| September 29, 1999 |
| AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS NAMES FIRST AND SECOND PLACE WINNERS IN REGIONAL COMPETITIONS FOR YOUNG ORGANISTS NEW YORK CITY — The AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS (AGO) is pleased to announce the First and Second Place winners in its nine REGIONAL COMPETITIONS FOR YOUNG ORGANISTS (RCYO), held in conjunction with the summer 1999 AGO Regional Conventions. The AGO RCYO are designed for organists under the age of 23. Participants compete in two levels of this competition, beginning at the chapter level and ending at the regional level. The winners of each chapter competition advance to the regional finals, which are held in conjunction with the AGO regional conventions. Second Place winners receive a cash award of $500. First Place winners received a cash award of $1,000, are sponsored in a solo recital during an AGO regional convention, and will be presented in a group recital, "Rising Stars," at the AGO 2000 national convention in Seattle next summer. REGION I — NEW ENGLAND
REGION II — NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY
REGION III — MID-ATLANTIC
REGION IV — SOUTHEAST
REGION V — GREAT LAKES
REGION VI — NORTH CENTRAL
REGION VII — SOUTHWEST
REGION VIII — PACIFIC NORTHWEST
REGION IX — FAR WEST
The AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields. Founded in 1896 as both an educational and service organization, the AGO seeks to set and maintain high musical standards and to promote understanding and appreciation of all aspects of organ and choral music. The mission of the AGO is to promote the organ in its historic and evolving roles, to encourage excellence in the performance of organ and choral music, and to provide a forum for mutual support, inspiration, education, and certification of Guild members. The Guild currently serves more than 20,000 members in 340 local chapters throughout the United States and abroad. |
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Frederick Teardo is a senior honor student at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Conn., and has just completed his term as the Albert Schweitzer Organ Scholar at the First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, Conn. He began keyboard study with his father at the age of 13 and has studied piano and organ with Stephen Roberts for four and a half years. A member of the Waterbury AGO Chapter, Mr. Teardo has performed for the Greater Hartford, Northeastern Connecticut, Waterbury, and Worcester chapters. He has attended three AGO Pipe Organ Encounters. As a freshman, Mr. Teardo was a finalist in the 1996 L. Cameron Johnson Memorial Organ Competition for high school students, and a year later, won first place. He placed second in the 1997 AGO Regional Competition for Young Organists and was a finalist in the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival/USA, winning third place in the high school division. Mr. Teardo will attend the Eastman School of Music in the fall to pursue organ studies with David Higgs.
Ryan Malone, a native of Long Island, N.Y., is currently a junior at the College of the Holy Cross, where he studies with James David Christie. At Holy Cross, he serves as Liturgical Music and Organ Scholar and has appeared in concert with the Holy Cross College Choir. On Long Island, he is the assistant director of music at the First Presbyterian Church and at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Malone has studied piano with Natalia Karlgut, organ with Vaughan Ramsey, and has performed in masterclasses conducted by Olivier Latry. Next March, he will accompany the Holy Cross Chapel Choir in performances in Rome.
Svetlana Fiakhretdinova was born in Moscow, Russia. At the age of 14, she was accepted at the Moscow Conservatory as a composition student. She began organ study with McNeil Robinson at the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned the Bachelor of Music degree. She is currently a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studies organ with John Weaver.
Lee Wright began piano study at the age of seven and was introduced to the organ after his freshman year in high school when he attended the Interlochen Arts Camp. After three summers of organ study at Interlochen, Mr. Wright attended the Interlochen Arts Academy for his senior year in high school, studying piano with Robert Murphy and organ with Stephen Perry. He graduated from the academy in 1997 with high academic honors and a fine arts award for superior performance in organ and piano. Currently a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music, Mr. Wright is pursuing a bachelor of music degree in organ performance, studying with David Higgs. He is the assistant organist-choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Rochester, N.Y., and serves as cantor for weekly Compline. Each summer, Mr. Wright returns to Interlochen as the teaching and administrative assistant in the organ department of the Interlochen Arts Camp.
Todd Fickley began piano study at the age of nine with Sandra Grady, and since then has also studied organ, violin, and composition. His teachers have included Bruce Myers, Diann Clark, Bruce Neswick, and Patrick Kavanaugh. Mr. Fickley has served as a pianist and organist in a number of churches and has performed in the Washington, D.C., area. He spent a year in Moscow, where he worked as a public and private school teacher. Prior to receiving an organ scholarship from the Potomac Organ Institute in 1996, Mr. Fickley won a first and second place in the Virginia Federation of Music Clubs composition contest (1991 and 1994), as well as first place in the National Piano Guild Auditions for seven years (1989-96). He is currently the organist and children's choir director at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Annandale, as well as the piano and organ accompanist of the Asaph Chorus. Mr. Fickley teaches piano and organ, and performs with the Washington Bach Consort in its "Bach to School" series.
Paul Jacobs began studying the piano at age six and the organ at 13 with George Rau. At 15, he was appointed organist at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, a parish of over 3,500 families in Washington, Pa. Mr. Jacobs is a full scholarship student at the Curtis Institute of Music, studying organ with John Weaver and harpsichord with Lionel Party. He is also assistant organist at Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, Pa. In 1996, Mr. Jacobs won first place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Organ Competition in Washington, D.C., and in 1998, he won first place in the Harrisburg AGO Chapter's Violette Cassel Organ Competition, as well as first place in the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition in Wethersfield, Conn. In 1999, he was the first-prize winner in the Fort Wayne (Ind.) National Organ Competition. In 2000, Mr. Jacobs will perform the complete organ works of Bach in Philadelphia and New York.
Michael Costello is a native of Harrisburg, Pa., and is currently a sacred music major at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., where he studies organ with Florence Jowers and sacred music with the Rev. Dr. Paul D. Weber. Mr. Costello is the director of music and worship at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church. He recently composed a concertato for brass quintet, organ, percussion, and choir to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the church.
Charles Burks has completed his second year as an organ performance major at the University of Alabama. His organ study has been with Robbie Giroir and J. Warren Hutton. He is a member of the Tuscaloosa AGO Chapter, serving as treasurer in 1997-98. Mr. Burks is the organist at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Montevallo, Ala., and has served as research assistant for Warren Hutton and as carillonneur at the university. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship at the University of Alabama. In 1998, Mr. Burks was the first-prize recipient of the Birmingham AGO Chapter's M.M. Carr Organ Scholarship, and in 1999, he was the first-prize winner of the Zimmer Organ Scholarship awarded by the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs.
Tom Trenney has a bachelor of music degree in organ performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a student of Todd Wilson. In 1999, he began a master's degree program at the Eastman School of Music, where he studies organ with David Higgs and improvisation with Gerre Hancock. A native of Perry, Ohio, Mr. Trenney began piano study with Margaret Syroney at the age of four. He began organ study in 1991 as a student of Anne Wilson. A student at several AGO Pipe Organ Encounters, Mr. Trenney passed the Service Playing Test and earned Colleague certification before he was 16 years old. He was a first-prize winner in the 1997 Redlands (Calif.) Organ Festival Competition and in the 1998 Ohio Federation of Music Clubs' Agnes Fowler Organ Competition.
Timothy Spelbring has studied organ with Rudolf Zuiderveld of Illinois College for the past two years. He began piano study at age seven, and at ten, he became interested in the pipe organ, studying with Mitzi Montgomery at Greenville College. Mr. Spelbring now studies piano with Jennifer Linn of Manchester, Mo. In piano performance, he has won the Belleville Philharmonic Concerto Competition, Division III of the St. Louis Young Artists Competition, and the Lutheran Summer Music Concerto Competition. At Lutheran Summer Music, he studied organ with Martin Jean and Paul Tegels and piano with Robert Satterlee. Mr. Spelbring currently serves as organist and choir accompanist at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hillsboro, Ill.
Paul Weber is a senior with a double major in organ performance and theory-composition at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis. He has studied organ with Frank Rippi and Miriam Duncan and piano with Carol Jengen. Mr. Weber is the assistant organist at the First English Lutheran Church in Appleton. In 1996-97, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst with Daniel Chorzempa, and in 1998, he won the Bruce Brackenridge Scholarship for travel to Litchfield, England, to observe the Choral Foundation of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin and St. Chad.
Sarah Gran, a native of Erskine, Minn., began her organ study with Sr. Virginia Houske and George French. She is currently a junior organ performance major at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., where she is an organ student of John Ferguson. She is the organist at the Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) in Cannon Falls, Minn. Ms. Gran was the winner of the Twin Cities AGO Chapter's Student Organ Competition in 1998.
Jeeyen "Sunny" Son, who was born in Seoul, Korea, came to the United States with her family when she was 13. Having studied piano since the age of five, she continued her study in Dallas with Hwa Lee. As a high school student, she began organ study with Yoon Jegal and Hye-Jean Choi, graduate students at the University of North Texas, where she is currently enrolled. Her major professor is Lenora McCroskey. Ms. Son has also studied at the university with Jesse Eschbach and Dale Peters. She is the organist at Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church in Dallas. This year, Ms. Son was the first-place winner in the Undergraduate Division of the William C. Hall Pipe Organ Competition in San Antonio.
Joshua Dumbleton began piano lessons at the age of eight with Dena Frankenfield. Through a local competition, he received two semesters of organ study with Antone Godding. After graduating from high school with honors in 1996, he entered Oklahoma Baptist University, where he is an organ performance major, studying with Ron Davis. Mr. Dumbleton is currently the organist at the First Christian Church in Oklahoma City.
Cara Dye, a native of Firth, Idaho, began piano studies at the age of eight. She has studied organ with Paul Barte of Ohio University and Mormon Tabernacle organist Richard Elliott. She is currently pursuing a doctor of pharmacy degree at Idaho State University. Ms. Dye was awarded first place in the 1997 Region VIII Competition for Young Organists and participated in the "Rising Stars" recital at the 1998 AGO National Convention in Denver.
Owen Cannon, 14 years old, has studied organ for five years, and is currently a student of Kraig Scott of Walla Walla College.
Grace Renaud graduated last spring with a BA degree from Mills College, where she studied organ with Sandra Soderlund. Previous to her organ studies, she was a piano student of Jeanette Wilkin, who encouraged her to attend a 1995 AGO Pipe Organ Encounter. This resulted in six months of organ study with Charles Rus before transferring to Mills. Ms. Renaud is the organist at Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church and plays piano for the afternoon Mass at St. Ignatius Church, both in San Francisco.
Brandon Lynn is an organ performance major at California State University in Chico, where he studies organ with David Rothe and composition with David Colson. Last summer, he studied at the North German Organ Academy with Harald Vogel.