Chapel Artists Series: Members of Worcester Chapter AGO

Kristjon Imperio began formal organ training under William Ness while earning his Bachelor’s degree in music education. He has served as an organist and ensemble director for nearly twenty years; past positions include the College Church of Seventh-day Adventists in South Lancaster, the First Parish of Bolton, and the First Congregational Church of West Boylston. He is currently interim organist and handbell choir director at Wellesley Village Church. During the day, he is director of programs and community engagement (outreach) for Pakachoag Music School of Greater Worcester, which includes managing the student body and teaching faculty, building and developing programs, and coordinating after-school music classes at local schools and service organizations. He continues to perform as a collaborative pianist and organ recitalist throughout New England. He also serves as Treasurer for the Worcester Chapter AGO.

Trisha Snyder began serving Storrs Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, as Director of Music Ministry in 2006. She received her Bachelor of Music in organ performance from the University of Western Ontario, and her Master and Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance from Yale University. Trisha has also served as Professor of Organ (adjunct) at The Hartt School, the University of Harford. Before coming to Storrs, she was the Director of Music at the Pakachoag Church (UCC) in Auburn, MA, where she also taught organ and piano at the Pakachoag Community Music School. Trisha has taught at Andover Newton Theological School, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the College of the Holy Cross, and was the Director of Music at First Congregational Church in Guilford. Trisha has received many awards and grants, including Artist-in-Residence, Cité des Arts (Paris, France), a Gian Silbiger grant, and a Laurence Korwin International Competitions Grant. She studied in Europe with Marie-Claire Alain, earning a Premier Prix and Prix d’Excellence from the Ecole National de Musique de Rueil-Malmaison. Trisha is a prizewinner of many competitions, including the Royal Canadian College of Organists National Competition, and has given recitals in the United States, Canada, England, France, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. A former Dean of the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), she has served the guild in many capacities. Her solo performances have been broadcast on CBC, BBC, La Radio de la Suisse Romande and WICN Worcester. As a past director and accompanist of the choral ensemble Con Vivium, she can be heard on the compact disc “Love Came Down at Christmas,” featuring the choral music of Leo Sowerby, including ten world première recordings, released on the Albany/Troy label. Trisha lives in Thompson, Connecticut, with her husband Christopher Dustin and their daughter, Abigail.

Mark Dwyer came to the Church of the Advent, Boston, from St. Paul’s Parish, K Street, in Washington, DC, in 2007. He was formerly the Music Director at the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, NY, and before that Associate Organist & Choirmaster at the Advent. A Worcester native and 1985 graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied with Yuko Hayashi, William Porter, Frank Taylor, and Charles Krigbaum. Mark has also been a faculty member and choirmaster at the annual Saint Michael’s Conference for Young People for many years. He is featured on several recordings by the Advent Choir and is the performer on a JAV recording of the Advent’s Aeolian-Skinner organ in the series “Great Organ Builders of America: A Retrospective.” Mark and his wife Cheryl have a son, Douglas.