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Welcome by Michael Velting, AGO OrganFest 2020 Chair
Toccata in C, BWV 564, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685‑1750)
P207 Copy of AMole11X16
Amanda Mole
Amanda Mole

Amanda Mole is quickly emerging as one of the leading concert organists of her generation. She is the first-prize winner of numerous competitions, including the Tokyo International (2017), Miami International (2016, first and audience), Poister (2014), and Rodland (2014). She was also the first-place recipient of the Peter B. Knock Award (2014). In 2016 she was chosen as one of The Diapason’s “Top 20 Under 30.” Amanda has performed across the USA, Europe, and Japan. In 2015, she was a featured performer at the New Haven Regional AGO Convention. In 2016 and 2018, she performed at both OHS National Conventions and received consistent excellent reviews in The American Organist, The Diapason, and The Tracker, hailing her as a rising "star" and describing her as playing "with authority and flair." She has a solo recording that was released in March 2019 on the Naxos label and her performances have been broadcast nationally on Pipedreams.

Originally from Holden, Massachusetts, Ms. Mole is completing a DMA degree as a student of David Higgs at Eastman. She earned her MM degree from Yale where she studied organ with Martin Jean, and was the only candidate in her class to receive the Church Music Studies Certificate for additional sacred music and theological studies. Prior to Yale she obtained a BM degree with honors at Eastman studying with William Porter. Earlier studies were with Larry Schipull and Patricia Snyder. Amanda is represented in North America by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

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Performance Notes
  • Christ Church, Rochester, New York
  • GOArt (2008), after Casparini (specifications)
Presentation of 2020 Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award to Joyce Johnson by Michael Bedford, AGO President
Chorale Fantasia on All Creatures of Our God and King, Janet Linker (b. 1938)
P402 Joyce Finch Johnson
Joyce Johnson

Recipient, 2020 Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award

Joyce Johnson

Joyce Finch Johnson, D. Mus., AAGO, is Professor Emerita of Music and currently College Organist at Spelman College in Atlanta GA, a position she has held since 1955. She has had an active career as a college teacher, music department chair, and as a performing artist giving solo recitals, accompanying a variety of distinguished artists, playing chamber music concerts, and performing piano concertos with various symphony orchestras.

She has been heralded as “pianist extraordinaire, astounding and thrilling audiences with her consummate artistry, formidable bravura technique, great sensitivity and impeccable artistry.” She is on the International Roster of Steinway Artists. While pursuing graduate degrees in piano performance at Northwestern University, her primary teachers were Gui Mombaerts and Louis Crowder. She studied organ there and at other institutions with distinguished teachers including Richard Enright, Karel Paukert, and David Craighead.

Dr. Johnson has concertized in Bermuda, Haiti, the West Indies, and Brazil, performed in the Festival de Musique Baroque in Souvigny, France and in Lyon as part of a summer institute on French organ music. She has been a recitalist and workshop presenter for AGO chapters, regional conventions, music festivals, national conventions, and a number of colleges and universities. For decades she has been the organist for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Ecumenical Service at the historic Ebenezer Church in Atlanta.

Innumerable awards and honors received by Dr. Johnson include being designated Member Laureate of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.

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Performance Notes
Improvisation on Three American Themes
P201 Copy of Toivio Photo
Kalle Toivio

Winner, 2018 AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation

Kalle Toivio

Kalle Toivio is an Finnish-American virtuoso concert organist pianist living in New York City. He is the winner of the First Prize at the prestigious American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation held in conjunction with the 2018 AGO National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The Debut CD-Album of Kalle Toivio will be released in the Fall of 2019 by the Pro Organo label. Toivio has played recitals at the Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, Carnegie Hall, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, and  The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

In the Summer of 2019 Dr. Toivio had an extensive tour in Finland and Sweden which included recitals at the Turku and Helsinki Cathedrals, Mänttä Music Festival, Lahti Organ Festival, and a recital in Mörrum, Sweden. Dr. Toivio is the Organist and Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame in New York and is on the organ faculty of Manhattan School of Music Precollege. Dr. Toivio is the founder and Sub-Dean of the Finland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He graduated with Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance and Church Music from the Sibelius Academy. Dr. Toivio received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Organ Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.  He is married to concert pianist and actress, Viktoriya Papayani.

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Performance Notes
  • Sample set of Église Saint-Étienne, Caen, France
  • Cavaillé-Coll (1882–85), sampled by Sonus Paradisi, played via Hauptwerk (specifications)
Presentation by Nicole Marane, AGO 2020 Atlanta National Convention Coordinator
How Great Thou Art, arr. Eric Nelson (b. 1959)
P105 Atlanta Master Chorale
Atlanta Master Chorale
Eric Nelson, director
Jonathan Easter, organ
Atlanta Master Chorale

Atlanta Master Chorale (AMC) has crafted one of America’s finest choral sounds, bringing singers and audiences to the place where music touches spirit. The choir was honored with Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 2013 and the 2014 Prudential Board Leadership Award from BoardSource. Capitalizing on the momentum of these accolades, the choir was awarded a coveted performance spot at the 2017 American Choral Directors Association’s National Conference in Minneapolis, performing for nearly 4,000 of the country’s most dedicated choral professionals. In 2018, the Chorale was selected to receive a Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts Innovation and Management (AIM) Program Grant for 2018-20 as well as the recipient of a 2018-19 Leadership DeKalb (Business Leaders) Organization Consulting Project.

Begun in 1985 as Gwinnett Festival Singers, the group gained momentum well beyond its initial suburban reach, drawing singers and audiences from throughout metropolitan Atlanta. With the addition of Dr. Eric Nelson as Artistic Director in 2000, the Board formalized this expanding sphere of influence and Dr. Nelson’s artistic vision under the name Atlanta Sacred Chorale. Dr. Nelson’s exceptional leadership and field-leading conducting skills have propelled the professionally trained but always volunteer group to national recognition as a refined and dedicated community choir. In 2013, the group took another step toward leadership in choral artistry by settling into the designation, challenge, and vision-driven name of Atlanta Master Chorale.

With a dedicated board, staff, and roster of volunteer choristers, Atlanta Master Chorale will continue its mission to “lift the spirit through choral artistry” for many years to come.

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Performance Notes
  • Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emory University
  • Jaeckel (2005) (specifications)
Presentation by Eileen Hunt, AGO Vice-President and Councillor for Competitions and New Music
Presentation of 2020 AGO/Marilyn Mason Award to Joel Peters by Eileen Hunt, AGO Vice-President
P404 Joel Peters 3
Chelsea Chen in conversation with Joel Peters
Joel Peters

In addition to concertizing, teaching, conducting, and composing, Joel Peters is co-artistic director and founder of Earth World, a creative force which generates new music, art, and literature through collaboration.

Peters began piano lessons at the age of 15 with Audrey Falk-Janzen in Waldheim, Saskatchewan. Eight years later he earned a Bachelor’s of Music from Canadian Mennonite University, studying piano with Cheryl Pauls and organ with Dietrich Bartel. In 2014, he obtained a Master’s from McGill University, studying repertoire with Hans-Ola Ericsson and improvisation with Dr. William Porter. In May, he graduated from the same university with an Artist Diploma.

Among the numerous awards Peters has received are those recently won in 2016 at le Concours OSM Manuvie: third prize in the organ category; prize for the best performance of the imposed Canadian work; Stingray Rising Stars Award (Public’s Choice); and the Orford Music Prize. And of personal highlight, Peters received perfect scores from the jury members for his final Artist Diploma recital entitled, “Organ Ocean Waves of Sound.” This project also inspired the short story “The Lower Registers” by Toronto-based writer André Forget (core member of Earth World).

Joel Peters is currently Co-Director of Music (organist) at St. James United Church in Montreal.

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Eine Wolke nahm ihn weg (World premiere), Joel Peters (b. 1988)
P405 Copy of Rodland pic
Catherine Rodland
Catherine Rodland

Catherine Rodland is Artist in Residence at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. She graduated cum laude with departmental distinction in organ performance from St. Olaf in 1987, and received both the MM and DMA from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. She was a student of Russell Saunders.  At Eastman, Catherine received the prestigious Performer's Certificate and the Ann Anway Award for excellence in organ performance. Prizewinner in several competitions including the 1994 and 1998 American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition, and the 1994 Calgary International Organ Competition, she received first prize in the 1988 International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan.  Catherine has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and has been featured often on nationally syndicated Pipedreams on National Public Radio.

At St. Olaf College Catherine teaches organ students as well as music theory and ear training classes.  She performs regularly at St. Olaf as a featured soloist with the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band.  Following a recent sabbatical researching organs in Paris, Catherine is presenting a series of recitals featuring the complete organ symphonies of Louis Vierne.  In 2010 she released two CDs: “American Weavings” with violist Carol Rodland, and “Dedication,” released by Crystal Records.  The Rodland Duo (part of the Concert Artists Cooperative) was featured at the AGO National Convention in Houston, Texas, and the American Viola Congress in Oberlin, Ohio, in 2016.  

Catherine Rodland has been the organist of the Colonial Church of Edina since September, 2016.

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Performance Notes