Dr. Christine Clewell has served on the faculty at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) since 1999 and assistant professor of Organ and Keyboard. Dr. Clewell is a strong advocate of contemporary music for organ, has commissioned works, presented numerous concert series and pre-concert talks on new organ music with nationally acclaimed organists and composers. Thanks to the dedicated members and work of the Carol Teti Memorial Organ Scholarship Committee (CTMOSC), the Indiana, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (IAGO), and the Department of Music, Dr. Clewell has hosted annual world premieres of prize-winning organ works written for the Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Annual Competition since 2016.
Her world premiere performances include Dan Locklair’s Initial Memories: A Divertimento for Organ and Wind Quintet (2014) and Henry Martin’s winning composition, It’s About Time (2019). Roger Zare’s Refuge(e) was the first organ concerto that she performed as a world premiere. This commissioned work was made possible with support from the IUP Department of Music and its Edward R. Sims Distinguished Artists Fund.
As part of Dr. Clewell’s preparation for her sabbatical this past fall semester, 2022, her goal was to identify ways to respond to the ever-growing refugee crisis worldwide. During the sabbatical, her core values for this study time were focused on music and its role in society to heal, restore, and unite humanity across borders, cultures, ethnicities, races, and social classes. In part, this world premiere is part of her study of underrepresented music and composers to bring attention to the plight of displaced people in the world through music.
Dr. Clewell is an active recitalist having performed at the Washington National Cathedral, guest soloist, and collaborative artist who has toured in the United States and Mexico. She is also an active clinician who is invited to teach masterclasses.
In fall 2022, she was honored to be invited to join Windwerk Artists: “…Created in 1997, this roster of fourteen organists is known for their commitment to the highest standards of performance and scholarship who seek out new ways to promote the organ encompassing a broad array of specializations within the vast repertoire. Windwerk Artists play a wide variety of music in many different contexts, always at the highest level of artistry.”
https://www.windwerkartists.com/site/about-windwerk-artists
Dr. Clewell was invited to serve on the January 2024 JumpStart Committee for the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO). JumpStart is a one-day organ conference of internationally and nationally acclaimed organists who present recitals, master classes, and workshops for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the AGO. In 2021-2023, she recently completed a two-year term as sub-dean elect of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the AGO. As the former dean elect of local AGO chapter from 2016-2019, she played a primary role in reviving the local community of organists. Since 2016, IAGO has underwritten AGO memberships to all IUP organ students. She also serves as Parish Organist and Director of Music at Zion Lutheran Church in Indiana, PA.
In her work with members of the CTMOSC, Dr. Clewell has worked with this committee to raise funds which have underwritten more than fifty organ scholarships for IUP students. These recipients have gone on to complete graduate degrees and are professional church musicians.
At IUP, Dr. Clewell teaches applied organ, piano, piano, class piano, and music theory. She wrote the winning proposal to bring the Pogorzelski Yankee Organ (PYO) to the university. She holds degrees from Susquehanna University, IUP, and University of Michigan where she earned her doctorate in sacred and liturgical studies as a recipient of a Rackham Minority Fellowship. She has studied under Susan Hegberg, Marilyn Mason, and Carol Teti.
Recent Comments