Michael Velting has been Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral since 1994. Prior to assuming this position he was Assistant Organist and Choirmaster of Washington National Cathedral and Adjunct Professor of Organ at The American University in Washington, D.C.
At Christ Church Cathedral, Dr. Velting has instituted a Cathedral Chorister program based on the curriculum of the Royal School of Church Music. The program is comprised of two choirs of children who rehearse weekly and sing every Sunday of the academic year at Cathedral liturgies.
He was instrumental in the design of the Cathedral’s 2003 Lively-Fulcher organ, housed in the gallery of the Cathedral. Dr. Velting played the inaugural concert on the instrument in October of 2003, and celebrated the fifth anniversary of the installation of the organ with a concert in October of 2008.
He received both the Masters and Doctorate in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in the class of David Craighead. From 1982-1986 he lived in Paris, France, where he studied organ with Daniel Roth and won the Prix de Virtuosité in the class of Marie-Claire Alain, and where he served as Organist of the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity from 1984-1986.
At the Cathedral, Dr. Velting directs the Cathedral Choir, the Parish Choir and The Cathedral Senior Choristers and administers the music program. He is also an active member of the Cultural Arts committee.
Dr. Velting has performed organ concerts in Germany, England, Canada, Switzerland and France, as well as throughout the United States. He conducts the Cathedral Choir on their recording Christ Hath a Garden. He is a member of both the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians, and is a former Dean of the Nashville Chapter of the AGO. Dr. Velting has served as a judge in the preliminary rounds of the American Guild of Organists' Young Artist competition, and has been invited to play services at two National Conventions of the Association of Anglican Musicians. He is the Chair for Program for the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists to be held in Nashville in 2012.
Jon Johnson is the Assistant Organist/Choirmaster at the Cathedral. Mr. Johnson holds the MM in organ performance and the Sacred Music Diploma from the Eastman School of Music, the MM in choral conducting and the BM in organ performance from East Carolina University. Mr. Johnson studied organ with Janette Fishell and David Higgs, continuo and improvisation with William Porter, and conducting with Daniel Bara and William Weinert.
Mr. Johnson has won several organ competitions which include the 1997 American Guild of Organists Region IV competition and the 1998 national Music Teacher’s National Association competition in collegiate organ performance. He has also competed in major international organ competitions which include the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, and the 2005-06 Chartres International Organ competition, held in Chartres, France. As an undergraduate, Mr. Johnson was selected to study at the Oundle International Organ Festival, England, where he had the opportunity to study with many world-class organists. Mr. Johnson has performed concerts across the United States for several AGO chapters, music clubs and foundations, and he has performed at one national convention for the American Guild of Organists. His European debut in organ took him to Canterbury and Southwark Cathedrals, England, and Göteborg, Sweden.
Most recently, Mr. Johnson served as Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church in historic New Bern, North Carolina, and was the Director of Schola Cantorum for the diocese of East Carolina. At Christ Church Cathedral, Mr. Johnson directs the Junior Choristers, accompanies the Senior Choristers and Cathedral Choir, and assists in all aspects of the Cathedral’s music department.
