The Royal Canadian College of Organists holds their Summer Organ Academy each year. It’s a week of intensive training, and for organ enthusiasts, they’ve included an All-Star Concert that’s open to the public to showcase the instrument.
The featured performers are: Anne Laver, Aaron Tan, John Paul Farahat, Jonathan Oldengarm, David Simon, Aaron James, Sarah Svendsen.
Performers
Anne Laver
Anne Laver completed her undergraduate studies in music at Brown University, followed by a year in The Netherlands studying with Jacques van Oortmerssen at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She subsequently completed her masters and doctoral degrees at the Eastman School of Music.
Today she is an active concert organist, scholar, and pedagogue. As a performer, Anne has given organ concerts in Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and across the United States. She has been a featured recitalist at conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, and the Göteborg International Organ Academy (Sweden). An advocate for new music, she has given world premieres of works by Natalie Draper, Jessica Meyer, Eric Heumann, Jordan Alexander Key, and Ivan Božičević.
Prize wins include second prize in the AGO National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP) in 2010. She is also a recording artist, and her 2019 debut Reflections of Light has been broadcast on nationally syndicated radio programs.
Aaron Tan
Concert organist and pianist Aaron Tan is originally from the Philippines and Canada. Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, he earned his Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degrees at Yale University. He is also a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, a degree he earned from the University of Michigan.
Tan is the 2021 winner of the Canadian International Organ competition, and the 2018 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance.
John Paul Farahat
Canadian organist John Paul Farahat is a performer and pedagogue, committed to music performance and improvisation. John Paul earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance degree from the University of Toronto studying organ, improvisation, and harpsichord.
Today, he is Director of Music and Principal Organist of Saint Basil’s Church, the collegiate church of the University of Saint Michael’s College in the University of Toronto, is on faculty as Organ Instructor at Saint Michael’s Choir School, and is a cross-listed adjunct organ faculty member at Emmanuel College of Victoria University. John Paul conducts the Schola Cantorum, a professional choir, as well as the Parish Choir, and oversees the historic Casavant Frères organ Op. 800/2578.
Jonathan Oldengarm
Organist Jonathan Oldengarm earned degrees in organ and harpsichord from Wilfrid Laurier and McGill Universities, and also studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart, Germany. Today, he is a recitalist, collaborative artist, teacher, recording artist, and church musician with a repertoire that includes works from the earliest keyboard pieces to 21st-century avant-garde.
From 2008 until 2022, Jonathan taught organ, harpsichord, keyboard skills, and liturgical improvisation at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, while serving as Director of Music and Organist at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal. Since 2022, he is the Minister of Music and Organist at Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church, where he oversees Canada’s largest pipe organ, as well as two concert series and other performances.
David Simon
David Simon first studied music as a chorister at St. Michael’s Cathedral-Basilica in Toronto, and continues to play organ at its weekly masses. He won First Prize and Audience Prize in the University of Michigan organ improvisation competition in 2018, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University. He also won First Prize at the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO) national organ competition in 2019.
David has performed across North America, the UK, Europe and Russia. He teaches organ, piano, music theory, and Gregorian Chant at St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto, and elsewhere, and serves as Director of Music at the historic Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto where he leads its Gallery Choir.
Aaron James
Organist and instructor Aaron James earned his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Western Ontario, followed by a Masters and Doctoral degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he is now an instructor.
Today, Aaron is the Director of Music at the Toronto Oratory of St Philip Neri, where he directs three choirs, and teaches students at the St Philip’s Seminary. He is also a Sessional Lecturer in organ at the University of Toronto. Prize wins include the National Organ Playing Competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (2011 winner), and first prize at the Florence and Stanley Osborne Organ Competition and the Howard Fairclough Organ Competition
Sarah Svendsen
Sarah Svendsen is a concert soloist, musical collaborator, educator, and clinician. She earned multiple degrees in Organ Performance from the University of Toronto as well as the Yale School of Music, where her doctoral research focused on organist occupational health.
The busy recitalist and recording artist has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and has been recorded for both Radio and YouTube by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC). Sarah is the Artistic Director for the Summer Organ Academy of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO), and she serves on the RCCO’s National Strategic Planning Committee. She is currently the Music Director for Rosedale United Church.
Concert Details
The concert takes place at Rosedale United Church on July 14, and tickets are available for both in-person attendance and an online stream.
- Information [HERE].
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