorful soft stops, including the Erzähler, the Orchestral Oboe, and the English Horn. His innovations also include the pitman windchest, and he perfected the electro-pneumatic motor for swell shutters.¹

Skinner began his career in 1886, working for George H. Ryder in Reading, Massachusetts, north of Boston. Skinner worked there for four years, and in 1890 after being fired by a new foreman, was subsequently hired by George S. Hutchings, for whom he worked for eleven years.

Skinner founded Ernest M. Skinner & Co.—the firm changed names several times before becoming known as the Skinner Organ Company in 1919—and his career lasted a good four decades, with 1910 to the early 1920s being its heyday. The Great Depression greatly reduced the market for Skinner’s instruments. Furthermore, staff changes in the company resulted in Skinner losing control of his own firm, and through a merger, a new entity emerged, the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, in 1932. The factory that Skinner opened in 1936 (when he was 70!) with his son Richmond, when the company was known as Ernest M. Skinner & Son Organ Company, was destroyed by fire on June 17, 1943. Changes in musical tastes also eventually led to a diminished market for Skinner’s instruments. By the time of Skinner’s death in 1960, his style of organbuilding had gone out of fashion, with orchestral color and tone being de-emphasized in favor of clarity and brightness.

From 1911 to 1961, news of the life and work of Ernest M. Skinner was reported in The Diapason. The announcements, advertisements, letters, and features that appeared in The Diapason illuminated the great scope of Skinner’s work and personality, along with the waxing and waning of his company and career, and the occasional glimpse into his personal life. Over the course of fifty years there were dozens of announcements and articles that documented the instruments in the Skinner opus list and traced the arrival of G. Donald Harrison in 1927, the 1932 merger with the pipe organ division of the Aeolian Company, Skinner’s establishment of his own factory and company in 1936, and his joining the staff of the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio, in 1947.

This article offers a brief summary of Skinner’s life and history as revealed in the pages of The Diapason. By no means will it present every reference that can be found in the journal; it is intended to give a flavor of the life, times, and work of this important organbuilder.

Skinner instruments

We first read of Skinner in January 1911, when The Diapason reported on the near-completion of the new, “monster” Skinner organ at New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The next month, the journal published a letter from Skinner in which he complains about inaccurate reporting in a letter discussing that organ; Skinner’s letter also touches on the question, “what makes an organ modern?”

To the Editor of The Diapason. Dear Sir:—One of the reasons why I usually decline to give information to newspaper reporters is the fact that they are not satisfied to take the facts as submitted, but have to enlarge upon them and indulge in flights of imagination, which makes a farce of most accounts of church organs.

I note an article in the January number relating to the organ being installed in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in which it is stated: “The thirty-two foot pipe at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine gives the same tone because it has a sixty-four foot stop.” I do not know where the reporter got this information, nor am I able to comprehend its meaning. There is certainly no stop in this instrument of sixty-four foot pitch, nor have I heard of a stopped sixty-four in any other. The reporter is pleased to call this tone a “gusty rumble.” He vaults from this to the “shrill singing of a tea kettle just beginning to whisper to itself about boiling,” which makes a paragraph rich in metaphor, and is about as rational as the average article of this description.

I note a letter from James E. Dale, in which he says the organ for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine will not be the largest and most modern ever built. I was particular to state in such information as I gave the reporter that the organ was not the largest ever built. I wish Mr. Dale would inform me upon what he bases his conclusion that the Sydney organ, built twenty-one years ago, is more modern than the organ going into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

What makes an organ modern? Is it the character of its resources or the number of stops? Also, allow me to say that the Sydney organ is not the largest in the world. The organ built by Murray M. Harris of California for the St. Louis Exposition, and being installed in Wannamaker’s store in New York city [sic], has that distinction to the best of my knowledge and belief.

The organ in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine has three thirty-two foot pedal stops, an open, violone and reed, all of which are the full thirty-two feet in length at low C and are open pipes. The organ is guiltless of a sixty-four foot stop of any description.

Yours very truly,

ERNEST M. SKINNER

The June 1911 issue reported on Clarence Dickinson’s opening recital at the cathedral.

Other 1911 announcements mentioned new Skinner instruments and contracts: Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut; Sts. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral (the National Cathedral), Washington, D.C.; and Church of the Holy Communion, New York City (April 1911); and the completion of a large four-manual organ in the Grand Avenue Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri (September 1911).

The October 1912 issue noted the contract and stoplist of a four-manual organ for Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, along with the dedication of a three-manual instrument in the First Methodist Church of Muscatine, Iowa—played by Mrs. Wilhelm Middelschulte.²

In October 1917, it was noted that Gordon Balch Nevin (probably best known to us as the composer of Will o’ the Wisp) had joined the company (having left his position as organist of Second Presbyterian Church of Cleveland), to arrange musical scores for the “Orchestrator”—a player organ using rolls (“which Mr. Skinner has invented and perfected after twenty years’ work”). The Diapason reported that:

The new instrument contains many of Mr. Skinner’s inventions whereby the tones of the orchestral instruments are faithfully reproduced. In addition the instrument contains a full size concert grand piano, and it is possible to reproduce a concerto for piano with complete orchestral accompaniments.

The Ernest M. Skinner company is erecting a special laboratory building for this branch of the work, containing rooms for cutting work, a studio for the head of the department, and a fine concert hall—equipped with a large “Orchestrator.”

By the way, a player mechanism using perforated rolls was also to be part of the Skinner Organ Company’s organ for the auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota, mentioned in the April 1920 issue (“City raises fund of $61,000”). This four-manual, 105-stop instrument (stoplist given in the article) would also include a concert grand piano that could be played from the organ keyboard, “as it is in the case of the Skinner organ in Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh,” along with a new feature, a 16′ Heckelphone in the Solo division (“which will resemble an English horn, but six or seven times as powerful”), and a six-rank string division.

The Diapason’s office was located at that time in Chicago, Illinois; naturally, local instruments would certainly be noted. It was reported in March 1921 that St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in nearby Evanston would have a great organ, designed by Herbert Hyde and Joseph Bonnet:

The Chicago district is to have another notable organ—one which probably will be the largest in any church of the city or suburbs. The Skinner Organ Company has been awarded the contract for a four-manual instrument for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Evanston. It will have a total of 78 speaking stops. The instrument is to be completed early in 1922 and will be the crowning feature of the new edifice under construction. The present chapel organ is to be used as an echo division for the new organ. The specification is the work of Herbert E. Hyde, organist and choirmaster of St. Luke’s, in consultation with Joseph Bonnet.

The front page of the October 1921 issue of The Diapason was virtually dominated by Skinner. There was a notice of the dedication of St. Paul’s new municipal organ, with recitals by H. Chandler Goldthwaite, the city organist, who declared the Skinner instrument to be “the best in the country, bar none,” and that “visiting organists are going to discover that compositions may be played here that will be almost impossible” on other organs. The center of the page shows Skinner at the organ console, and Arthur Marks standing by the organ built for Marks’s country place in Westchester County. And the right-hand column provided details on the two “wonder organs” for the Eastman School—one an Austin, and the other a 4-manual Skinner, every division of which was enclosed, including the entire pedal, which possessed a 32′ Bombarde. This organ also featured a full Dulciana chorus (16′, 8′, 4′, 2′, and a Dulciana Cornet), and on the Great, a complete harmonic series, including a Septieme.

The Skinner Organ Company’s New York office, located at 677 Fifth Avenue in New York City, also had an organ studio. The December 1925 issue of The Diapason lists the 36 “noted men” who would play a series of “great artists” Friday evening recitals at the studio, to be broadcast on radio station WAHG. The list is worthy of a Who’s Who: Lynnwood Farnam, T. Tertius Noble, Albert William Snow, Hugh Porter, Edwin Arthur Kraft, Palmer Christian, Charles Heinroth, Harold Gleason, W. A. Goldsworthy, Maurice Garabrant, Marshall Bidwell, Louis Potter, Gordon Balch Nevin, Guy C. Filkins, Rollo Maitland, John Priest, Chandler Goldthwaite, Alexander McCurdy, George Rogers Pratt, Alfred Greenfield, Arnold Dann, Walter Hartley, Warren D. Allen, Allan Bacon, Walter P. Zimmerman, Herbert E. Hyde, G. H. Federlein, William E. Zeuch, Henry F. Seibert, Edward Rechlin, and Clarence Dickinson. A photo of six of the recitalists gathered around a Skinner console graces the top of the issue’s front page.

The lead news article on page 1 of the April 1931 issue of The Diapason was the signing of a contract by the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles for “a large four-manual Skinner organ.” William H. Barnes, the consultant, and Stanley W. Williams, Skinner’s Pacific coast representative, prepared the stoplist for the sixty-rank (plus Harp/Celesta and Chimes) instrument.

The April 1931 issue also mentions the dedication recital of the four-manual, eighty-nine-stop Skinner organ at Severance Hall in Cleveland, played by Palmer Christian, noting that, “In spite of the fact that the event was held on Friday—a rehearsal night for church choirs—many organists and other church musicians were present. It is presumed that a number of choir rehearsals in town were curtailed to enable interested members to attend.” The organ’s console had three terminals for the cable—one so that it could be in the center of the stage, a second so that it could be at the side, and a third so that it could be in the sunken pit. “The tone is characterized by great beauty of individual solo registers. The ensemble is of the English type, with great prominence of chorus reeds and brilliant mixtures. These features were sufficiently outstanding to cause comment from the musical critics, one calling it a present-day ‘fashion’ in organ design.” (The stoplist was published in the February 1930 issue.)

The front page of the January 1932 issue featured a large portrait of Arthur Hudson Marks, “head of new organ company,” which is to say the new Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc., the combining of Skinner with the pipe organ division of the Aeolian Company. Marks was president, with W. H. Alfring, Aeolian president, and Ernest Skinner as vice-presidents, along with George Catlin of Skinner and Frank Taft of Aeolian. It was noted that 85% of Skinner’s business had been for churches, colleges, and institutions, and 15% for residences, while Aeolian’s was almost the reverse—80% residential and 20% institutional.

One early deal that resulted for Aeolian-Skinner was the 1933 order for a four-manual organ for the W. K. Kellogg Auditorium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The instrument and the auditorium were to be a gift to the Battle Creek public schools from Mr. Kellogg, “the breakfast food manufacturer whose products are known throughout the world.” The February 1933 issue’s front page gave the announcement and listed the specification, of sixty-five ranks plus Harp/Celesta and Chimes; an Echo organ was playable from the Solo manual. The specification included a 16′ Ophicleide (Great), 8′ Flugel Horn (Swell), 8′ Corno di Bassetto (Choir), and in the Solo division, 8′ Orchestral Oboe, French and English horns, and a heavy-pressure Tuba Mirabilis.

In February 1936 we read Skinner’s announcement that he established, with his son Richmond, his own organbuilding plant at Methuen, Massachusetts, under the name of Ernest M. Skinner & Son Company. The announcement is brief; Skinner “will engage in the designing and construction of instruments that are to embody his principles of tone and that are to be like the large organs in America on which his reputation is based.”

From this point on the number of new Aeolian-Skinner instruments far exceeded those of Skinner’s company. New organs were few and far between: First Church of Northampton, Massachusetts (three manuals, November 1936); First Baptist, Jackson, Mississippi (four manuals, 1940); St. John’s Lutheran, Allentown, Pennsylvania (April 1940); the reconstructed/enlarged organs at Brick Presbyterian (June 1940) and First Presbyterian, Englewood, New Jersey (three manuals, October 1946).

Skinner’s writings

Skinner’s own writings appeared throughout the years in The Diapason, from letters to the editor to feature articles. In 1919 Skinner was elected president of the Organ Builder’s Association of America. The September 1919 issue noted: “Ernest M. Skinner of Boston was elected president of the association, as the successor to John T. Austin, the first president. W. E. Pilcher of Louisville was made vice president; Farny R. Wurlitzer was re-elected treasurer and Adolph Wangerin was chosen again to be secretary.” At the organization’s first annual meeting, a motion for the association to declare itself in favor of the eight-hour day was voted down. In 1920, along with his report, Skinner gave an address on the importance of such an organization, noting how it could build respect and collegiality, in “a field that offers no one an easy road to success either artistically or financially.” The year 1920 looked rosy indeed. Note Skinner’s optimism (and mourn the passing of this era):

It looks to me as though from now on the organ builder were to become a decidedly necessary citizen. The organ is becoming immensely popular. The church no longer appears to have an exclusive ownership of the instrument. The auditorium, residence, motion picture theater and even the great municipal art museums are finding it worth while to give the king of instruments a place of honor in their activities. Let us make the most of our association for whatever it may do to insure the future for us.

At this meeting, the association drafted a uniform contract for purchase of new pipe organs, with a payment schedule set at 10% down, 55% at shipment, and the balance upon completion.

Also in 1920, in October, The Diapason printed Skinner’s lecture, “The Organ in the Home,” delivered before the National Association of Organists in New York. It offers an entertaining look at Skinner through his whimsical writing:

When the handle is turned on to let on the water for the morning tub, what is more fitting than Handel’s water music played on the unda maris? A little later we are led to the breakfast table and hear sweet discourse on a stop voiced smooth and round, to picturize a grapefruit, or a bald head.

But the essay focused on player organs:

. . . The present popularity of the residence pipe organ was brought about by the application of the perforated roll mechanism . . . . It satisfies an inherent craving for self-expression common to every living music lover.

Skinner was addressing organists, and he was discussing the organist who would be employed to play an organ in a wealthy home, noting that sometimes the performer would not be listened to:

The client and one or two friends carried on an animated conversion and paid no more attention to the organist than they would have paid to a yellow pup—in fact, I think the pup might have had the best of it. An artist will in this case be hammered into a mere mercenary . . . . The client knows there is, apart from the sound heard, more class to an actual organist than to a machine, and the organist undoubtedly wears this halo, whatever it amounts to.

The organ in the home necessarily has a much smaller public than elsewhere, but it certainly presents, particularly with the perforated roll adjunct, wonderful opportunities for an intimate acquaintance with whatever kind of music one is interested in . . . . The future for the organist looks wonderful to me . . . . But you can do more than anybody else to better the conditions of public music. A given plane is raised from a higher one, never from below.

The early 1920s were prosperous for the Skinner company. The April 1921 issue of The Diapason reports that the Skinner Organ Company would combine with the Steere Organ Company, to handle a large amount of new work. The Steere plant would operate as a unit of the Skinner organ company:

The two factories have been consolidated, but the plant of the Steere Company at Westfield, Mass., will be operated and the entire staff of that concern will be retained. The addition of the Steere forces to the facilities of the Boston plant of the Skinner Company will make it possible to take care of the large amount of new work, orders for which have been received by the Skinner Company. The deal therefore does not actually remove any factor from the organ business, but serves to make for better results through a combination of interests.

The announcement includes Skinner’s letter to the editor, detailing the consolidation, noting that George Kingsbury, Steere’s president, and Harry Van Wart, superintendent (who had previously worked for Skinner), supported “high standards of excellence.” Skinner had written that:

There has been a tremendous demand for Skinner products during the past year, which can be satisfied only by an organization expert in organ building and familiar with the technique and rigid inspection requirements of the Skinner Company. The Steere plant will operate at capacity as a unit of the Skinner Organ Company making standard Skinner parts under our standard specifications and inspection.

Skinner commented on whiffle-tree swell shade action in The Diapason Forum of the February 1922 issue. He explains his preference for it: “The whiffle-tree engine will move the shades about twice as fast as in the old mechanical action without slamming.” Skinner was responding to a previous letter that had criticized the whiffle-tree, and did not spare feelings in doing so: “Except for the fact that M. E. Hardy has overlooked everything of importance relating to the whiffle-tree swell shutter action, his article on the subject is very well expressed.”³

In a letter in May 1945, Skinner explained why organ pipes go sharp when temperature rises, what a temperament is, and what a “wolf” is. The first: As temperature rises, pipes contain less air than formerly, as some has left, due to expansion. Thus less air is excited by the same amount of force. The second: The wolf is the dissonance remaining in one interval of a perfectly tuned or untempered octave. Setting a temperament consists in tuning an octave so that the wolf is distributed equally throughout its twelve intervals.

Later that year, Skinner defined a “classical” organ: “Generally I have regarded it as the type represented by the French organs in Notre Dame and San [sic] Sulpice, and perhaps by the Roosevelt, Johnson and Hutchings organs in America . . . .” He felt that the “so-called romantic organ is the type developed here in the United States” and that its characteristics were “strings of warmth and prompt speech, the new orchestral voices, and unfortunately the Philomela, heavy claribel flutes and fat diapason.” He concluded by saying that since Webster defines classical as “a work of the highest class, of acknowledged excellence,” then the organs of Washington National Cathedral, Girard College, or Bruton Parish Church should be considered so.

In July 1949, Skinner complained about William H. Barnes’s Contemporary American Organ. Barnes claimed, based on letters he had received, that Skinner was not the inventor of certain stops. Skinner’s letter to the editor disputes this, demanding some proof: “Will Mr. Barnes please give in these columns a single instance where any one of these stops was placed by another organ builder, of a character authentic to an equal degree with those designed by the undersigned, and where they were placed, previous to the dates named?” The battle of letters continued, with Mr. Maclean of Toronto and Edwin D. Northrup joining in (September 1949). Skinner clarified that his contribution was the stop’s tone, not merely a stop name.

Please tell Mr. Maclean of Toronto that I did not refer to engraving the name English horn or cor anglais on a stopknob. I have seen many such, but the authentic English horn tone was not heard when the stop was drawn. I have been in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany several times, but never once heard the tone of an orchestral English horn, regardless of the name. Also in my sixty-five years as an organ builder I have seen organs of all makes in every state in the Union, but never once heard an authentic English horn, except my own.

. . . I invited Willis to America and gave him my French horn, personally, likewise men from Cavaille-Coll of Paris. I also gave many builders my pitman windchest and whiffletree swell engine; so now I suppose the logical thing to do is to try to do me out of their invention. I invented a contre bombarde and other stops. That doesn’t prevent others from designing other forms of the same name, does it?  . . . Cancel “inventions” to please Mr. Maclean, substitute “developments.” Moral: To avoid criticism, do nothing.

In 1951, when the organbuilder turned 85, the journal published “Ernest M. Skinner recalls the past” in the March issue. Later that year, Skinner’s wife Mabel died, and the grieving Skinner stayed with his daughter Eugenia in Reading, Massachusetts. In this article, Skinner summarized his life, beginning with a description of his limited education—“high school for a while”—and his on-the-job training, beginning with George H. Ryder, for whom Skinner swept the shop and wound trackers. He taught himself tuning (both piano and organ). He worked at George S. Hutchings in Boston, moving up to foreman, and then struck out on his own.

Skinner cited his organs at City College in New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Washington National Cathedral, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Girard College Chapel, and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. He described operatic and symphonic inspiration for his French Horn (Strauss, Salome), Bassoon (Zarathustra), and Orchestral Oboe and English Horn (Wagner, Parsifal), noting that “every improvement I ever made in the organ was opposed by somebody.” He concluded noting that Hutchings turned down a half-interest in Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone—for $50.

In July 1952, Skinner’s “Principles of Tonal Design” was a feature article. Skinner began by explaining that the electrically driven fan made subsidiary wind pressures possible. He suggests five-inch pressure “satisfactory for general purposes, except on large organs.” The article presented the characteristics of different stop pipes, where to locate their ranks in the organ, and tuning.

Skinner advertisements

The Skinner company was a regular advertiser in The Diapason. Skinner’s advertisements provide a view of the progress of Skinner’s business, and also his philosophies. Those from the 1930s after his separation from the company that he founded decades earlier are particularly telling.

One of the earliest advertisements appeared in August 1917, simply stating that “It isn’t what you Pay; it what you Get for what you pay. Buy by the tone, not by the ton.” The advertiser is the Ernest M. Skinner Company, Church Organs, Boston, Massachusetts.

An advertisement in February 1936 announces that “Ernest M. Skinner is established at Methuen, Mass., where organ building, as exemplified by the instruments at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Thomas’ and St. Bartholomew’s churches, New York City, and similar examples elsewhere, will be continued. The traditional ensemble, enhanced by Mr. Skinner’s orchestral and tonal inventions . . . will ensure the character of these instruments. Their beautiful tone and uncompromising fidelity to quality are acknowledged by American and foreign artists alike.” This advertisement emphasizes what Skinner would be forever remembered for: orchestral and tonal inventions in the ensemble, with beautiful sound quality in a well-made instrument.

An April 1936 advertisement with the title “A Personal Word from Ernest M. Skinner” emphasizes that “Tone production, of distinction, is as individual and personal as handwriting, and even more difficult to copy. It is the product of personal musical experience, taste, research, technical skill and sense of hearing” and that Skinner’s company is the only one from which one can purchase instruments having “tonal characteristics of breadth and splendor.”

In another 1936 advertisement, this from May, Skinner writes that an organbuilder must have a musical imagination, so that the tone he creates would have “an artistic character, of poetic implication. . .”
and that “tonal charm is a fundamental requisite of every musical instrument.” In July, Skinner’s advertisement reaffirms that his work in Methuen, with his son Richmond, produces “beautiful orchestral voices, original and eloquent colors of the Erzahler type, the Trumpets, Diapasons and Mutations . . . all . . .
in just proportion.” Skinner explained in October the workings of his electro-pneumatic key action.

It consisted of a high resistance magnet, operating at a low voltage and controlling an armature of fixed movement. This armature commanded a pneumatic key action having a double motor—a primary and secondary—which operated at great speed, making it the most responsive and reliable of all organ mechanisms, which it remains to this day.

In December Skinner touted his ability to improve an existing instrument through “a few judicious touches:” “Skinner experience will find and eliminate the weak spots and for some of the present indifferent stops, the old organ may be improved to an unbelievable degree.”

In his 1937 advertisements, Skinner took to including testimonials. An ad that appeared in April and July quoted Louis Vierne, from a letter to an unidentified third party:

When you shall see Mr. Skinner tell him that I should be delighted if my opinion of his organs could be of any use to him. It is already ten years since my American tour, and . . . I still have, in my ears, the memory of those magnificent timbres and in my fingers that of the marvelous touch of the instruments of this very great builder. I have retained an unforgettable joy in them, and he can proclaim this publicly in reproducing this passage of my letter.

Vierne also was quoted remarking after hearing a Skinner organ, “If I had had an organ like that when I was a young man, it would have changed the whole character of my compositions.”

In September of that year, The Diapason published an advertisement that contained a letter from Virgil Fox to Skinner. The letter was dated July 21, and one wonders whether Skinner actively solicited the letter:

Dear Ernest, How proud you must feel about your organ we played Monday—the one just completed at Northhampton! Your action will take any tempo, however fast, and any phrasing. And, you’ve built pipes that sing! The ensemble is clarity personified.

Though only a three-manual organ, the real 32-ft tone in the pedal makes it a distinguished one.

Your new 4-ft Swell Flute deserves to stand with your other contributions to the pipe organ. Don’t ever doubt that the world is grateful to you for the beauty you have given thru your invention of the Flute Celeste, French Horn and those other well-known voices.

Congratulations on Northampton! Congratulations because you are even more interested in music than you are interested in organ.

Yours in all sincerity,

Virgil Fox

Letters in 1938 include an announcement that the temporary organ in the choir of Washington National Cathedral was for sale at “about half its cost.” The instrument was of nineteen ranks and included a 32′ Fagotto (optional). Other advertisements announced work booked, in progress, and on hand; others reprinted more letters, from satisfied customers or those who had just approved a contract. One charming advertisement from the August 1938 issue beckons travelers, in those pre-Disney World days, to consider Skinner’s workplace as a vacation destination.

The completion of the organ in Washington National Cathedral was a landmark in Skinner’s career, and he continually trumpeted it, calling it a “masterpiece” that “will stand as a supreme example of the art of organ building for the next century.” He quotes Robert Barrow, organist and choirmaster of the cathedral, who calls the new organ “the greatest instrument as yet produced in this country, and one of the really great organs of the world . . . an organ designed by a musician, for musicians.”

Another advertisement quotes the Washington Herald’s article reporting on the dedication recital. Three thousand attendees “heard one of the greatest instruments in the world today in so far as its capacities, ordinary and unusual, could be demonstrated in a program of less than an hour’s duration . . . .”

In January 1939 Skinner’s advertising quoted T. Tertius Noble, the organist of St. Thomas in New York City, who praises the “superb instrument” there and to the new Washington instrument, with its full and rich Diapasons, which “may be compared with the finest to be found in the great English cathedral organs,” the reeds—“rich in tone, brilliant where needed, and full of character,” and above all the voicing of the mixtures, “so full of sparkle and clarity, without the horrible harshness which seems to be so much the fashion today.” In the following year Skinner printed testimonials from Clarence Dickinson regarding the organ in the Brick Presbyterian Church.

Other advertisements in 1930 and 1940 mentioned new instruments that were being built, and what Skinner could do for an old organ—that is, a slider chest tracker organ, a Johnson, Hutchings, or Hook & Hastings: electrification, curing sticking slides, guaranteeing steady wind and pitch integrity, a silent and instantaneous stop action, a silent high speed key and pedal action. And “by substituting a few stops we can give a substantial factor of modern tonal beauty. All the above under control of a modern Skinner console, at something less than half the cost of a new organ.” (June 1939)

Some of Skinner’s advertisements were pithy, such as May 1940: “Faith without works is dead. A like condition attends theory without ears.” Or March 1940: “Stradivarius, Steinway, Skinner obviously have something in common. In all three, beauty of tone is the first objective.”

While some of the letters quoted in The Diapason give one a sense that they were actively solicited, a letter from Thomas H. Webber, Jr., writing from Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis (January 1941), has a personal and friendly tone:

I am very sorry the rush of the Christmas time has kept me from writing you before this in regards to the beautiful organ you recently finished in the First Baptist Church of Jackson Mississippi. It was a joy and privilege to play the dedicatory recital on this magnificent instrument . . . .”

[The writer goes on to praise the responsive action, diapason chorus, and especially the 32′ Fagotto.]

I am delighted that there is another fine Ernest Skinner organ here in this section of the South. The Idlewild organ is a constant joy to me in every respect. . . . More than ever, I am convinced that people want beauty in tone as well as beauty in other things and you surely create that beauty in these fine organs.

It was very nice to see you and Richmond again. I think he did an excellent piece of work in the Jackson organ.

In March 1941 Skinner’s advertisement was headlined “The Original Skinner Quality Still in Demand!” as though he felt the need to convince the reader of such. The advertisement listed “recent installations and work in process”—16 instruments, of which one was a rebuild, a second received a new console and electrification, and a third new pipes. All were on the Eastern seaboard, except for one in Mississippi and one in Ohio.

The entry of the United States into World War II at the end of 1941 did not immediately affect organbuilding, but it was inevitable that the industry would see changes. The July 1942 issue of The Diapason reported on the order from the War Production Board, which required that the entire organbuilding industry be converted to defense work after July 31. This order forbade the manufacture of musical instruments containing more than ten percent by weight of “critical materials”—metals, cork, plastic, and rubber. The report explained that “the part assigned to the organ manufacturers is to produce blowers for link trainers used in ground training of pilots.”

In July 1943, The Diapason reported that the Skinner factory in Methuen, Massachusetts, was destroyed by fire on June 17.

The origin of the spectacular blaze has not been established. The three-story wooden structure was razed, only the frame front remaining. Serlo Hall, adjacent to the factory and nationally famous because it houses the great organ that originally stood in the Boston Music Hall, being later acquired by Ernest M. Skinner, was saved from the flames by a fire wall . . . . The factory was operated by Mr. Skinner and his son until organ manufacture was suspended and the property was under the control of a bank.

Following this event, Skinner was largely absent from mention in the pages of The Diapason.

About Skinner’s life

Skinner was of sufficient importance that he and his family were worthy of note. The September 1914 issue quotes an article that appeared in the Boston Post in August, of how eighteen-year-old Eugenia R. Skinner saved her “chum” from drowning, “nearly a mile” (!) off shore at the beach. The journal also reported on Skinner’s own health. A February 1915 announcement mentions that Skinner broke a rib in a collision of his automobile with a tree in Cambridge.

In March 1951, The Diapason published a piece in which Skinner reminisced, by the editor’s request; this was on the occasion of his 85th birthday. Skinner tells the story of his life, how as a twelve-year-old he attempted to build an organ of wooden pipes—they did not speak—and how he began working for George H. Ryder, sweeping the shop and winding trackers. He designed a machine that could wind the trackers better and faster than by hand. He next taught himself tuning and moved on to work with George S. Hutchings. Skinner eventually went out on his own. He mentions his landmark instruments, and cites operatic and symphonic works as the inspiration for his French Horn, Orchestral Oboe, and Contra Bassoon.

The May 1951 issue reported on page 1 of the death of Mrs. Ernest M. Skinner (nee Mabel Hastings) in her sleep on April 14. The Skinners had been married for 58 years. “Mrs. Skinner had not been ill and she enjoyed a chess game with her husband the evening before her death. She is survived by her husband, two daughters and a son.”

In January 1956, The Diapason reported that Skinner, “who still enjoys good health and takes a lively interest in musical matters,” would turn 90 on January 15. It also reported his home address, presumably so greetings could be sent. (How times have changed!) It noted that Skinner was “a household word in the organ world,” that Skinner “built many of the notable organs in this country,” and that “he is credited with inventions which have become standard equipment on modern instruments.” This notice was followed by a reprint of Skinner’s autobiography, first presented five years earlier.

Skinner fell in the spring of 1957, as reported in the June 1957 issue, tripping over a small podium in a church aisle, resulting in a broken right shoulder. He spent ten days in the hospital and then was moved to a nursing home, “where he will be staying for at least the next month.” On the front page of its January 1961 issue, The Diapason reported the death of Ernest M. Skinner, “America’s most widely known builder of pipe organs,” age 94, on November 27, 1960, in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The headlines called him a “renowned organ builder” and the “most influential designer of American instruments in first half of the century.” The journal reprinted Skinner’s reminiscence article of ten years prior, noting that “Though most of his best known organs have been rebuilt and greatly changed in the last two decades, many of them retain some of the stops which he originated and perfected and which were most characteristic of the great Skinner organs of a generation ago.”

Notes

1. For a fine summary of Skinner’s career, see Craig R. Whitney, All the Stops (New York: Public Affairs, 2003). For more on Skinner instruments, see Dorothy J. Holden, “The Tonal Evolution of the E. M. Skinner Organ,” The Diapason, July 1977, February 1978, June 1978, March 1979, January 1980.

2. Wilhelm Middelschulte married Annette Musser on June 29, 1896. Prior to their marriage she was a prominent organist, pianist, and teacher in Memphis, Tennessee. In Chicago, Illinois, where they resided, she served as organist at St. Paul’s Universalist Church. See www.wilhelm-middelschulte.de/biographie.htm (accessed August 22, 2017).

3. For a brief definition of the whiffle-tree and a photograph, see John Bishop, “In the wind . . .” in The Diapason, June 2008, page 14.