Masterwork Arts Announces the Organ Competition Premier Award Winner

August 2021

The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is proud to announce the winner of our Organ Competition Award, Colin Lynch. Colin is currently the Associate Director of Music and Organist for the Trinity Church in Boston, which he juggles alongside a solo performance career. He holds degrees from Oberlin, Yale and Northwestern. 

This year's Premier Award Competition generated interest from an impressive array of candidates across the country, as well as several candidates who reside overseas. You can still enjoy their work from our web site at www.masterworkarts.org and from our presence on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Board of the Masterwork Foundation was pleased to present this year's award to Colin for his musicianship and advocacy for organ performance.

The Organ Competition Award was designed to aid an emerging musician specializing in organ with his or her career aspirations and development. The Competition was national, and open to all musicians under 40.  Each of the contestants were required to send in a performance video, an essay, a biographical profile, as well as two references. The performance videos were reviewed by a panel of organ professionals.

The Organ Competition Award is the brainchild of Wayne Walters, an accomplished singer, conductor, music educator and composer. We are proud to have Wayne Walters as a lead member of the Masterwork Music and Art Foundation Board.

We want to thank our team of adjudicators, an esteemed team of professionals, including Brian Harlow, Kathy McNeil, David Enlow, Chris Hatcher, Skip Yingling, Greg Whiddon, Kyle Ritter and Preston Dibble. 

Our heartfelt thanks also go to the American Guild of Organists (https://www.agohq.org), the media outlets and community partners who promoted our award offering, and each of the talented applicants who applied. 

The Masterwork Foundation will present Colin Lynch in concert in Morris County at a date yet to be determined in the Fall. In the interim, you can enjoy his competition submission here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13UScCOh9co 

Masterwork Music & Art Foundation was founded more than 60 years ago in Morristown, New Jersey. The Founders, Shirley May and David Randolph, were passionate about the arts and understood the importance of nurturing developing artists, and making the arts available to a broad audience. Generations of artists were influenced by the years of concerts, theatrical events and fine arts projects Masterwork Arts funded and produced. 

Today, Masterwork Arts supports excellence in the arts through a variety of grant offerings and awards, a zoom series on 'A Life in the Arts' and virtual classes that are open to all. To find out more, sign up for our enewsletter on www.masterworkarts.org.