Lawrence University sophomore Daniel O’Connor and senior Susanna Valleau earned first-and second-place honors, respectively, at the recent Young Artists Organ Competition conducted at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn.
The competition was co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the Schubert Club of St. Paul.
O’Connor, an organ performance and economics major from Dallas, Texas, received $1,500 for his winning performance, that included a 40-minute audition of five works. His repertoire featured the Bach works “Toccata in D minor ‘Dorian’” and “Chorale Prelude on Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele,” Gaston Litaize’s “Prelude et Danse Fuguee,” “Organ Sonata No. 11 in D minor” by Joseph Rheinberger and the hymn “Were you there?”
Valleau, an organ performance major from Andover, Mass., was awarded $900 for her second-place honor. Her program also included Bach’s “Dorian,” as well as his “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” Felix Mendelssohn’s “Sonata in A Major,” “Joies” by Jehan Alain and the hymn “Cwm Rhondda” by John Hughes.
O’Connor and Valleau are students of university organist Kathrine Handford.
