Indiana University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor of Organ and Keyboard and Director of IUP’s Organ Studio Christine Clewell and six IUP Organ Studio students were invited performers at First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 20, followed by a Manhattan Pipe Organ Study and Crawl on October 21 and 22.
Students and Christine Clewell at the Fish Church: from left, Kyle Petroski (bassoon), Martin Meyer (violin), director of music at Fish Church Kevin Bailey, Christine Clewell, Daniel Shulick (viola), Kaytlen Moroney (cello), Mackenzie Cloutier (cello), and Thomas Cramer (trombone).
“It was a privilege to be invited to perform at First Presbyterian Church, also known as ‘the Fish Church,’” Clewell said.
“The church’s stunning Visser-Rowland pipe organ, op. 87 (1991), with four manuals (four keyboards) and a full pedal board, is a nationally recognized instrument. Owing to Marilyn Keiser’s nationally acclaimed recording of Dan Locklair’s ‘Rubrics’ (1988), the students were gifted with the opportunity to perform on this iconic instrument built by the Houston-based company.
“In part, the recital invitation was extended because of the variety of repertoire that had wide-audience appeal,” she said. “Reflecting IUP’s music education reputation, the studio students proposed and performed a diverse recital program by composers including J. S. Bach, Bloch, Boëllman, Handel, Haydn, Hovhaness, Langlais, Praetorium, Georg Telemann, and two improvisations created by the students.
“The variety of literature and audience-participation with two sung hymns was well received by the local Guild members in attendance and its sub-dean, Kevin Bailey, who hosted us,” she said.
For the pipe organ study crawl, the students were hosted by organists throughout the northeastern Connecticut and Manhattan regions.
They began the tour at West Point Military Academy Cadet Chapel, which houses the fourth-largest pipe organ in the world, with more than 23,400 pipes and six manuals.
The students then visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral near Rockefeller Center (the organ is under renovations); and played a beautiful eighteenth-century German-inspired two-manual Paul Fritts Organ, op 16, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church located in Upper West Side—a church that is home to the nation’s first music series in the western hemisphere to present the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach within a liturgical context.
The students also played the magnificent five-manual, 137-rank Austin Pipe Organ with more than 8,000 pipes, the fourth-largest pipe organ in New York City, at the Church of Heavenly Rest in Upper East Side, a Gothic-Deco structure established in 1868 at the close of the Civil War.
The group then visited St. Paul’s Chapel, built as an outreach extension to the historic Trinity Church (Financial District), where victims of the 9/11 attack in New York City were helped after the attack. The chapel now houses a three-manual Noack Pipe Organ, op. 111, which is the sixth pipe organ in a case built by John Geib, dating back to 1802.
On the final day of the organ crawl, students played the eighteenth-century North German-inspired Richard Fowkes Organ, op. 5, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stamford.
“It was an incredible experience for me and for the students to have this full immersion experience of visiting, playing, and learning about the history of the instruments and the churches that house these magnificent instruments,” Clewell said.
“These organ pipes speak from the past with powerful messages relevant for today, so that future generations can be comforted, inspired, and encouraged to live in community, one with another,” she said.
“It was profoundly rewarding to see our IUP organ students enjoying mini-master class instruction by these distinguished musician hosts, which included Craig Williams (Cadet Chapel, West Point, NY), Kevin Bailey (the Fish Church), Austin Philemon (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church), Nathan Lively (St. John’s Lutheran Church), and Janet Yieh (Church of the Heavenly Rest), who served as assistant organist at Trinity Church (Wall Street) for seven years.”
During her tenure, Yieh founded the St. Paul’s Chapel Choir, played weekly services, and accompaniment the Grammy-nominated Trinity Church Choir and Youth Choir.
“From traveling on the commuter train to Grand Central station to seeing the Statue of Liberty from afar near Battery Park, from walking to the entrance of Brooklyn Bridge to playing a North German-style organ with a Nightingale stop, horizons were broadened in music making on a variety of keyboards, and new friends were made from Connecticut to South Africa, from Spain to the Dutch organ artist Steven Knieram who performed Handel’s organ music with the IUP string students at the Fish Church,” Clewell said.
The six IUP students in the IUP Organ Studio who performed at First Presbyterian Church and participated in the Manhattan pipe organ study crawl are Mackenzie Cloutier, Thomas Cramer, Martin Meyer, Kaytlen Moroney, Kyle Petroski, and Daniel Shulick.
Cloutier, a fine art in music performance major in the Cook Honors College from East Millsboro, is a 2022 graduate of Commonwealth Charter Academy. A member of the IUP Symphony Orchestra, she is the recipient of the Carol Teti Organ Scholarship, the Sutton Scholarship, the Cook Honors College Scholarship, and the Dean’s Merit Scholarship.
Cramer, an English education major in the Cook Honors College from Bethlehem, is the son of Stephanie Cramer and Timothy Cramer. He is a 2024 graduate of Liberty High School. He received the Sutton Scholarship and the Cook Honors College scholarship. A dean’s list student, he was a Cook Honors College Welcome Week leader, does tutoring for Miyazaki students, and is a singer and scholar for Zion Lutheran Church in Indiana. He also volunteers for the Friends of White’s Woods group in Indiana.
Meyer, a dual major in music (violin and organ) and entrepreneurship and small business management in the Cook Honors College, is from Torrance.
He is the son of Kirstin Meyer and Sean Meyer and is a 2024 graduate of Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School. A dean’s list student at IUP and Cook Honors College Welcome Week leader, he is a member of the IUP Orchestra; participated in the Music Major for a Day event, the Honors String Festival, and the IUP String Project; and is a Helen Myers Music Scholar. He is the recipient of several scholarships: the Carol Teti Organ Scholarship, Barbara Lynn Claypoole Memorial Scholarship, Cook Honors College Scholarship, Sutton Scholarship, Bruce Schonour Scholarship for Music, Frank and Mary Gorell Scholarship, Clark Scholarship for Violin, Johnson Music Scholarship, and Troxell Memorial Scholarship.
Moroney, a music education and cello performance major, is from Sharon. Daughter of Morgan and John Zych, she is a 2024 graduate of Sharon High School.
Petrosky, a music education major from Meyersdale, is the son of Brooke Kindler of Meyersdale and Eric Petrosky of Somerset. He is a 2024 graduate of Meyersdale Area High School. He participated in the Music Major for a Day event and is a member of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association.
Shulick, a music education major from Indiana, is the son of Dennis and Susan Shulick and is a 2016 homeschool graduate. A dean’s list student, he is the recipient of the Carol Teti Organ scholarship, is a violin and viola instructor, and participates in the IUP String Project.
Clewell was joined by students Cramer and Meyer and Anna Thomas, an IUP music graduate, for the October 12 inaugural concert celebrating the installation of a newly relocated Wicks Opus pipe organ at Worthington Lutheran Church in Armstrong County.
The event marked the official dedication of the 389-pipe instrument, which was originally built in 1994 for the Parkview Hospital chapel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and recently restored and relocated to Worthington by the Lester Organ Company of Akron, Ohio. The 90-minute concert featured music performed by Clewell alongside IUP music students and faculty, highlighting the university’s strong connection to regional musical and cultural life.
“Thanks to the tireless support and work of the Carol Teti Memorial Organ Scholarship Committee, the IUP Organ Studio remains strong and active, with eight students currently enrolled in organ studies at IUP,” Clewell said. Among the eight, Meyer is an undergraduate organ major, and Matt Klumpp is a graduate organ student.
“Active recruitment is ongoing to attract and bring more capable and enthusiastic students to IUP, and organ study crawls and trips are an integral part of raising the profile and attracting future students to study the pipe organ,” Clewell said.
Several of the students are recipients of generous memorial organ scholarships named in memory of the late Carol Teti, Clewell’s predecessor, and the late Barbara Lynn Claypoole, the former organist of Worthington Evangelical Lutheran Church in Worthington.
IUP’s organ program is enhanced by a special lease agreement with the American Guild of Organists for the Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Pipe Organ (P-Y organ) for use. Since the P-Y organ’s arrival in May 2014, Clewell has been invited to collaborate with the Guild to promote new organ music written by nationally recognized composers.
In September 2026, the tenth winning composition will have its world premiere when Croatian composer Ivan Božičević will be in residence for the event. Anne Laver, who teaches organ at Syracuse University, will be the guest organ artist for this event.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.