A native of N.J., Dr. Joel Bacon holds degrees in mathematics and organ performance from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he was a student of Joyce Jones, and an artist diploma in organ from the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien (Vienna, Austria), where he studied with Michael Gailit. With a dissertation on the use of organ in selected orchestral works, he earned his PhD in historical musicology through a joint degree program of Vienna's University of Music and Performing Arts and the University of Vienna.

Joel Bacon has a growing reputation as a performer, teacher and scholar in North America and Europe. He has been heard in recital in Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Canada, and the US, and live performances have been broadcast on Austrian Radio (1) and Public Radio International. He has taught at the prestigious Oundle International Festival (Cambridge, UK), at several Pipe Organ Encounters of the American Guild of Organists, and at other courses in the US and Canada. With the principal violist of the Munich Philharmonic, Albrecht Rohde, he has recorded a CD of music for viola and organ.

Joel Bacon currently holds the Stewart and Sheron Golden Chair in Organ and Liturgical Studies, the first endowed chair in the College of Liberal Arts. Before coming to CSU, he was assistant organist of St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Munich-Grunwald, and served as frequent guest organist at the former Hapsburg imperial church, St. Augustine, Vienna.

Harpsichordist Jason J. Moy is the Artistic Director of Ars Musica Chicago, and one of the most sought-after early keyboard specialists in the Midwest. He serves on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and at DePaul University, where he holds the School of Music’s first-ever endowed chair as the Monsignor Kenneth J. Velo Distinguished Professor of Music. He received his harpsichord and Early Music training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and counts Hank Knox, Ketil Haugsand, Andrew Lawrence-King, and the late Bruce Haynes among his most influential mentors and teachers.

Jason is a founding member of the award-winning period instrument ensemble Trio Speranza, and principal keyboardist of the Bach Week Festival Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist and continuo player throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, with notable appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, the York Early Music Festival (UK), and on the International Music Foundation’s Dame Myra Hess and Rush Hour Concert Series in Chicago. He is a frequent guest artist with such esteemed ensembles as the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Haymarket Opera Company, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Bella Voce, and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.

Regarded as one of North America’s finest concert organists and praised for his dazzling artistry, impeccable technique, and imaginative programming by audiences and critics alike, Ken Cowan maintains a rigorous performing schedule that takes him to major concert venues in America, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Recent feature performances have included appearances at Princeton University Chapel, The Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia PA, San Francisco CA for the American Guild of Organists national convention, Baltimore MD for the Organ Historical Society’s national convention, Maison Symphonique in Montreal Canada, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.  Upcoming performances include recitals in Groton MA, Birmingham AL, Bethesda MD, Chestertown MD, Atlanta GA, Brevard NC, Fort Worth TX, and a performance for the Elgar Society’s gathering in Northeast Ohio.

Numerous critically acclaimed compact disc recordings by Mr. Cowan are available.  Most recent, with Mr. Cowan serving as organ accompanist, is Maurice Duruflé: Complete Choral Works (Signum Records), recorded with Robert Simpson and the Houston Chamber Choir, for which the Houston Chamber Choir was awarded a GRAMMY award in 2020 for Best Choral Recording.  Also available is Dynamic Duo, (Pro Organo), featuring Mr. Cowan and Bradley Hunter Welch in a program of original works and transcriptions for duo organists performed on the monumental Casavant organ at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX.  Other recordings include Ken Cowan plays The Great Organ (Pro Organo), recorded on the newly-restored organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City; Works of Franz Liszt (JAV), recorded on the Michael Quimby organ at First Baptist church in Jackson Mississippi; and Ken Cowan Plays Romantic Masterworks (Raven), recorded on the 110-rank Schoenstein organ at First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Mr. Cowan also joined organist Justin Bischof in the 1999 world-premiere recording of American composer Aaron Miller’s Double Concerto for organ, recorded with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra on the Kleuker organ in the Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland (Ethereal Recordings).  Many of Mr. Cowan’s recordings and live performances have been regularly featured on the nationally distributed radio program PIPEDREAMS from American Public Media.

A native of Thorold, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Cowan received the Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Thomas Murray.  Prior to attending Yale, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with John Weaver.  Following initial studies with his father, David, his principal teacher during his high school years was James Bigham, Music Director at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, in Buffalo, NY.

In 2012 Mr. Cowan joined the keyboard faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he continues to serve as Professor of Organ and head of the organ program.  He is additionally Organist and Artist-in-Residence at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, TX.  Previous positions have included Associate Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award, and Associate Organist and Artist in Residence at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in New York City.

kencowanorganist.com

Dr. Beverly Everett is currently Music Director of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra.  She was named as one of the Bismarck-Mandan Business Watch magazine’s “40 under 40” for making a difference through her work in the region, and was the City Magazine cover story in November 2011.  In 2009 Dr. Everett was the youngest-ever recipient of the “Friend of the Arts” award for her contributions to the arts in Bemidji. And in 2010 Everett was one of six conductors in the nation to receive an “Excellence in Music Education” award by the American Prize. Everett was one of two recipients of the first 2011 Region 2 Arts/McKnight Career Advancement Fellowship to study with JoAnn Falletta.  She was also one of the first inductees to her hometown’s Fine Arts Hall of Fame in Waxahachie, Texas.  Dr. Everett has been a frequent guest conductor and clinician for orchestras and festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe.

In addition to her conducting career, Dr. Everett is an active concert organist, teacher, and service player.  She has been a featured organist in recitals, music festivals and workshops, and masterclasses throughout the United States and in Europe and British Columbia.  Everett is Adjunct Professor of Organ at the University of Mary in Bismarck.  Beverly holds a Bachelor's Degree in Organ Performance from Baylor University where she studied with Joyce Jones, and a Master of Arts in Organ Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where she studied with Delbert Disselhorst.  She was First Place winner of the Ft. Worth AGO Competition, the MTNA Competition.  She is a frequent guest performer with the Aaron Meyer Band holiday concerts in Portland, Oregon.  Everett has played in some of the great halls of the world including St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and the Duomo in Florence, Italy.

www.beverlyeverett.org/

A member of the critically acclaimed Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players,  is an active and significant presence in New York City's classical music scene. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University, she made her Avery Fisher Hall debut in 1995 performing Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with The Juilliard Orchestra under Kurt Masur. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Shihoten has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, and in Caramoor’s Rising Stars series. She has won the Grand Prize at the Marcia Polayes National Violin Competition and the Aspen Music Festival's Nakamichi Competition, as well as top prizes from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the Seventeen (magazine)/General Motors National Competition. Her former teachers include Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki and Peter Oundjian.

She is married to organist Ken Cowan and was teaching violin at Princeton University, also a guest instructor at the Betty Haag Academy of Music in Chicago, where she works with her childhood violin teacher, Betty Haag-Kuhnke.

She is currently a faculty violin instructor at the Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Program at Rice University in Houston.

Regarded across America and around the world as one of today’s finest concert organists, Todd Wilson serves as head of the Organ Department at The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at Severance Music Center (home of The Cleveland Orchestra).

Todd Wilson has been heard in recital at many major venues throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, including Symphony Hall (Birmingham, UK), Westminster Abbey (London, UK), St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (Ireland), Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Milwaukee’s Uihlein Hall, Washington National Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, and the 21,000-seat Mormon Conference Center in Salt Lake City. He also was a recitalist for Austrian Radio in Vienna, and in 2005 presented his first solo recital in Tokyo, Japan.

Mr. Wilson has appeared with many orchestras around the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic for whom in 2004 he was featured organ soloist on the first orchestra subscription series concerts featuring the new Walt Disney Concert Hall organ, the Nashville Symphony, the Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Naples (Florida) Philharmonic, and The City of London Sinfonia.

Todd Wilson has many recordings to his credit on the Raven, Naxos, JAV, Delos, Gothic, Disques du Solstice and other private labels, including his most recent two-disc release “The Murray Hill Organ at St. James in-the-City, Los Angeles”, his landmark recording of the Duruflé organ works, the organ works of Gerre Hancock, Terry Riley’s “At the Grand Majestic” recordedwith the Nashville Symphony, discs featuring the organ works of George Thalben-Ball and Fran Bridge, a solo recital of American music recorded at Washington National Cathedral, a two-disc collection entitled “In a Quiet Cathedral” featuring meditative organ music recorded at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, a recording of Great French Virtuosic Organ Music recorded at the University of Alabama, a recording of music for cello and organ recorded with his daughter, Rachel, a recording of duo organ works with David Higgs entitled “Double Forte”, and a recording of Tournemire organ works played on the organ at Chartres Cathedral in France.

Mr. Wilson received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied organ with Wayne Fisher and piano with John Quincy Bass. Further coaching in organ repertoire was with Russell Saunders at The Eastman School of Music. He won numerous competitions, including the prestigious French Grand Prix de Chartres, the Fort Wayne Competition, the Strader National Scholarship Competition and the national competition sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.

An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Mr. Wilson holds the Fellow and Choirmaster certificates, receiving the S. Lewis Elmer Prize for the highest national exam score in 1982. He has been a featured recitalist at many Guild conventions including national conventions in 1992 (Atlanta), 1996 (New York City), 2008 (Minneapolis), 2012 (Nashville) and 2018 (Kansas City).

A sought-after adjudicator, Mr. Wilson has been a jury member for many of the world’s most prestigious competitions, most recently at the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Competition. He has also served on juries for the Longwood Gardens International Competition (USA), the Pipeworks International Organ Competition (Ireland), the NürnbergCompetition (Germany), the Dallas Competition (USA), the Royal College of Organists’ Performer of the Year Competition (UK), the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition (Canada), the Grand Prix de Chartres and the Toulouse Festival Competitions (France), the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition, and the Ft. Wayne Competition (USA).

Previous positions held include Visiting Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan, Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Cleveland Ohio), Director of Music and Organist at The Church of the Covenant (Cleveland Ohio), Head of the Organ Department at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music (Berea Ohio), and Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York. Mr. Wilson frequently presents repertoire master classes as well as workshops focused on specific aspects of service playing and accompanying. An active interest in improvisation has led to his popular improvised accompaniments to classic silent films.

With concerts held all over the world and numerous CD recordings, namely the Albums “Venezia 1625“, “Konzerte” and “Flute Quartets” by Telemann with Musica Antiqua Köln, “Vivaldi Concerti” or “Una Follia di Napoli“, many of which have been awarded the highest accolades, Maurice Steger has established himself as one of the most popular soloists in the field of early music. With his vibrant manner and his personal, spontaneous and technically brilliant style, Maurice Steger has enhanced the standing of the recorder as an instrument and positioned it in a completely new way

Maurice Steger dedicated his album “Mr Corelli in London” to the composer Arcangelo Corelli and this recording features Corelli’s Opus 5 collection, reworked by the composer’s English adherents. Steger followed this up with “Souvenirs d’Italie”, an interesting presentation of works collected by the Austrian Count Aloys von Harrach during his travels in Italy. The artist’s most recent release is a CD featuring an imaginary music-filled operatic interlude in London as conducted by Handel himself: “Mr Handel’s Dinner” (all published by harmonia mundi).

With a repertoire focusing on Baroque music, Steger is a soloist much in demand among the major period orchestras and ensembles: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the English Concert, La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Venice Baroque Orchestra and I Barocchisti. Yet his numerous performances also see him regularly appearing with modern orchestras such as the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin Baroque Soloists, Les Violons du Roy, the NDR and Frankfurt Radio Symphony orchestras and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Maurice Steger has also often performed together with famous artists such as Hilary Hahn, Cecilia Bartoli, Igor Oistrakh, Fabio Biondi, Howard Griffiths, Nuria Rial, Isabelle Faust, Sandrine Piau, Andrew Manze, Diego Fasolis, Sol Gabetta and Laurence Cummings.

Maurice Steger is a resident artist at festivals, orchestras and concert venues including the Musikverein Wien, Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy, Les Violons du Roy (Montreal and Québec), RSI Lugano, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, the Braunschweig State Orchestra, the Hsinchu Recorder Festival in Taiwan, the broadcaster NDR and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg in many different formats, International Recorder Festival Stockstadt, Klosters Music, the Bilkent University Ankara and the Vienna Konzerthaus.