National Organ Playing Competition FINALS

A Canadian organist from Ontario, Stephen Boda holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied Organ Performance with John Tuttle, harpsichord and improvisation with Kevin Komisaruk, and conducting with Jeffrey Reynolds. During this time, he received masterclass instruction from Thomas Murray, Andres Sieling, and Todd Wilson. Stephen was an Organ Scholar at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Hamilton, Ontario, and, while in university, the Peaker Organ Scholar at St. Paul's Bloor Street Anglican Church, Toronto. He has also studied piano privately with Valerie Tryon. Last year he served as the Associate Organist at Grace Church-on-the-Hill in Toronto, accompanying both the Choir of Gentlemen and Boys and the Choir of Women and Girls. Stephen has been studying organ performance with Thomas Murray at Yale University since the fall of 2012.

A native of Toronto, Rachel Mahon began her organ studies in 2005 with Melva Treffinger Graham, winning the Barwell Scholarship for beginning organ students from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. She continued her studies with Andrew Ager in 2007 and was the Organ Scholar at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto from then until May 2010. She recently graduated with a B.Mus. from the University of Toronto where she studied organ with Dr. John Tuttle and was the Bevan Organ Scholar at Trinity College. Since 2011 she has been the Principal Organist at Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church. Rachel has accompanied several choirs, including the Oratory Children's Choir, Windago, the Tallis Choir, the Mendelssohn Singers, the Elora Festival Singers and the Larkin Singers. Rachel came first in the Competition for Young Organists 2012 for the Toronto Centre, RCCO, and at the Kiwanis Music Festival in London, she won the Paul Westermeyer Service and Hymn Playing Award and the Gerald Bales Award. In 2012 Rachel and Sarah Svendsen formed Organized Crime, an organ duo that plays traditional and non-traditional repertoire on the organ while having fun! In September 2013, Rachel will take up the position of Organ Scholar for one year at Truro Cathedral, England.

Shawn Potter holds a master's degree in organ performance from McGill University's Schulich School of Music, where he studied organ with Hans-Ola Ericsson and John Grew, and harpsichord and continuo with Hank Knox. Originally from Nova Scotia, Shawn graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in music from Mount Allison University, where he held a Canadian Merit National Scholarship as well as a Mount Allison Bell Scholarship. He has held numerous grants and fellowships including a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant, allowing him to pursue a wide variety of interests, ranging from 17^th century North German music to the organ works of Olivier Messiaen. Shawn has held organ scholar positions in Montreal at both Christ Church Cathedral and the church of St John the Evangelist, and is currently the Director of Music at First Baptist Church, Ottawa.