John Mitchener

John Mitchener has concertized widely in the United States and Europe receiving critical acclaim for his “expressive and original playing” (The American Organist). He has performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Anglican Association of Musicians. In June 2000, he was a featured recitalist and teacher at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ National Conference on Worship and Music in Montreat, N.C. In May, 2003 he completed a series of 15 recitals in which he performed, over the course of 2½ years in various venues in Winston-Salem. N.C., the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He also has performed in Japan, and he has been heard on Pipe Dreams on National Public Radio and the Austrian National Radio.

He received master’s degrees and Performer’s Certificates in organ and harpsichord as well as the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. While at Eastman, he was the graduate teaching assistant to Professors Saunders, Craighead, and Higgs, and he won the Graduate Teaching Assistant prize for excellence in teaching. He also studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts where he received his high school diploma and Bachelor of Music degree. As a student at the National Conservatory in Rueil-Malmaison, France, he was awarded the Médaille d’Or (Gold Medal), Prix d’Excellence and Prix de Virtuosité. His teachers include Marie-Claire Alain, Guy Bovet, David Craighead, David Higgs, Susan Landale, John Mueller, and Russell Saunders. He has extensive master class experience with Xavier Darasse, Jean Langlais, and Gillian Weir. He studied improvisation with Richard Erickson and Gerre Hancock. Formerly organist of the American Cathedral in Paris, he has won prizes in numerous organ competitions including the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National, Philadelphia AGO, and Dublin International Competitions.

His students have already begun to distinguish themselves by serving churches and colleges throughout the country and winning prizes in such competitions as the Liszt International Competition, the MTNA State, Regional, and National Competitions (2002 in Cincinnati and 2003 in Salt Lake City) and the AGO Region IV Competition in 2003.

Dr. Mitchener is currently the Kenan Professor of Organ at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Associate Professor of Organ and College Organist at Salem College, and Organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition, he serves as President of the Board of Trustees of the Moravian Music Foundation and he is a member of the American Guild of Organists’ National Committee on Education.

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