from Vilnius University majoring in Chemistry but hopes to transfer to Medicine next year. He's just finished his freshman year and right away started playing the organ at our Unda Maris studio from last September and currently has chosen 3 pieces for the upcoming competition for young organists.

​Arnoldas is very hardworking and motivated organ student and Ausra and I are very delighted that he came and found us in the organ studio.

He substituted for me a number of graduation ceremonies and recently performed at Unda Maris organ studio concert. You can read his thought about these experiences here and here.

In this conversation Arnoldas shares his insights about finding more practice time, choosing your organ repertoire wisely and expanding your musical horizons.

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Listen to the conversation

Relevant links:
Arnoldas Leleika on Facebook and YouTube

Currently he is the main organist of St. Joseph church here in Vilnius, member of the Board of National Association of Organists in Lithuania and member of the European Chapter of American Guild of Organists.
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He started his musical journey in 1989 at Kaunas boys choir school "Varpelis" where he studied until 1997. In 2004 he graduated from Vilnius University with the Master of Law degree.

In 2006 he began studying the organ with me privately and in 2007 became the organist at the Holy Cross church in Vilnius.

In the summer of 2007 together with me and Ausra, Paulius founded National Association of Organists in Lithuania and was appointed vice-president of this organization. In 2008 he won the 3rd prize at the 2nd Jonas Žukas Organist Competition.

In 2007-2010 Paulius led educational organ demonstrations "Meet the King of Instruments" in many Lithuanian churches, participated in masterclasses by Prof. Lorenzo Ghielmi (2013, Vilnius), Prof. Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin (2014, Paris), Prof. Maris Sirmais (2015, Kaunas), and Juan Carlos Asensio (2016, Marijampolė) for organists and church musicians.

Since 2014 Paulius leads the musical life at St. Joseph church in Vilnius and directs two vocal ensembles of the parish. Since 2017 he is the member of the Board of National Association of Organists in Lithuania and treasurer as well as the member of the European Chapter of American Guild of Organists and is preparing for his Service Playing Certificate test.

In about 3 days, Paulius will play a recital at Vilnius Cathedral and in this conversation he shares his insights about his practice procedures and obstacles he has to overcome in order to become a better organist - finding time for practice, setting himself a challenge and discovering as many organs as he can.

Enjoy and share your comments below.

​And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends.

Thanks for caring.

Relevant link:
​http://www.vargonai.lt/grigonis.htm

Daniel is a graduate of Valparaiso University where he earned his Bachelor of Music in Church Music and Organ Performance. Most recently, he served as Principal Organist for First United Methodist Church at Chicago Temple in Chicago, Organist and Cantor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Downers Grove, and Interim Cantor and Organist at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lincolnwood.  Previously, he served as the Director of Music at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chesterton, IN.  Daniel currently teaches piano, organ, and voice.

Including his work as a capable accompanist, some of his notable past performances have included the opening recital for the Pipe Organ Encounter hosted by the American Guild of Organists, guest artist for Paul Manz Organ Recital Series, and recitalist for the organ rededication service at Augustana Lutheran Church in Hobart, IN.  Collaborations have included performances with Chorus Angelorum, Civitas (Chicago Symphony Orchestra chamber group), and with the Valparaiso University Symphony and LaPorte Symphony Orchestras.  In 2015, he performed alongside the Valparaiso University Chorale in their summer tour of Germany where he played in Luebeck, Jueterbog, and Leipzig.  While at Valparaiso University, he received the Ronald G. Reidenbach Prize in Church Music and the Signature Artist Award.  He is an active member of the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors of America, and the Organ Historical Society.

In this conversation Daniel shares his insights about knowing your instrument, being really good at one thing and becoming an advocate for organ art.

​Enjoy and share your comments below.

​And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends.

Thanks for caring.

Relevant links:
https://soundcloud.com/dsegner
https://www.facebook.com/daniel.segner
http://www.stmarksglenellyn.org/welcome/our-staff/daniel-segner

harpsichordist and musicologist, Felipe Dominguez. A graduate of Brigham Young University (B.M. 2010, M.M. 2012), he studied organ and harpsichord with Douglas Bush and Don Cook.

Felipe has pursued further postgraduate organ instruction in Europe with Edoardo Belotti, Hans Davidsson, Francesco Cera and Harald Vogel. He has performed as a soloist and in ensembles in Chile, Argentina, the United States and Italy.

Felipe is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Musicology at Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. Since 2011, he has been the organist and assistant music director at First Presbyterian Church of Annandale (Washington, DC Metropolitan Area).

In this conversation, Felipe shares his insights about the Chilean organ culture, challenging yourself as you practice your 10000 hours to become a better organist and the importance of seeking out specialists of various historical periods and national schools of organ composition.

​Enjoy and share your comments below.

​And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends.

Thanks for caring.

Relevant link:
felipedominguez.net

organist Hayo Boerema. He was born in Groningen (Holland) in 1972. At the Royal Conservatory in The Hague he studied organ with Johann Th. Lemckert, church music with Marijke van Klaveren and improvisation with Jos van der Kooy; at the Rotterdam Conservatory he studied choral conducting with Barend Schuurman.

He specialised in improvisation with Naji Hakim (Paris) and in French symphonic repertoire with Ben van Oosten. Hayo Boerema won prizes at international competitions and festivals in Vienna (1998), Nuremberg (1999), Paris (1999), St. Albans (2001), Nijmegen (2004) and Kotka (2005); as a recitalist he has toured Spain, Germany, Finland and France.

​In 2005 he was appointed organist of the St Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, and in 2009 he was awarded the silver medal of merit by the Société Académique d’Education et d’Encouragement ‘Arts, Sciences, Lettres’ in Paris for his services to French organ music. He is appointed as professor in improvsation at Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam.

In this conversation Hayo shares his amazing insights about the art of organ improvisation. If you're interested at all with creativity, you don't want to miss miss this episode.

​Enjoy and share your comments below.

​And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends.

Thanks for caring.

Relevant link:
hayoboerema.com