2011-2012 Guest Artists

Paul Skevington, Friday, October 7 - 7:30 p.m.

Paul Skevington is the Minister of Music and Liturgy at Saint Luke Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia, and was very much involved in the project to secure the highly-acclaimed 61-rank Steiner-Reck mechanical-action pipe organ, installed in the church in 1998. Over the last 18 years, he has developed a highly acclaimed well rounded sacred music program at the church, with the 40 voice Festival Choir at the center of the musical activities. In June of 2011, he led this choir in a pilgrimage to Italy, where they for masses at Saint Francis in Assisi and Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They also sang for an audience with the pope and give a concert at Saint Ignatius in Rome.

Under Paul's direction, Saint Luke has become renowned as a superior site for concerts, with the Saint Luke Music in McLean concert series hosting over 18 musical events per year. The church has also served as a superior site for recordings with over 40 CDs recorded in this space.   

Paul is a sought after choral accompanist in the Washington DC area, and has an active schedule as a solo performer. He can be heard on five compact disc recordings, including two with trumpeter Phil Snedecor. He is soloist on the internationally released Organ Concertos by Joseph Rheinberger on the Naxos label.

Paul holds degrees in organ performance from Indiana University and a Doctorate degree in Liturgical Music from The Catholic University of America. He is past dean of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and past chairperson for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians' Section for Organists.

Philip Brisson, Friday, January 20 - 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Philip Brisson is Director of Music and Organist at the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville, the oldest inland Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the country.  In addition to leading the Cathedral's traditional worship, he manages the Cathedral’s Kelty Endowed Concert Series which has further recognized the Cathedral for not only musical excellence in liturgy but also in outstanding organ performances.  Philip has led the Cathedral Choir on international concert tours to England, Ireland, Germany, and Austria.  This past summer, he was “Organist in Residence” at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, England.  Locally, the Cathedral Choirs have performed with the Louisville Orchestra, have been featured on local television, and appear annually for a Christmas concert that has often included collaboration with Louisville’s Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral under the title “Christmas with the Cathedrals.”  

In addition to his duties at the Cathedral, Dr. Brisson is also Organist and Assistant Director of the Louisville Master Chorale, a new premier chorale ensemble which performs the great chorale literature with orchestra in its new home at the Cathedral of the Assumption.  Prior to his work with the LMC, he was Chorusmaster for the Kentucky Opera and prepared choruses for performances which included Puccini’s Turandot and Madame Butterfly, Verdi’s La Traviata, Il Trovatore and Otello, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, Massenet’s Werther, Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana; Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, and Donizetti’s, L'elisir d'Amore.

As an organ soloist, he has given recitals in 23 states, including Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Oakland, CA; Reno, NV; Manhattan, NY; Queens, NY; Geneva, NY; Rochester, NY; West Point, NY; Princeton, NJ; Baltimore, MD; Boise, ID; Columbus, IN, New Albany, IN; Omaha, NE; Lexington, KY; Louisville, KY; Columbus, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Norman, OK; Dallas, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; Tucson AZ; Detroit, MI; Topeka, KS; Chattanooga, TN; McLean, VA; Wheeling, WV; Cedar Falls, IA; Hattiesburg, MS; and he has appeared with the Louisville Orchestra as guest soloist performing the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony with Raymond Leppard conducting.  This past year, Philip was also a featured performer for the Region V AGO Convention in Lexington, KY and the NPM National Convention in Louisville, KY.

As a teacher, Dr. Brisson served on the faculty of Bellarmine University where he taught organ performance and a Church Music Internship at the Cathedral.  Until taking over the Kentucky Opera Chorus, he oversaw the choral program at Indiana University Southeast, where he conducted the Concert Choir, the Community Chorus, and taught choral conducting.  He has also presented workshops to the American Guild of Organists and to the National Association of Pastoral Musicians at both the regional and national level.  

Originally from New York City, Philip received his BM in Organ Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY.  While at Queens, he studied organ and conducting with Paul Maynard, the former director of the New York Pro Musica.  After being accepted into graduate organ performance programs at Juilliard, Indiana, and Michigan, Philip decided to attend Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he earned a Masters in Sacred Music.  While at Westminster, he studied organ with Robert Carwithen and choral conducting with Allen Crowell.  He was also fortunate to regularly sing under Joseph Flummerfelt in the Westminster Symphonic Choir which performed Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Hindemith’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.  In 2005, Philip earned a Doctorate in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied organ with David Higgs and received a choral conducting minor while studying conducting with William Weinert.

Philip Brisson is active in the American Guild of Organists, has served on the Louisville Chapter’s Executive Committee and has held both the Sub-Dean and Dean positions for the Guild.  He is also the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Organist Liaison for the Louisville Archdiocese, Membership Chairman of the Roman Catholic Conference of Cathedral Musicians, and is a member of The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.  Dr. Brisson also founded the concert artist cooperative EastWestOgranists.com, which represents several prominent young American organists in the United States.

Colin Andrews, Friday, February 10 - 7:30 p.m.

Since his debut at age eighteen, Colin Andrews has been recognized as a musician of great versatility, power and artistry. Born in Bristol, England, Andrews initially studied organ with Garth Benson of St. Mary Redcliffe Church. At sixteen, he entered London’s Royal Academy of Music for four years of organ and piano study under principal professors Douglas Hawkridge and Margaret McDonald. He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland where he was a student of Professor Lionel Rogg. Following his return to Britain he studied privately for two years with Dame Gillian Weir.

Colin Andrews has been the recipient of many awards; most notably, he was a prizewinner at both the 1980 and 1982 Dublin International Organ Competitions in Ireland, and, in 1993, The Royal Academy of Music, London, bestowed an Associateship upon him in recognition of his distinguished performing career.

Mr. Andrews has toured worldwide both as a solo recitalist and in solo and ensemble concerts with his wife, American organist Janette Fishell. He has appeared at a number of the world’s most prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall, London; King’s College, Cambridge; Suntory Hall, Tokyo; Hong Kong Cultural Center; The Moscow Conservatoire; the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris; the National Conventions of the NZAO and the American Guild of Organists; Yale, Duke and Stanford Universities, plus leading halls and cathedrals in Taiwan, South America, Iceland, Finland, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa and most of Eastern and Western Europe. Future engagements include concert tours of Asia, Europe and numerous engagements in the US.

In addition to his recitals, Colin Andrews is an active teacher and lecturer, and has given presentations at, among other venues, the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest; Taiwan Theological College; Pipe Organ Encounter, Pittsburgh; Oundle Summer School for Young Organists, Oundle, UK; Emory University; and at the 1998 AGO National Convention. He has recorded 20 broadcasts for the BBC and has appeared on local and national television and radio in Russia, Poland, the UK, Japan and New Zealand. Commercial compact discs are available on the Priory, Zig Zag and Gothic/Loft labels.

Colin Andrews has served as a jury member for the International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan and for both the 1995 and 1997 J.P. Sweelinck Competitions, Gdansk, Poland. Mr. Andrews was also jury President/recitalist for the 2006 Felix Nowowiejski International Organ Competition in Poznan, Poland. He has served as a national councilor and local President of the I.A.O., UK and has served as Organist/Master of the Choristers at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC, USA, his country of residence. In the summer of 2004 he led that choir in its first international concert tour, conducting concerts in the cathedrals of Wells, Bristol and St. David’s, UK. During the 2000/2001 academic year Mr. Andrews was Visiting Lecturer in Organ and Sacred Music at East Carolina University. His students have distinguished themselves at the national and international levels of the competition circuit and have been accepted by all of the major organ programs in the US. In the fall of 2005 he joined his wife on the East Carolina faculty when he resumed Lecturer status, teaching in the areas of Applied Organ and Organ Literature. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Andrews was Interim Director of Organ and Sacred Music Studies at East Carolina University. In the fall of 2009, he will teach History of Organ Literature and Organ Pedagogy at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, as Adjunct Professor of Organ. He is also Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Indiana.

Kui-Im Lee, Friday, March 9 - 7:30 p.m.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Kui-Im Lee studied music at Seoul National University (B.M in music) in Korea and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in music) in the United States.  While she was in her junior year, she won the first prize in composition at the prestigious Dong-A Music Competition in Korea.  At the University of Pennsylvania, she was awarded a University Fellowship for her entire graduate studies and was also nominated for the Mellon Dissertation Fellowship twice.  She studied music composition with Dr. George Crumb of Penn and music theory with Dr. Thomas Christensen of the University of Chicago.  She also studied organ with Dr. Robert Triplett of the University of Iowa and Dr. Robert Parris of Mercer University.

She has presented her research papers and organ performances at regional, national and international conferences, including the College Music Society, National Conferences in San Francisco (2004), Salt Lake City (2007), Atlanta (2008) and International Conference in Bangkok, Thailand (2007). She also presented her papers at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in 2004, 2007 and 2008, and has served on the paper reviewing committee for the conferences. In addition, she serves as an AP reader for Advanced Placement Exam in music theory. She is interested in Schenkerian theory and interdisciplinary studies, integrating various disciplines and applying theoretical knowledge and experience into practical applications of learning and making music.

She is currently Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Organ at the University of Northern Iowa and Organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo, Iowa. In her free time, Lee enjoys playing with her cats Chloe and Soso, cooking Korean food, shopping, and playing the organ.

Samuel Porter, Friday, April 27 - 7:30 p.m.

A native of Texas, Samuel Porter received the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Organ from Baylor University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance from the University of Alabama. In addition, Dr. Porter is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists. A church organist since the age of eleven, Dr. Porter has served churches in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennesse, Oklahoma, and Idaho, and is currently organist at the First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi and adjunct music faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi. A noted organ recitalist and accompanist, Dr. Porter has played recitals as organist, pianist or assisting artist throughout the United States, in Europe and in South America. He has presented solo and lecture recitals for local chapters of the AGO and for regional and national conventions of that organization. During his tenure at Boise's Cathedral of the Rockies, Dr. Porter was Chair of Boise Music Weeks's annual Church night, played annual recitals at the Cathedral and toured each year with the Cathedral's choirs. He is a published author and composer (The American Organist, The Diapason, and organ works are published by Adoro Music Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI).

Scott Vaillancourt, Friday, June 8 - 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Vaillancourt graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1992 and received both a Masters in Music Composition and a Masters in Performance from the University of Michigan in 1994. Mr. Vaillancourt is currently active as a freelance composer, arranger, performer and teacher in the central and southern Maine areas. Some of the many ensemble he has performed with include: the Portland Opera Repertory Theater Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, the Colby Symphony, and the Portland Brass Quintet. He is the music director at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine; teaches part time at the University of Southern Maine, and Bowdoin College; was director of bands and chorus at the University of New England; is the principle tubist and organist for the Norumbega Ensemble; and is member of the board for the Portland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He lives in Lewiston with his wife and three children.