Thursday July 1

The recorded content from Tuesday and Thursday is available to all AGO members. Please see the email sent to all members on Saturday, July 3 for the private links to this content.

In celebration of the Year of the Young Organist (2021–22), any individual under the age of 30 can become an AGO member or renew their membership for free as part of this program.

The 2020 and 2021 Pogorzelski-Yankee Commissions

Promising to add a major composition to the organ repertoire every year in perpetuity, the Pogorzelski-Yankee new music competition owes its existence to the generosity of Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee. We present performances of the 2020 and 2021 winners alongside a time of conversation among the composers and performers, moderated by Chelsea Chen.

Henry-Martin
It’s About Time, Henry Martin (b. 1950)
More About the Composer
Christine-Clewell
Performed by Christine Clewell
Christine Clewell

Christine Clewell has served on the faculty of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) since 1999 and is assistant professor of Organ and Keyboard. Dr. Clewell is a strong advocate of contemporary music for organ. She has commissioned works, and has presented numerous concert series and pre-concert talks on new organ music with nationally acclaimed organists and composers of new organ music. She has hosted annual premieres of prize-winning organ works written for the Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Annual Competition since 2016.

She has raised funds, with members of the Carol Teti Memorial Organ Scholarship, which have underwritten more than 50 organ scholarships for IUP students. These recipients have gone on to complete graduate degrees and are now professional church musicians and choral conductors.

Dr. Clewell is an active recitalist, (having performed at the Washington National Cathedral), a guest soloist, and a collaborative artist who has toured in the United States and Mexico. She is also an active clinician who is invited to teach masterclasses. Dr. Clewell has also served in a variety of positions as organist/choirmaster.

At IUP, Dr. Clewell teaches applied organ, harpsichord, class piano, music theory, and applied keyboard and theory skills. She wrote the winning proposal to bring the Pogorzelski Yankee Organ to the university. She holds degrees from Susquehanna University, IUP, and University of Michigan, where she earned her doctorate in sacred and liturgical studies as a recipient of a Rackham Minority Fellowship. She has studied under Susan Hegberg, Marilyn Mason, Grace Mealey, and Carol Teti.

More About the Artist
Featured Organ
  • Cogswell Hall, Indiana University of Pennsylvania: R. J. Brunner (1991) (specifications)
Aaron-David-Miller
Oceanic Vision, Aaron David Miller (b. 1972)

Performed by the Composer

Aaron David Miller

Aaron David Miller is a renowned organ improviser and composer, having won numerous international awards and given concerts across the country. Dr. Miller was recently the winner of the 2021 Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Annual Composition Competition. His orchestra works have been performed by such ensembles as the Seattle Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, Zurich Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Recent composition commissions include works for Yale University, University of California, Santa Barbara, The Taylor Organ Competition, and the Bach Chamber Players of St. Paul, MN. His organ, choral and orchestral compositions are published by Augsburg Fortress, Paraclete Publishing, and Oxford University Press. Dr. Miller was a featured artist at the National AGO convention held in Houston, TX in 2016. Aaron is Music Director at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, MN. He is also a Forensic Musicologist for Donato Music, Scarsdale, NY.

More About the Artist
Featured Organ
  • House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minnesota: C. B. Fisk (1978) (specifications)
Choice of Webinar
OrganPlus: Chamber Music

with organist Michael Hey and violinist Christiana Liberis

Music from the Hey-Liberis Duo at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City and resources for creative collaboration in sacred and concert settings.

Diversity and Equity: Widening our Repertoire in Sacred Music, Teaching, and Performing

Joy-Leilani Garbutt, Colin Lynch, Mark Miller, and Damin Spritzer, moderated by Janet Yieh.

Choice of Affinity Breakout Rooms

Based on registration responses, these will include various educational and denominational options, among others.