Guest Artist: Matthew Phelps, organ at Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University

About Matthew Phelps: Matthew Phelps is an adjunct instructor at Vanderbilt University where he teaches conducting, organ, and directs cantori for the Blair Youth Chorus. Phelps is also the Minister of Music at West End United Methodist Church where he conducts the Chancel Choir and is one of two organists on staff, and the music director of the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra. As an organist, Phelps has played throughout the nation including frequent recitals in the New York City area where he performed as an artist in residence at St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square, St. Francis Xavier in Chelsea, and as a frequent continuo player at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His recordings have been heard on NPR’s Pipedreams and he was the third-place winner of the 2013 Rodgers National Classical Organ Competition. He received his doctorate in conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and his organ teachers have included Jerry Taylor, Thom Miles, Matthew Lewis, and Michael Unger. About the Dobson Organ, Opus 92: Built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa, the Dobson Opus 92 in Turner Recital Hall draws inspiration from the 18th-century Central German organs familiar to Johann Sebastian Bach. Installed in 2014 and dedicated in February 2015, the instrument features two keyboards, a pedalboard, 24 stops and 27 ranks of pipes. Its mechanical key action gives performers a direct physical connection to the valves that admit air to the pipes, allowing subtle control of musical articulation. The organ was a gift from Vanderbilt alumnus Cal Turner Jr. and his sister, Laura Dugas, honoring Cyrus Daniel, the university’s organist from 1946 to 1968, on behalf of his former students. Housed in a white oak case with finely crafted wood details, the instrument combines historic organ-building traditions with the needs of a contemporary music school, enriching Blair’s teaching and performance offerings.