About the Builder

I have always had an interest in music having sung in church and school choirs since elementary school. My home church, St. John's Lutheran ELCA in rural Columbus, NE has an old analog / electronic Baldwin organ and it never really inspired me. The organist played the hymns and liturgy and as a kid, I thought that was all an organ was good for. I never gave the organ any thought, but continued with my interest in choral music and piano. I studied piano in Middle School with Jean Sharman for nearly four years. High School activities included concert and jazz choirs, musical theatre, and various small groups under the direction of Fred Ritter. I lettered in music my junior and senior years and graduated in 1998. At Central Community College in Columbus, NE I was a member of the Platte Campus Chorale conducted by John Putnam which toured locally and nationally. I received an Associate of Fine Arts degree in 2000. Following that, I attended the University of Nebraska - Lincoln to major in horticulture and landscape design. I also earned a minor in music and vocal performance. It was here that I sang with the Varsity Men's Chorus under the direction of Dr. Pete Eklund. Dr. Eklund is known for his big arrangements of hymn tunes for choir and organ. I can still remember the first time we rehearsed in Kimball Recital Hall- 100 men's voices was pretty impressive in that space, but then the pipe organ (Reuter Opus 1746, III/45) welled up behind and above us as we sang "The Spirit of God" and from that moment on, I knew that the organ was my instrument.

I attended St. Andrew's Lutheran ELCA in Lincoln, NE throughout college and began practicing (teaching myself, really) the organ. We have an organ assembled by the Vaughan Company of Hastings, NE (Opus 22, III/34) in the late 1960's from pipes collected over the years by Pr. Dan Schroeder. The organ was rebuilt about 20 years ago by Temple Organs of St. Joeseph, MO.  A link to their website is in the "Related Links" section above.  One day while working at the garden center I saw Dr. John Cummins shopping for plants. At the time he was the Minister of Music at First Plymouth Congregational Church where he played the Schoenstein Organ (Opus 126, IV/110) I recognized him from the Varsity Men's Chorus performances given at FPC and we discussed the possibility of taking lessons. I decided that if I am going to play the organ, I should learn how to do it right. We began lessons shortly thereafter. Dr. Cummins has since taken a position in North Carolina and I have not resumed formal study. I have however joined the Lincoln Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and have learned much from conversations with fellow organists and by attending concerts and recitals.