Candidate for Dean – Cathy Meyer
Cathy Meyer is originally from Seattle, where she was raised in a very musical family; by the time she was 16, not only did she have her first church music position but also played trumpet in a professional big band. She earned her Bachelors of Music in Organ Performance from the University of North Texas and Masters of Sacred Music from Boston University. She is the Minister of Music and organist for South Church (UCC) in Andover, Massachusetts, where she directs a large music ministry of choral and instrumental music.
Cathy is an active recitalist, and has recently performed organ and piano recitals on both coasts, including Trinity Church in Copley Square, St. Alban’s on Cape Elizabeth Maine, First Night Boston at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and was featured on the nationally-syndicated Pipedreams radio show. Cathy sings alto with the New Hampshire-based choir Capella Nova Mundi. She is also a fully certified teacher in the Orff-Schulwerk.
Cathy has been serving as Sub-Dean for the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists for the past two years and is heavily involved with the Young Organist Initiative, and also maintains a private organ studio. In her free time, she is an Acutonics and Sound Healing practitioner and a Reiki Master of Masters.
She hopes to continue to increase BAGO membership size and involvement in her tenure as Dean and appreciates your help and support!
Candidate for Sub-Dean Jeffrey Mills
Jeffrey Mills has served our Executive Committee in the role of Registrar and Member at-Large. He has exercised leadership in music ministries at Saint Peter’s Church in Cambridge, the Parish of Saint John the Evangelist on Bowdoin Street, Boston, All Saints Ashmont, and at Grace Church, Newton. He currently serves as Organist and Director of Music at Saint John’s in Newtonville. In addition, he is a trainer of Eucharistic Visitors for the Diocese of Massachusetts, and a Mentor and Trainer in the Education for Ministry (EfM) program. Jeffrey studied at Indiana University at Bloomington, where he received the B.Mus. in Organ and Church Music. He is also a bi-vocational music director, in public service as Operations Lead Coordinator for the Division of Community Based Prevention and Care for the Department of Public Health in Massachusetts.
Candidate for Secretary Joshua T. Lawton
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Joshua T. Lawton is an accomplished organist, pianist, singer and composer who lives and works in the Boston area. He undertook organ studies with Edwin I. Lawrence after majoring in English at Williams College, and went on to obtain a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance with Distinction from the Longy School of Music as a student of Peter Sykes.
An experienced church and choral musician, he has sung in the choirs of Trinity Church Boston, First Parish in Framingham, New Century Voices, the Boston Cecilia, and the Seraphim Singers. As a solo recitalist, collaborative pianist and chamber musician, he performs a wide variety of repertoire, specializing in the organ works of Olivier Messiaen, Paul Hindemith, Hugo Distler, and others. He presently serves as Music Director of Trinity Parish of Newton Centre, rehearsal accompanist for the Seraphim Singers, and Secretary of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Candidate for Treasurer Daryl Bichel
Daryl Bichel received the BA degree in music from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and holds MM degrees from the New England Conservatory in performance of early music and in organ performance. He has served on the Board of Directors for Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, Capella Clausura and the Old West Organ Society, and is currently in his seventh year as president of the Board of Directors for The Seraphim Singers. Throughout his career he has been an active member of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, having served on the Executive Committee in many capacities, and currently is treasurer. His posts have included Catholic and Lutheran churches, Episcopal parishes, an Episcopal cathedral and an Episcopal monastic community. He is currently Parish Organist at St. Joseph’s in Needham and Artistic Director of Night Song at First Church in Cambridge.
Candidate for Registrar Kirsten Johnson
Kirsten Johnson is the Director of Music at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Newton Lower Falls, a position she has held since 1992. She oversees all music programs, is the organist, and conducts the Adult and Junior Choirs. A native of Minnesota, she is a graduate of St. Olaf College and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale Divinity School. In addition to her work as a church musician, she was the Director of Music Together of Wayland/Weston, an early childhood music program, for over fifteen years. Previously she served the Boston AGO Chapter as Recording Secretary and Membership Chair. She is a former board member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and served on the Conference Committee for AAM Boston 2019. In her free time, she enjoys singing soprano in The Boston Cecilia.
The following persons are candidates for Members-at-Large. You will be asked to vote for 3 persons to serve as Members-At-Large.
Jerrick Cavagnaro
New Jersey native Jerrick Cavagnaro has received degrees in organ performance and sacred music from Westminster Choir College and Yale University where he studied under Alan Morrison, Thomas Murray, and Jon Laukvik. He currently serves as the associate director of music at Trinity Episcopal Church (Copley Square), Boston, MA and was most recently assistant organist/director of music at Christ Episcopal Church, Charlotte, NC. In the past few years, Jerrick has competed in several national and international organ competitions and is also an active composer.
Jennifer Hsaio
Jennifer Hsiao is the organist at Old West Church (Boston) and one of the three principal organists at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Boston). She has performed as a recitalist on organs in the Boston area and was a guest organ soloist with the Bay Colony Brass. She began her organ studies with Eric Plutz at Princeton University and continued them at the Yale School of Music with Chelsea Chen and in Boston with Christian Lane.
Jennifer has won numerous competitions and has performed concerti as both a piano and violin soloist with numerous orchestras including the Princeton University Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Farmington V alley Symphony Orchestra, Connecticut Y outh Symphony, and Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. As a pianist, she has studied with Margreet Francis, Jennifer Tao, Abbey Simon, and Peter Frankl. As a violinist, her primary teachers were Teri Einfeldt, Brian Lewis, Dorothy DeLay, Anna Lim, Stephen Clapp, Philip Setzer, and Ani Kavafian. As a chamber musician, she has coached with the Emerson Quartet, Brentano Quartet, and Tokyo Quartet. She was the first violinist of the Princeton University String Quartet when she was an undergraduate at Princeton. Jennifer has served as concertmaster of various orchestras, including the Princeton University Orchestra, the NJO National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, Dudley Orchestra, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, and Mercury Orchestra.
Jennifer graduated from Princeton with an A.B. degree in Chemistry and certificates in Latin and Musical Performance. She holds a Masters in Music Performance from the Yale School of Music and a PhD in Biological in Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard/MGH and a resident tutor in biology and music at Dunster House at Harvard, where she also served as interim resident dean for the 2016-2017 academic year. She recently joined Shelter Music Boston as a violinist and pianist. In her free time, she enjoys playing violin and piano with various chamber music groups in the Boston area.
Andrus Madsen
Andrus Madsen is an active performer on the organ, harpsichord clavichord and fortepiano. He is the founding director of Newton Baroque and also plays with Exsultemus. He spearheaded a project combining the forces of Newton Baroque and Exsultemus to perform the entire Harmonischer Gottesdienst cantata cycle of Georg Phillip Telemann during the year of 2011. Madsen is also known for his eloquent Baroque style improvisation. He strives to play written repertoire as if he is improvising, while his improvisations often sound as if they had been notated. His recording of keyboard music by Pachelbel, has received significant critical acclaim “Superb recordings of superb instruments by a musician who deserves to be better-known.” (Michael Barone of pipedreams) This album, played on organ, harpsichord and clavichord is available on Raven CD Recordings.
Andrew Sheranian
Since 2010, Andrew Sheranian has been Organist and Master of Choristers at the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont in Boston. He is also organist on staff at The College Church of Seventh-Day Adventists in Lancaster and at the Parish of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Chestnut Hill.
Mr. Sheranian completed his Master of Music degree at Yale University, and his undergraduate training took place at New England Conservatory of Music.
A lifelong disciple of Johann Sebastian Bach, Mr. Sheranian is the founding director of The Bach Project at Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, a baroque ensemble of instrumentalists and singers aiming to perform the full spectrum of Bach’s output. In addition, Mr. Sheranian maintains a busy schedule as guest conductor, choir trainer, organ teacher, accompanist, organ and piano recitalist, in addition to gigs as a jazz/blues/cabaret pianist in collaboration with his partner, vocalist and songwriter João Santos.
Jennifer Velazquez
Jennifer Velázquez is the former Organist and Associate Director of Music and Worship at Independent Presbyterian Church (IPC) in Memphis, TN. During her 25-year tenure with IPC’s robust music program, she performed numerous masterworks and collaborated with musicians such as Alice Parker, Dan Forrest, and the Westminster Brass. She played organ and celeste with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mei-Ann Chen and Robert Moody. Jennifer was an active member of the Memphis AGO, and she has performed internationally in England, Scotland, and Ukraine. She may be heard on A Christmas Legacy and This Light So Fair, two albums published by Ligonier Ministries. In 2008, Jennifer released a solo album, Lauda Anima, with collaborative trumpeter David Spencer. Since moving to Boston in 2021, Jennifer has been active locally as a substitute organist, choral accompanist, and recitalist, having recently performed for the BAGO First Night Recital at First Church of Christ, Scientist. Jennifer holds a Master of Music in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music as well as a Bachelor of Music from Houghton College, Greatbatch School of Music. Additionally, she spent time in London studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her teachers and mentors have included Susan Klotzbach, Graham Elliott, Russell Saunders, Michael Farris, and Peter Sykes.
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