Joshua Stafford to Riverside Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Florida

Joshua Stafford plays Nearer, My God, to Thee, by Karg-Elert, on the Massey Memorial Organ, Chautauqua Institution.

In April 2021, Joshua Stafford was installed as the Director of Music Ministries and Organist at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to his Jacksonville appointment, he was director of music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey, from 2013–early 2021. In 2020, he was named Director of Sacred Music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair Organist of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State.

A native of Jamestown, New York, Mr. Stafford received the Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010 as a scholarship student of Alan Morrison. In 2012 he received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music as a student of Thomas Murray (organ performance) and Jeffrey Brillhart (organ improvisation). Joshua was the recipient of both a full-tuition scholarship and the Robert Baker Award, given to a first year organ student who exhibits exceptional promise and achievement in their field of study.

See his artist spotlight: https://www.thediapason.com/artists/joshua-stafford

Joshua Stafford is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. 
www.concertartists.com 

Appointments

Joshua Stafford is appointed interim organist for the Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, for the 2020 summer assembly season. In this interim capacity, Stafford, a native of neighboring Jamestown, will succeed his mentor and teacher, the late Jared Jacobsen, as the principal performer on the institution’s Massey Memorial Organ.

Stafford serves year-round as director of music for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morristown, New Jersey, where he conducts an RSCM-based program with choirs of boys, girls, and adults. In 2016, he was awarded the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize of the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. He is a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2017.

During Stafford’s childhood, Jacobsen, Chautauqua’s longtime organist and coordinator of worship and sacred music, became one of several mentors and instructors who guided Stafford’s development as an organist. He will begin his service as the Institution’s interim organist at the first ecumenical worship service of the 2020 summer assembly season, June 28. Stafford is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. For information: www.concertartists.com.