Sarah Hawbecker is an active recitalist, full-time church musician, and winner of numerous competitions. She is a prize winner of both the 1998 and 1996 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. She won first place in the 1988 Undergraduate Organ Competition, Ottumwa, Iowa, and was a finalist in the 1992 Spivey International Organ Competition. Ms. Hawbecker’s performances have been recorded and broadcast on American Public Media’s radio program Pipedreams®.

Ms. Hawbecker has a varied organ repertoire and enjoys designing programs tailored to the specific instrument and the audience. Whether playing a “traditional” organ program, all-Bach, American composers, women composers, Halloween concerts, or interactive concerts for children, her goal is to engage the audience and share her love of the instrument and its music. Also recognized as a specialist with children’s choirs, she is frequently asked to lead workshops in the area of church music and children’s choir techniques.

She has presented workshops and performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists and for conferences of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Her articles have been published in several professional journals: The American Organist (AGO), CrossAccent (ALCM), and The Chorister (Choristers Guild). She has adjudicated several organ competitions, most notably the semi-final round of the 2008 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance.

A native of Illinois, Ms. Hawbecker studied organ and church music with John Ferguson at St. Olaf College, where she earned the Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude with Departmental Distinction, and was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda. She went on to earn the Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Russell Saunders. An active lifetime member of the American Guild of Organists, she served three terms on its National Council and completed two terms on the Board of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians as a regional president.

Ms. Hawbecker has been a project consultant for Létourneau Pipe Organs and is Organist and Director of Children’s Music at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has served since 1996.

The organist Christopher Houlihan has established an international reputation as a “passionate and intelligently virtuoso musician” (Gramophone), hailed for “glowing, miraculously life-affirming performances” (Los Angeles Times). His playing has been praised as “eloquent” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal), and “first-class” (The Diapason). Houlihan has concertized at major concert venues throughout the United States, including the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), and Walt Disney Concert Hall, where he performed with the principal Brass of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Los Angeles Times raved about his Disney Hall debut, proclaiming, “Houlihan is the next big organ talent.”

Houlihan’s performances in the 2024–25 season include solo recitals at the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado) and at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, presented by the Wagner Society of New York. As orchestral soloist, he will appear with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (Carolyn Kuan, conductor) performing concerti by Hanson and Guilmant, and with the Holland (MI) Symphony Orchestra (Johannes Müller Stosch, conductor) performing Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva. Recent performances include solo recitals presented by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (Wisconsin), the Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, CA), and the Celebrity Recital Series at St. Paul’s Cathedral (London).

Noted for his compelling performances of Louis Vierne’s organ works, Houlihan’s “Vierne 2012” tour attracted international attention and critical acclaim for marathon recitals of the composer’s six symphonies in six major North American cities. The Los Angeles Times called his performance there “a major surprise of the summer, a true revelation.” Building on this excitement, Houlihan’s most recent recording features Vierne’s Symphony No. 6 and César Franck’s Grande Piece Symphonique. Released in 2023 by Azica Records, First and Last was praised by The American Organist, remarking, “as for Houlihan himself, he just keeps getting better.” Previous recordings include Christopher Houlihan plays Bach (Azica), music by Maurice Duruflé and Jehan Alain, and Organ Symphony No. 2 by Louis Vierne, both on Towerhill Records.

Christopher Houlihan’s orchestral credits include Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante and Barber’s Toccata Festiva with the Hartford Symphony; Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the Waterbury (CT) and Columbus (GA) Symphonies; and the Organ Concerto by Robert Edward Smith with the Boston Chamber Orchestra. He has been presented in recital at numerous conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. In 2017, he was the featured performer at the closing concert of the AGO Regional Convention at Jacoby Symphony Hall in Jacksonville, where he presented the world premiere of Han Lash’s Ludus (written specifically for Houlihan). In 2014, he performed in a prime-time slot of WQXR’s All-Day Bach Organ Marathon in New York City which was webcast live and seen by thousands. Christopher Houlihan serves on the faculty of Trinity College, Hartford, as the John Rose Distinguished College Organist, Director of Chapel Music, and Artist-in-Residence. Since 2022, he is also Artistic Director of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Hartford, presenter of one of the premier North American competitions for young organists. In addition to studies at Trinity College with John Rose, Houlihan studied with Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs at The Juilliard School and with Jean-Baptiste Robin at the French National Regional Conservatory in Versailles. In 2015 he was selected for The Diapason’s “20 Under 30,” a distinguished list of young leaders in the organ world.