NYACOP Director

John Brock, Director
3240 Great Meadows Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37920
Home 865-577-7153
Cell 865-382-7105
Jbrock@utk.edu

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National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance

The American Guild of Organists promotes the highest level of organ performance through its National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP). The Competition is intended to serve as a springboard for emerging organists to develop their performance ability by participating in the various demanding stages of the Competition.

The Competition takes place in four stages: The APPLICATION process calls for applicants to present themselves for consideration as competitors with completed application packages as specified in the Rules. The NYACOP Committee selects a maximum of 25 applicants as official competitors. The Competition continues with a RECORDED ROUND, judged in strict anonymity, from which seven competitors are chosen to advance to the SEMIFINAL ROUND. Those semifinalists competed in live performance in Cleveland, Ohio, in May. Of those, three have been selected to compete in the FINAL ROUND, to be held on Sunday, July 1, 2012, from 1:30-5:30 PM at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, Tennessee.

The repertoire for the Final Round is: 

  • J. S. Bach: Fugue in F, BWV 540ii
  • Nicolas de Grigny: Verbum supernum
  • Judith Weir: Ettrick Banks
  • Franz Liszt: Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H

 

Prizes

First Prize

  • The Lilian Murtagh Memorial Prize, a $3,000 cash award, funded by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio
  • Career development assistance from Karen McFarlane Artists Inc., between September 2012 and June 2014, including publicity materials and advertising
  • A performance during the 2014 National Convention.
  • A CD recording on the Pro Organo label

Second Prize
A cash award of $3,000, funded by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois.

Third Prize
A cash award of $2,000, funded by Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, Hartville, Ohio.

Audience Prize
A cash award of $1000, funded by Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri. This prize will be determined by audience ballot at the Final Round. Only audience members who are present for the entire Final Round of the Competition may vote.

 

Competition Finalists

 

Thatcher Lyman
Thatcher Lyman holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, the University of York, England, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he is pursuing a DMA degree in Organ Performance under Dr. Hans Davidsson.  His past organ teachers include James David Christie and Haskell Thomson.  In 2009, Thatcher received Eastman’s Gerald Barnes Award for Excellence in Pipe Organ.  He was also a finalist for the 2010 John R. Rodland Memorial Scholarship.  He is Director of Music at St. Mary’s Church and Assistant Director of the Schola Cantorum of Christ Church, both in Rochester, New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malcolm Matthews

Malcolm Matthews has recently completed his BM with Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music studying with Prof. David Higgs. Currently, he is pursuing a MM in both Organ and Harpsichord Performance at Eastman. Malcolm’s accomplishments include: First place, 2005 South-Eastern Region IV Young Organists Competition, and Semi-finalist, 2009 Concours international d’orgue de Lyon. He has performed organ recitals in Bremen, Germany; Greenville, South Carolina; Sarasota, Florida; Chattanooga, Knoxville, Kingsport, and Nashville, Tennessee; Guelph, Ontario, Canada; and Chicago, Illinois.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daryl Robinson

Daryl Robinson is a graduate of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston and serves as Music Associate/Organist for Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston. A student of David Higgs, Robert Bates, Matthew Dirst, and Joby Bell, he was awarded a scholarship to the 2007 Summer Institute for French Organ Studies and won First Prize in the 2009 William C. Hall Organ Competition. While a student, he served as collaborative keyboard artist for the Moores School Concert Chorale and Texas Music Festival. Recent professional engagements include Houston Chamber Choir, Houston Symphony, and Keyboardist for Mercury Baroque Houston.