2025 Competition

Competitors

Peter Bayer, FAGO, holds a BA in Organ Performance and Classics from The Catholic University of America. He has been the Bevan Organ Scholar at Trinity College of the University of Toronto since the fall of 2022 whilst writing his PhD dissertation on the notion of the inner teacher in Clement of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, and the Platonist tradition. At The Catholic University of America, he studied with Prof. Ronald Stolk, and he spent the fall semester of 2016 in Rome studying the Italian baroque organ repertoire under the instruction of Maestro Armando Carideo, performing a recital at Santa Barbara dei Librai on the restored Renaissance instrument there. In 2018, he passed the fellowship examination of the American Guild of Organists, winning the FAGO prize and Lewis Elmer Award for academic excellence. He has performed recitals in several churches around the Washington, DC area and in Toronto, including St. Matthew’s Cathedral in DC, St. James Cathedral, and for the Organix series in Toronto. Further, he has participated in masterclasses at the Oberlin Summer Organ Academy, the McGill Summer Organ Academy, and The Organ Scholar Experience, a week-long program at Oxford run by the Royal College of Organists.

Maria Gajraj is a Montréal-based organist and Doctoral Candidate at McGill University. Her research focuses on 20th-century Caribbean organ repertoire. She is the co-founder of Sapphonix Collective, which promotes women, queer, and racialized classical musicians, and has been featured on CBC Radio. Maria has performed internationally, at venues like Blackburn Cathedral (UK), Maison Symphonique (Montreal), and in series such as Cal Performances and Bergen Orgelsommer. A recipient of the Godfrey Hewitt Scholarship (2022) and other awards, her doctoral research is funded by the FRQ (Fonds de Recherche du Quebec). In her concert programs, Maria is passionate about highlighting women and composers of colour. As Deirdre Piper wrote in “Pipelines”, Maria’s “spirited, clean, and colourful performance lent real meaningful significance” to this music. By creating engaging concert programs, and by featuring the organ in innovative and multidisciplinary contexts, Maria strives to break stereotypes, and to make the organ more accessible to everyone.

Completing a BMus at the University of British Columbia this spring, Isaac Howie is an organist and lifelong Vancouverite. Entering UBC at 15, he studied organ with Michael Dirk and harpsichord/improvisation with Alexander Weimann, after studying Forestry and alongside a major in Classics; clinicians have included David Briggs, David Palmer, Marc D’Anjou, Denis Bédard and Edoardo Belotti. Since 2021, he has been organist at Holy Family Vancouver (FSSP), and holds an ARCT in piano. A sought-after collaborator, recent highlights include improvised Silent Movie Mondays at the Orpheum Theatre, Stainer’s Crucifixion at St. Mary’s Vancouver, Rutter’s Gloria at the Chan Centre, Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony at Christ Church Vancouver, and Mozart’s Requiem at Holy Rosary; he also appeared in the 2nd Internationaler Feith Orgelwettbewerb last year in Blieskastel, Germany. Isaac has been President of the RCCO Vancouver Centre from 2024 - 25, and his choral work has been premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Besides playing organ, Isaac enjoys building computers, brewing coffee and selling real estate.

Samuel Lee is an organist and a pianist who loves exploring transcribed music written for other instruments. He is currently a doctoral candidate at McGill University studying organ performance with Isabelle Demers, receiving twice the Graduate Excellence Fellowship, and lately the John Grew Award. Samuel was finalist in the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition in 2023. In 2021, placed third in the RCCO National Organ Playing Competition, Samuel was awarded the Muriel Gidley Stafford Prize. He received the Healey Willan Prize and the Heather Spry Prize on completing the FRCCO, while at the same time completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance with David Jalbert at the University of Ottawa. Samuel also obtained an ARCT diploma in piano. Samuel has previously served at Montreal West United Church, and Christ Church Cathedral Montreal. 

Originally from Budapest, Hungary, Áron Sipos is currently an undergraduate student at McGill University, where he studies organ with Isabelle Demers. Previously Áron studied organ with László Stachó and Ferenc Monostori, and music theory and composition with Boglárka Terray and Márton Levente Horváth. Since his arrival in Canada, Áron has been organ scholar at The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montréal. Áron has won multiple awards and scholarships, including the Hugh Brock and Schulich scholarships from McGill University, the Undergraduate Trust from Cambridge University, and The Donald and Helen Mackey memorial award. Áron is the recipient of third place and a special distinction for sight-reading in the 2022 National Hungarian organ competition. Áron has appeared in solo recitals in Montréal and Budapest, including a concert at The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul as part of their Organ Intermezzi Summer Organ Concert series. In the 2024-2025 academic year Áron also had the privilege of accompanying the combined McGill choirs in Vierne’s Messe Solennelle, as well as performing as a soloist with the McGill Baroque Orchestra. A student with varied interests, Áron is also profoundly interested in history, mathematics and philosophy.

Qing Xu is now a doctorate student at McGill University, where she studies with Isabelle Demers. Prior to commencing her studies in Montreal, she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in the class of Yuan Shen, a leading Chinese organist. Her professional career in organ performance began in 2018 when she was selected for the Haarlem International Organ Festival’s “Young Talent” program. The same year, she also won the second prize in Concours International d’orgue de Versailles Jeune Talent (Versailles International Young Concert Organist Competition). In 2021, she won the Special Jury Prize at the 12th International M. Tariverdiev Organ Competition. Ms. Xu has performed the Chinese premiere of numerous works and has given recitals in several cities in China. She worked with composer Chang Qi on her piece Micro-carving, which won the International Kajia Saariaho Organ Composition Competition prize and was performed at the inauguration of the Helsinki Music Centre’s new organ in 2024. As a specialist in late Romantic repertoire, several of Ms. Xu’s articles on this topic have been published in Chinese academic journals.

Jurors

Keyboard artist Marnie Giesbrecht performs and records as organ soloist, and collaborative musician (organ, piano, harpsichord) mainstream repertoire, new and early music. Dr. Giesbrecht is Professor Emerita at the University of Alberta (1988 to 2014), Adjunct Professor of Music at The King’s University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

As half of Duo Majoya with Joachim Segger, she tours, performs and records a distinctive repertoire of commissioned, original, and arranged works for organ and organ/piano duos. The duo’s 2024 Centredisc “Canadian Suites for Organ and Piano” was launched in concert at the Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton, in September 2024. Giesbrecht and Segger are music directors at First Presbyterian Church.

An ambassador and advocate for organ music, Giesbrecht has served/continues to serve in many local, regional and national leadership roles in the Royal Canadian College of Organists including as National President (2000-2002). She adjudicates on a variety of local, national and international competition juries and panels. 

A composer whose works are performed across North America, Europe and in Asia, Stephanie Martin has mentored musicians, composers, musicologists and organists as professor at York University, Toronto. Her compositions that highlight the organ include a dedicatory piece for the new Harrison & Harrison organ in Alexandria Virginia (2020), accompanied anthems on texts by Phillis Wheatley and John Donne, and Evening Canticle settings for clients in the UK and the USA. In the upcoming 2025-26 season, Stephanie will serve as composer-in-residence to the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Visit her website to keep in touch: https://stephaniemartinmusic.com/ 

Dr. Gregg Redner has been Director of Music and Arts at Metropolitan United Church, since 2001. Prior to coming to London, Gregg held academic and church positions in New York City. He holds a PhD from Exeter University in England, a double Master of Music degree (Organ and Harpsichord) from the Juilliard School in New York City and is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (FRCCO) and the National College of Music (FNCM). He also holds a certificate in Choral Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College. In addition, Gregg holds the Professional Diploma in Choral Conducting (Ch.RCCO - John Sidgwick Scholarship) from the RCCO. He is an Associate of The American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and holds the Choirmaster Certificate (ChM - S. Lewis Elmer and Choirmaster Prizes) from that same organization. In addition, Gregg has also studied in the PhD program in Historical Musicology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and has taken courses in music, philosophy and religion at Columbia University, Oxford University and Westminster Choir College. In April 2013 Gregg was awarded an Honorary Fellowship for Services to Music by the National College of Music & Arts, London, UK. Gregg serves on the Advisory Council of the National College of Music, London, UK. In the summer of 2025 he was awarded the Associateship of The Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM), U.K. in recognition of the place of importance the Music Program at Metropolitan United Church holds in the realm of Canadian church music.

His teachers have included Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Gerre Hancock, George Guest, Albert Fuller, Leonard Raver, Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions. Gregg is also a published author and his book ‘Deleuze and Film Music’ is published by Intellect Press. 

Dr. Lee Willingham, Faculty of Music at Laurier University, coordinates the music education and MA and PhD in Community Music. Recent publications include a 32 chapter edited volume, Community Music at the Boundaries (WLU Press) released in 2021, and co-authored book, Engaging in Community Music, An Introduction (Routledge Publishers) 2017. He has a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Community Music (2018). He edited the Canadian Music Educator/Musicien éducator au Canada for 10 years, and co-edited the book, Creativity and Music Education. He is a past president and Honourary Life Member of the Ontario Music Educators' Association.

Willingham has guest conducted many choirs throughout North America and Europe. Recent research presentations have touched on areas of music education reform, community music practices, and equity/inclusion in academic contexts. He has engaged in church and worship leadership throughout his career, and currently attends First United Church, Waterloo.

Dr. Willingham is a past chair of the Community Music Activities Commission, ISME. 

Patricia Wright is Minister of Music Emerita of Metropolitan United Church in Toronto, having served there for 36 years. Previously, she served as Director of Music in churches in New Haven and Ottawa. A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, she holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University and has studied in France with Nadia Boulanger and Jean Langlais. Dr. Wright has been heard in recital in the United States, Canada and Europe, has been broadcast on the C.B.C., and has played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, including their recording of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ under Sir Andrew Davis. She was invited to play premiere the Toronto Organ Series in Montreal at the International Congress of Organists in 1993 and was a recitalist ins national convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the 2003 AGO Regional Convention in Albany, She a past national president of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, having received an Honorary Fellowship in 1997. She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in the Summer Institute of Church Music, having participated on the organ faculty for several sessions. She also has served as an Adjunct Profession of Organ in the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and in the Master of Sacred Music degree program of Emmanuel College, Victoria University, University of Toronto, having also taught at the University of Ottawa, University of Guelph, and Queen’s University. Dr. Wright has served as an adjudicator for RCCO competitions and on juries of the Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal.

PRELIMINARY JURORS

Lottie Enns-Braun is currently music director and organist at Young United Church and an active member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. She began her musical training as pianist and chorister in rural Manitoba. She holds undergraduate and graduate music degrees from the former CMBC, the University of Manitoba and the University of Western Ontario.

Lottie is heard regularly as soloist and accompanist in Winnipeg and beyond. She has toured in Eastern Canada and played summer Evensong services in collaboration with the Winnipeg choral group All the Kings Men in many cathedrals in the UK including St Paul’s in London, St. Alban’s, and Exeter. She has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; collaborated with many choral ensembles including: the Winnipeg Singers and the Da Capo Choir in Kitchener, Ontario. She has performed in several Canadian cities with saxophonist, Allen Harrington. They released a CD “Vanishing Point” of music for Saxophone and Organ on the Parma label in 2016. 

Andrew Henderson is Director of Music & Organist at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he oversees an extensive liturgical and choral program, including the 40-voice Saint Andrew Chorale, the 180-voice New York City Children’s Chorus, in addition to the Saint Andrew Music Society’s Music on Madison concert series. He also serves as the chair of the organ department at the Manhattan School of Music, as the organ instructor at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and as Associate Organist at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El. Dr. Henderson, a native of Thorold, Ontario, holds degrees in music from Cambridge and Yale Universities, and in 2007 he was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Juilliard School. He was a finalist in the international competition Grand Prix de Chartres in France in 2002, and won first prize in the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ biennial National Organ Playing Competition the following year. Recent performances include organ and continuo playing with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Musica Sacra, Voices of Ascension, The Oratorio Society of New York and The Collegiate Chorale, and solo recitals in Poland, Canada, and throughout the USA. His performances have been featured on the nationally-syndicated public radio programs Pipedreams and With Heart and Voice. He has been featured as a recitalist and workshop leader at national and regional gatherings of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Fellowship of United Methodists in Worship and Music Arts, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and the American Guild of Organists. His first solo CD, Andrew Henderson at St. John’s, Elora, was recorded and released in 2010. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, his teachers have included John Tuttle, Barrie Cabena, David Sanger, Thomas Murray and John Weaver. 

Hailed for his “unalloyed musicality”, organist, harpsichordist, conductor, chamber musician and arranger Jonathan Oldengarm loves to colour outside the lines. Passionate about repertoire from the 16th to 21st centuries, he is equally at home as a soloist and ensemble player.

His recording credits include discs on the ATMA Classique, Klanglogo and Analekta labels with Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal; saxophonist Claudia Tesorino; the Ottawa Bach Choir (Lisette Canton, director); the A&P Choir (Jean-Sébastien Vallée, conductor); and Buzz Brass. Recent performance collaborations include Hammer Baroque, the 2023 and 2025 RCCO National Conventions, KW Symphony Brass Quintet, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Bach Project, the Elora Festival, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Gallery Players, North Winds Concerts and Cappella Intima.

Jonathan is Minister of Music and Organist at Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church, home to multiple ensembles, two concert series, and a treasury of instruments that include Canada’s largest pipe organ and Canada’s oldest tuned carillon. He also teaches harpsichord at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music.

He holds degrees in organ and harpsichord performance from Wilfrid Laurier and McGill Universities; the Fellowship diploma of the Royal Canadian College of Organists; and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2008 until 2022 he taught organ, harpsichord, keyboard skills, and liturgical improvisation at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, while serving as Director of Music and Organist at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal.