The Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Organ Scholar Program offers emerging organists under the age of 30 the opportunity to experience a ten-month paid internship within a significant music ministry program in the United States. The program model is designed to include combined investments from AGO National Headquarters and a host church with an outstanding music program. In total, the organ scholar will be offered a salary of at least $30,000, housing, and healthcare options. 2024-2025 Organ Scholar Job Description. To reach Jillian Gardner, Chair, Organ Scholar Program, click here.
Interested in Being a Host Institution/Church? Click Here for the Application and Overview.
Kateri Andress is the 2024-2025 Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Organ Scholar
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kateri Andress is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of David Higgs. In May of 2021, she completed her Bachelor of the Arts degree in Music with a double concentration in organ performance and sacred music from Ave Maria University in Southwest Florida, where she studied with Brice Gerlach. She has been awarded several scholarships over the years to fund her organ studies, including the 2017 American Guild of Organists’ Pogorzelski-Yankee Memorial Scholarship and the 2021 National Association of Pastoral Musicians’ Dr. James Kosnik and OCP Scholarships. Kateri’s musical interests have always centered around sacred music, and she has been serving as a church organist since she first began organ studies at age 16. Kateri currently holds the position of Organist at the United Church of Canandaigua in Canandaigua, New York.
Kateri writes: Firstly, I would like to express a heartfelt thank you to the AGO and to St. George’s for this amazing opportunity. As an organist whose goal has always been to work in church music, this organ scholar position is indeed a dream come true. So many of the skills a church musician needs can only be developed through actual hands-on experience. At St. George’s, I will have the chance to put what I have learned in the classroom into practice under the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Woosug Kang and Gerry Senechal, who have both the education and the experience to fine-tune my skills and take them to the next level. I am very much looking forward to a fruitful ten months of their feedback, as well as thrilled to participate in a church music program that puts forth such beautiful music in worship of God.
St. George’s Episcopal Church Will Host the 2024-2025 Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Organ Scholar
Steeped in Anglican tradition, with a dedication to beauty and excellence in sacred music, St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN, offers an exciting opportunity for a young musician for the 2024-25 program year. While at St. George’s, the organ scholar will experience daily work life of one of the largest Episcopal Churches in the country—real-life experience which cannot be obtained through an academic degree program. Throughout the program, the organ scholar will have a series of opportunities to improve their talent through the accompaniment of choral anthems and psalms, innovative hymn playing, leadership with the RSCM chorister program, and choral conducting. The organ scholar will study, practice, and perform on the newly completed instrument, Buzard Op. 48. This new organ, installed in 2023, provides a wonderful array of colors and combinations in the art of choral accompaniment and performance of diverse organ repertoire. Committed to the development of young sacred musicians, St. George’s is pleased to be in partnership with the American Guild of Organists, and looks forward to a fulfilling, encouraging, and hands-on experience for our next organ scholar.
Past Organ Scholars
2023 – 2024: Katherine Johnson – Duke University Chapel
2022 – 2023: Daniel Jacky – Duke University Chapel
