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New Organ Scholars

Christ Church Cathedral is thrilled to announce the appointment of two Organ Scholars for the 2020-2021 season! Brendan Conner will be joining the music staff as Senior Organ Scholar, and Collin Miller will be continuing his work at CCC as Junior Organ Scholar. Both are stellar musicians, and will contribute greatly to the life of the cathedral. The position of “organ scholar” has a long history in the Anglican Church. The position is a learning opportunity, giving musicians an opportunity to hone their craft as liturgical organists, as conductors, and as administrators, just as a “curate” position is a learning opportunity for a new priest. Collin, who began at CCC in the fall of 2020, has already proven himself to be a world-class player, and an amazingly quick learner, tackling all the choral accompaniments at CCC single-handedly since January. Brendan is an accomplished organist, both in an academic and church settings, and his skills and warm personality will be a wonderful addition to Christ Church as he steps into the role of Senior Organ Scholar.

This year at Christ Church will likely be unlike any that has come before, and much of our musical offerings will be virtual for the time being. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements about how the musical community of CCC continues to work during this unique time, and how we can gather virtually to experience great music from Christ Church Cathedral!

 

 

Collin Miller is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana and is a senior Organ Performance major at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he is a student of Dr. Janette Fishell. He began playing the piano at the age of five, receiving initial training from Rosa Lynne Miller and then studying with Dr. Susanna Garcia. His freshman year of high school, Collin began taking organ lessons with Tom Neil, and has since held church positions as pianist and organist at Northwood Methodist Church and The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Lafayette. He was the winner of the 2017 Southwest RCYO competition, and is a recipient of the Barbara and David Jacobs Scholarship.  In 2019, he was featured as one of the Diapason magazine’s “20 under 30.” An avid performer of underrepresented repertoire, he is the first and only American organist to have performed any of the organ solo music of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, whose three organ symphonies represent the most difficult works ever composed for the instrument.

 

 


Brendan Conner is currently a second year doctoral student of Christopher Young at Indiana University. He also studies harpsichord with Elisabeth Wright. He received a Master’s degree from Indiana University in 2018. Prior to coming to Christ Church Cathedral, Brendan served as Director of Music at the Church of the Nativity in Indianapolis. Brendan graduated from UC Berkeley in 2016 where he studied organ and harpsichord with George Emblom and Davitt Moroney.  He is an active recitalist, and has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2020 National AGO competition.