Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russel Saunders. His responsibilities include directing the church music-organ program, teaching organ and conducting the St. Olaf Cantorei. Ferguson came to St. Olaf in 1983 from Minneapolis where he served Central Lutheran Church as Music Director and Organist, an appointment accepted in 1978 after a 15-year tenure on the music faculty at Kent State University. While at Kent State he also served as Organist-Choirmaster of the United Church of Christ, Kent, Ohio during which time he served as music editor for the United Church of Christ Hymnal, 1974. He has spent summers as visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and was invited to spend sabbatical leave time as visiting professor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is respected as a fine teacher and performer, and his skill as improviser and leader of congregational song has received national acclaim. Each year he prepares and leads many festivals across the country both for local congregations and professional gatherings. A Ferguson hymn festival is much more than an inspiring organ recital, according to Emily Brink, Past President of the Hymn Society, "He involves everyone present in a glorious community of sound. Everyone gets to perform." Dr. Ferguson is the author of numerous books and articles on church music and organ building. His choral and organ music is published by Augsburg, Concordia, Galaxy, G.I.A., Hope, Kjos, Morning Star, Selah and Stainer and Bell. In 2005 his composition, “Who Is This” for choir and viola was awarded the prestigious Raabe Prize for excellence in sacred composition. Since joining the St. Olaf faculty, Ferguson's skills as choral conductor and creative arranger have become more widely known. He brings a special combination of experience as choral singer (Oberlin College Choir under Robert Fountain), church musician (both part-time and full-time) and participant in the St. Olaf choral tradition to his workshops in conducting and repertoire for church choirs which are considered highlights at conventions of professional organizations. He has been invited to design and present hymn festivals for national and regional conventions of both The American Guild of Organists and The American Choral Directors Association as well as many national gatherings of church musicians. He has presented such events abroad as well both in Asia (Seoul, Korea) and Europe (in the National Cathedral of Norway, Nidaros Dom, Trondheim, as a part of the celebration of the millennium of the birth of St. Olaf). |
Catherine Rodland graduated cum laude with departmental distinction in organ performance from St. Olaf College in 1987. She received her MM and DMA from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where she was a student of Russell Saunders. While at Eastman she received the prestigious Performer's Certificate and the Ann Anway Award for excellence in organ performance. Catherine is a prizewinner in several competitions, including the 1994 and 1998 American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition, and 1994 Calgary International Organ Competition, and first prize in the 1989 International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan. As a result of these competitions she has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Prior to St. Olaf, Catherine worked as Minister of Music at First Church of Christ in Glastonbury, Connecticut where she was responsible for seven choirs. She co-authored the book "Choristers' Training Program" for the Royal School of Church Music in America, a manual for childrens' choir education. A specialist in working with childrens choirs, Catherine has presented workshops at several church music conventions. Her advanced childrens' choir toured England in the summer of 2001, singing services at Ely Cathedral, Ripon Cathedral, and York Minster. |
Paul Westermeyer, Visiting Professor of Church Music, Luther Seminary. B.A., Elmhurst, B.D. Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary; S.M.M., School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary (New York); M.A. and Ph.D., University of Chicago. Additional study at The Schola Cantorum, Concordia Theological Seminary, and the liturgical studies program at Notre Dame. Dr. Westermeyer has served as choirmaster-organist for over 30 years, and has served on the faculty of Elmhurst (Ill.) College from 1968-1990, where he was professor of music, department chair, director of the choir and oratorio chorus, and organist. He was ordained in 1986. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association; the American Guild of Organists for whom he served as national chaplain for two terms (1991-1998); the American Society of Church History; the Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society; the Hymn Society of America for which he has been Editor (1985-1990) and President (1998-2000); the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Hymnologie; the Liturgical Conference, the Mercersburg Society, and the North American Academy of Liturgy. His books include The Church Musician (1988, rev. 1997); With Tongues of Fire: Profiles in Twentieth-Century Hymn Writing (1995); Let Justice Sing: Hymnody and Justice (1998); and Te Deum: The Church and Music (1998). |
Organ and Church Music Faculty
