Competitions for Young Organists

TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance

1st PRIZE: $2,500 - sponsored by the Schubert Club

2nd PRIZE: $1,000 - sponsored by Phil Asgian, TCAGO member

Date and Place of Competition

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–noon; the public is invited to listen

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

700 Snelling Ave S, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55116

Organ

1959 Casavant/2022 Letourneau, 3 manuals, 60 ranks, electric key and stop action, 999 levels of memory

Eligibility

The competition is open to organists under 24 years of age as of August 1, 2024.

Competitors must reside (either home or school) in the North Central Region: Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Previous First Prize winners of this competition are not eligible to compete in this competition.

Registration

A completed official online registration form (click here and scroll down to "TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance"), registration fee of $25 made payable to TCAGO, biography, and an official proof of age must be submitted via a secure link no later than Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 10:00 p.m.

Download the application and rules here:

Competition Rules (pdf)

Competition Flyer (pdf)

Official Registration Form (pdf)

Repertoire

1. REQUIRED: A prelude and fugue OR two contrasting movements of a Trio Sonata by J.S. Bach. BWV 582 is acceptable; BWV 553-560 and 572 are not acceptable.

Select from two of the categories below:

2. A work composed between 1800 and 1900 (a single movement of a larger work is acceptable).

3. A work composed between 1900 and 2000 (a single movement of a larger work is acceptable.)

4. A work composed between 2000 and 2024

Works chosen in categories 2, 3, and 4 must be contrasting in style, mood and technique.

The registration deadline is Thursday, February 18, 2024 at 10:00 p.m. CST.

For more information contact:

Isaac Drewes

TCAGO Competition Committee

idrewes@centralmpls.org



Results of the 2023 AGO/Quimby Student Scholarship Competition

by Mary Newton

The student competition was held Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, on the University of St. Thomas campus.

Aaron Looney was named the winner of the chapter level round of the 2023 AGO/Quimby competition. Aaron, a junior at St. Olaf College, won the first prize of $1,000, sponsored by the Schubert Club of Saint Paul, and will compete at the North Central AGO Convention in the Twin Cities July 4-7.

The judges were Allan Mahnke, Laura Edman, and Steve Self.


Winner's Biography

Aaron Looney is currently a junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in church music with an organ emphasis under Dr. Catherine Rodland. A native of Bridgewater, Virginia, Aaron's musical interests began at the age of five on the piano before shifting to a passion for organ and choral singing.

Aaron performs regularly at St. Olaf and in the Twin Cities on the organ and has the privilege of singing with and managing the St. Olaf Choir. Aaron currently serves as Student Organist at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Excelsior, MN.


Left to right: Allan Mahnke, Laura Edman, Aaron Looney, and Steve Self


Many thanks to the judges, as well as to the University of St. Thomas!

Congratulations, Aaron!





© Twin Cities Chapter American Guild of Organists
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software