Poister Competition

The 2015 Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition in Organ Playing was held April 11 at Park Central Presbyterian Church, Syracuse, New York. First prize went to Brian Glikes, a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Eastman School of Music studying with David Higgs. He holds a Master of Music from Emory University, where he studied with Timothy Albrecht. He will play his winner’s recital in the fall in Setnor Auditorium (the Crouse Holtkamp, 1950) at Syracuse University.

Second prize was awarded to Katelyn Emerson (member of The Diapason’s “20 under 30” Class of 2015), a senior at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studies with James David Christie and is completing both a Bachelor of Music in organ and a Bachelor of Arts in French. Her “Rising Star” recital will be scheduled in the Malmgren Concert Series at Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University, in the spring of 2016.

The four other finalists were Jillian Gardner (member of The Diapason’s “20 under 30” Class of 2015), a senior organ major at Oberlin studying with James David Christie; Silviya Mateva, a DMA candidate at Oklahoma studying with John Schwandt and Damin Spritzer; Karl Robson, a DMA candidate at Eastman, studying with David Higgs; and Joey Fala, who studies currently with Al Fedak and Christian Lane. The judges for the finals were Agnes Armstrong, Frederick Hohman, and Kola Owolabi.