Ju Young Lee, Current DMA candidate
Emily Roth, Current MM student
Phillip Radtke, Alumnus
Nils Halker, Alumnus and Northrop Organ Advisory Board member
Jane Becker, Elective student
Stella O’Neill, Alumna and DMA candidate Cincinnati College Conservatory
UMN students and alumni showcase their talents on Northrop’s historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 pipe organ. This diverse program includes works by J. S. Bach, Frank Bridge, Olivier Messiaen, Peter Planyavsky, Florence Beatrice Price, Phillip Radtke, and Louis Vierne.
Ju Young Lee is an organist, pianist, and conductor from South Korea who earned her B.A. in organ performance and church music under Dr. Myung-Ja Cho and an M.M. in choral conducting under Dr. JW Park at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. She has been involved with many choirs as a conductor, music director, accompanist, and singer in South Korea and the U.S. As a lecturer, she taught at the Gangreung-Wonju National University, Korea Open University, and Kwangshin University in South Korea. She was a visiting scholar in the choral activities of the music department at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Currently, Ju Young Lee is in the third year of studies toward the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance at the University of Minnesota, studying with University Organist Dean Billmeyer. She is interim organist at the Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina.
EMILY R. E. ROTH
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Les Bergers, from La Nativité du Seigneur
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross, BWV 622
Emily R. E. Roth began her organ studies in high school under the tutelage of Lee Afdahl in Rochester, Minnesota. After receiving a scholarship offer from the University of Iowa, she began studying organ performance full time with Dr. Gregory Hand. Furthering her studies with Dr. Dean Billmeyer at the University of Minnesota, she is currently completing her first year of her master’s degree. Along with her current studies, she is beginning her work as an organist for churches in the Twin Cities and Rochester area. Her other music interests include painting, singing and performing popular music.
PHIL RADTKE
Phillip Radtke (b. 1991)
Two Hymn-Improvisations
Shall We Gather at the River (Hanson Place)
From Heaven Above to Earth I Come (Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her)
St. Paul native Phil Radtke has always had a passion for organ music with a focus on church music. He has studied with Dean Billmeyer, James Kibbie, and Kola Owolabi and received his B.M. in organ performance from the University of Minnesota and the M.M. in church music from the University of Michigan. In 2014 Radtke placed second in the TCAGO student competition, and he won first place in the 2015 University of Michigan organ accompaniment competition.
Radtke currently serves as Cantor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis where he oversees the music program and ensembles, directs the adult choirs, and plays the organ. Radtke also works for the Minnesota Boychoir teaching music theory and assisting with rehearsals, events, and concerts. In his spare time Radtke enjoys gardening and hiking in parks all over Minnesota.
NILS C. HALKER II
Florence Beatrice Price (1887–1953)
Suite No. 1 for Organ
Fantasy — Fughetta — Air — Toccato
Nils C. Halker II has been Parish Organist of Saint Clement’s Episcopal Church since 2006. He is active in the Organ Historical Society, having served on the planning committee for the Society’s 2017 national convention held in Minnesota. Additionally, he is an at-large editor of the Society’s national journal, The Tracker. He serves on the Northrop Organ Advisory Board, and on the boards of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and of the Young People’s Symphony Concert Association of the Minnesota Orchestra. A 1988 graduate of the College of Liberal Arts majoring in biology, he recently retired after 25 years as a professional development specialist at the Science Museum of Minnesota. He and his family live in Saint Paul’s Como Park neighborhood.
JANE BECKER
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Prélude, from Symphony No. 1, Op. 14
Jane Becker is organist and accompanist for Christ the King Catholic Church in MInneapolis. She graduated from the College of St. Benedict with a B.A. in performance. Jane taught keyboard lessons in the Schmitt Music education program for many years until opening her own studio in Chanhassen. She is currently retired from teaching. In recent years, Jane has written and recorded 7 piano collections which are widely streamed on Pandora and Spotify. Inspired by her fondness for French Romantic repertoire, Jane traveled to Paris, both in 2018 and 2019, to play and experience the splendid Cavaille-Coll organs. Jane has been studying organ repertoire with University organist, Dr. Dean Billmeyer, for the past two years through the Continuing Education Program.
STELLA O'NEILL
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Cantilène and Final, from Symphony No. 3, Op. 28
Stella O'Neill earned the Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Minnesota, graduating with Honors in 2016. At Minnesota she studied with pianist Dr. Paul Shaw and organist Dr. Dean Billmeyer. O'Neill then earned the Master of Music in organ performance at the University of Florida as a student of Dr. Laura Ellis. At Florida she also began work in harpsichord accompanying and continuo playing. Currently the Organ Scholar at Cincinnati’s Christ Church Cathedral, she is a third year doctoral student in organ performance at the University of Cincinnati, where she studies with Dr. Michael Unger.
