East Studio Building, JS324
Education
- D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Rochester, 1991
- M.M., Master of Music, University of Rochester, 1987
- B.A., Bachelor of Arts, Bates College, 1982
Biography
Christopher Young is professor of music in organ and chair of the Organ Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
A native of New England, he is the winner of the 1988 National Young Artists Competition (NYACOP) of the American Guild of Organists and the 1988 Arthur Poister Competition (Syracuse University). He was also recognized by Musical America as one of their outstanding Young Artists of 1989.
His concert career began under the auspices of a special young artist program provided by Karen McFarlane Artists, and continued under the Young Organists Cooperative, of which he was a co-director until 1993.
Young has been a featured artist at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. He has been heard as a featured performer on American Public Media's Pipedreams and has appeared in concert with the Rochester (MN) Chamber Chorale, the Minneapolis Chamber Symphony and with his wife, violinist Brenda Brenner. His compact disc, To Thee All Angels Cry Aloud, was released on the Pro Organo label.
In addition to concertizing, Young presents master classes, workshops, and lectures. He has given classes and performances at several church music clinics, including the Montreat Conference on Music and Worship, the St. Olaf Conference on Music and Theology, and the national convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. He has presented at several AGO National Pedagogy Conferences, as well national and regional conventions of the AGO.
Several presentations have focused on electronic media, including a virtual tour of North German Organs, interactive analyses of organ music, and the theoretical underpinnings to the organ music of Olivier Messiaen. He serves as organist of First Presbyterian Church, Bloomington.
Young began organ lessons under the tutelage of Marion Anderson while a freshman at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where, in 1982, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with High Honors in Music. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, he earned M.M. and D.M.A. degrees and the prestigious Performer's Certificate under David Craighead and Russell Saunders.