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EMILY MAXSON PORTER NAMED WINNER OF
HOLTKAMP–AGO AWARD IN ORGAN COMPOSITION
 NEW YORK CITY — The AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS (AGO) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2001–2002 Holtkamp–AGO Award in Organ Composition, EMILY MAXSON PORTER, a resident of Fridley, Minn. The tenth biennial competition in organ composition required a concert piece for organ solo based upon a traditional American melody. The award-winning composition, What Wondrous Love Is This, O My Soul?: Fantasia on Four American Hymns will be performed at the biennial AGO national convention in Philadelphia, Pa., July 2–6, 2002, and published by Hinshaw Music Inc.
EMILY MAXSON PORTER has been an organist and choir director for numerous churches in the Midwest. She is currently organist at St. Philip’s Lutheran Church in Fridley, Minn., and is pursuing a career as a composer. Mrs. Porter studied organ with Paul Manz, Heinrich Fleischer, and Robert Glasgow, and composition with Dominick Argento, Paul Fetler, Jan Bender, and Alex Lubet. She holds a B.A. in elementary education from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., an M.F.A. in organ from the University of Minnesota, and an M.S. in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She has studied additionally at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., and the University of Minnesota. From 1966 to 1970, she was instructor and assistant professor of organ and theory at Concordia College, St. Paul, Minn., and in 1975 was a visiting assistant professor of theory and organ at Lynchburg College in Virginia. For a decade she worked in business as a software engineer for Bear Automotive Service Equipment Corporation and Eaton Corporation in Milwaukee before returning to music in 1994. Her compositions are published by MorningStar, Concordia, Augsburg–Fortress, Selah, and Calfaria. She is a member of the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, and the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
The HOLTKAMP–AGO AWARD IN ORGAN COMPOSITION is a unique collaboration between three organizations dedicated to promoting and enriching the repertoire for the organ: the AGO, a not-for-profit national organization dedicated to the advancement of the organ and choral music professions, the Holtkamp Organ Company, a member of the professional organbuilding community, and Hinshaw Music Inc., a member of the professional music publishing business community. Established in 1983 and held biennially, the competition for the Holtkamp–AGO Award is open to citizens of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. All works submitted to the competition must be unpublished. The award includes a $2,000 cash prize provided by the Holtkamp Organ Company, publication of the winning composition by Hinshaw Music Inc., and a performance at the AGO national convention. Eighteen compositions were entered in the 2001–2002 competition. The judges were Samuel Adler, Bruce Neswick, and Cherry Rhodes.
The AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields. Chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1896, the AGO now serves over 21,000 members in 342 local chapters throughout the United States, Europe, Antigua, Argentina, and Korea.
Membership in the AGO is open to all and includes working professionals - organists, choir directors, teachers, organbuilders, technicians, and suppliers to the field - as well as students, clergy, amateur musicians, and dedicated supporters. Membership is through local chapters, which hold regular meetings featuring performances, lectures, seminars, and discussions on a wide variety of topics.
Founded as both an educational and service organization, the AGO promotes the organ in its historic and evolving roles, encourages excellence in the performance of organ and choral music, and provides a forum for mutual support, inspiration, education, and certification of Guild members.
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