Competitions for Young Organists
TCAGO Announces Winners of the 2024 Competition in Organ Performance
The Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Competition in Organ Performance held on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
1st Place: Evelyn Rohrbach (front row, third from left), First-Year undergraduate student at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana
Evelyn Rohrbach is a first-year organ performance major at the Jacobs School of Music. Evelyn began studying piano at the age of six and organ at the age of 12 and has worked as a church organist and pianist since the age of 12. She has studied organ with Dr. Janette Fishell, Dr. Stephan Hamilton, Dr. Christa Rakich, and Dr. Laura Edman, and piano with Dr. Gail Olszewski, Pamela Sohraikoff, and Dr. Ivan Konev.
Evelyn has won and placed in many piano competitions, including an 8-time Badger State WMTA winner (4th–12th grades), semifinalist and runners-up in the Milwaukee Symphony, Chippewa Valley Symphony, La Crosse Symphony, and Saint Paul Piano Teachers Concerto Competitions. She was awarded first place in The Bill and Pat Medley Pre-College Piano Competition in May 2020 and was the winner of the 2020 MTNA Composition Competition in Minnesota and Honorable Mention at the regional level. Evelyn is a two-time recipient of the Michael Barone Organ Scholarship, has performed three times at TCAGO spring concerts and in November 2021 she performed a solo recital for the TCAGO historic organ tour. She is organist/pianist at Roberts Park United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Evelyn has a passion for solo and collaborative performance as well as sacred music. She also enjoys opera, cooking, and all things sheep. Evelyn spins, knits, crochets, raises a small flock of Targhee sheep that she breeds and shows for wool, and herds with her 4-year-old border collie, Dottsie.
2nd Place: Isabel Munson (front row, second from left), Senior at Dordt University, Sioux City, Iowa
A native of Lakeville, Minnesota, Isabel Munson began taking organ lessons in January 2017 after receiving the Twin Cities Guild of Organists’ Pipedreams Scholarship in October of 2016. She received this award two additional times in 2017 and 2019. Isabel studied organ with Dr. Mary Newton from 2017 to 2019, and Dr. Kristina Langlois from 2019 to 2020.
Isabel is currently enrolled at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. She will graduate in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music: Organ Performance & Pedagogy. Throughout her years at Dordt University, Isabel has enjoyed opportunities to tour Europe and the Netherlands, playing historic organs, and learning from revered Dutch organists. She has presented solo recitals in 2023 and 2024. Isabel has worked with renowned organists, such as Jan Kraybill, Paul Jacobs, Damin Spritzer, and Wayne Marshall through masterclasses at Dordt.
Isabel has a passion for the study and practice of sacred music. After graduating from Dordt University, Isabel plans to further her education by obtaining a master’s degree in sacred music.
Congratulations to both Evelyn and Isabel. Thank you to competition judges (back row, left to right) Jacob Benda, Melanie Ohnstad, and Jungjoo Park.
The first prize of $2,500 is provided by the Schubert Club of Saint Paul. TCAGO member Phil Asgian donated the second prize of $1,000.
For more information, contact Isaac Drewes, Competition Coordinator, idrewes@centralmpls.org.
Congratulations, Evelyn and Isabel!
Information about the TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance
Date and Place of Competition1st PRIZE: $2,500 - sponsored by the Schubert Club
2nd PRIZE: $1,000 - sponsored by Phil Asgian, TCAGO member
OrganSaturday, April 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–noon; the public is invited to listen
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
700 Snelling Ave S, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55116
Eligibility1959 Casavant/2022 Letourneau, 3 manuals, 60 ranks, electric key and stop action, 999 levels of memory
RegistrationThe competition is open to organists under 24 years of age as of August 1, 2024.
Competitors must reside (either home or school) in the North Central Region: Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Previous First Prize winners of this competition are not eligible to compete in this competition.
A completed official online registration form (click here and scroll down to "TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance"), registration fee of $25 made payable to TCAGO, biography, and an official proof of age must be submitted via a secure link no later than Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 10:00 p.m.
Download the application and rules here:
Competition Rules (pdf)
Competition Flyer (pdf)
RepertoireThe registration deadline is Thursday, February 18, 2024 at 10:00 p.m. CST.1. REQUIRED: A prelude and fugue OR two contrasting movements of a Trio Sonata by J.S. Bach. BWV 582 is acceptable; BWV 553-560 and 572 are not acceptable.
Select from two of the categories below:
2. A work composed between 1800 and 1900 (a single movement of a larger work is acceptable).
3. A work composed between 1900 and 2000 (a single movement of a larger work is acceptable.)
4. A work composed between 2000 and 2024
Works chosen in categories 2, 3, and 4 must be contrasting in style, mood and technique.
For more information contact:
Isaac Drewes
TCAGO Competition Committee
General info about RCYO - American Guild of Organists