Photo by Mark Brown, University of St. Thomas
David Jenkins
Convention Co-Coordinator, and Twin Cities Chapter Dean
David Jenkins retired last June after serving 34 years in music ministry at the Saint Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. From 1993 Dr. Jenkins served as director of liturgical music at the seminary, his duties there included teaching church music and directing the worship music of the seminary. In addition, Dr. Jenkins was an organ and harpsichord instructor for the music department of St. Thomas, and he taught courses on Music in the Bible as an adjunct instructor in the theology department. He succeeded James Callahan as director of the UST Organ Artist Concert Series for the Gabriel Kney pipe organ in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. For several years he taught organ and organ as an adjunct at St. John’s University in Collegeville, and taught church music courses in the SJU graduate School of Theology.
Dr. Jenkins earned the D.M.A. in organ performance and the Performer's Certificate from The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied organ with Russell Saunders and harpsichord with Arthur Haas. Prior to his doctoral study he spent a year in Copenhagen studying organ with Grethe Krogh under a Marshall Fellowship. During that time he also studied improvisation with Bo Grønbech and performed recitals, including one at the landmark Grundtvigs Kirke. A return concert tour to Scandinavia brought him to cathedrals in Oslo, Stavanger, and Bergen. He holds a Master’s degree in organ from the University of Iowa, where he studied with Delbert Disselhorst. His undergraduate study at Oberlin Conservatory was with Garth Peacock (organ) and Lisa Crawford (harpsichord).
Dr. Jenkins regularly appears in recital with St. Thomas guitar professor Chris Kachian in performances of their own arrangements of Baroque chamber music. Their performances have brought them to the Schubert Club in St. Paul, to the University of Iowa, to St. John’s University, and to Prairie Public Television in Fargo. Besides specializing in the performance of Baroque music, Dr. Jenkins is interested in Scandinavian music. In 2006 he premiered his own organ transcription of the Finale of Carl Nielsen’s Sinfonia espansiva. He has also performed new music for the organ by St. Paul composer Richard Voorhaar. Dr. Jenkins’ organ performances have been aired on “Pipedreams,” the national weekly pipe organ program produced by American Public Media, including the inaugural recital in 2000 on the Fritz Noack pipe organ in the St. Mary’s Chapel at the Saint Paul Seminary.
Dr. Jenkins is Dean of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and has previously served in various other chapter offices, including Sub-Dean, executive board member-at-large, and served on the program and professional concerns committees. He has also served on the board of the Twin Cities-based Association of Liturgical Musicians, and on the Worship Board for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
David holds a third-degree black belt in Soo Bahk Do, a traditional Korean martial art.
Fran Linhart
Hotel and Housing
Fran Linhart started her musical career playing the organ at the Oak Lawn roller rink, in Chicago Illinois. After college, I traveled as staff artist for the Wurlitzer Company and Yamaha, performing in the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan. I have served as church organist and choir director in Chicago at the Universalist Society of Geneva, Mayfair Presbyterian, and the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I currently am the accompanist for the 50-member Edina Singing Singers and substitute organist for churches in the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin.
I served as organist at the James J. Hill House Museum in St Paul. In 2017 I was honored to perform as a guest artist at the OHS (Organ Historical Society) National Convention.
ARRANGER & AUTHOR
As a senior editor at Hal Leonard Publishing, I arranged music for piano, keyboard and organ. I authored multiple textbooks for the Yamaha Electone Course as well as a book on sequencing. I’ve also written instructional materials for the Lowrey Organ Company, Roland, and the Kawai Piano Company.
EDUCATOR
I’ve been active in the field of music education, creating and managing teaching programs for Lowry, Roland, and Kawai. I was Director of the Yamaha Music Schools in the United States, as well as Director of Education at Roland. I have taught classes in improvisation at Marquette University and the University of Southern California. I currently have a teaching studio in my home.
TRAINING / AFFILIATIONS
I received my music education from De Paul University, graduating in 1996, and am a member of the Twin Cities AGO (American Guild of Organists) and the Organ Historical Society.
Samuel Backman
Logistics and Transportation
and
Organ and Choral Concert
Samuel currently serves as Director of Sacred Music at Holy Cross Catholic Church, where he chairs a multi-faceted music program across three campuses. Samuel functions as principal organist and as conductor and founder of the Holy Cross Choir, St. Helena Singers, and Tenebrae Choir. Upon his arrival, he sought to enrich the cultural milieu of Northeast Minneapolis through the foundation of a concert series entitled Music at Holy Cross. Prior to his employment at Holy Cross, he held positions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Golden Valley, MN; the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, MN; Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church in Ardmore, OK, Saint Paul’s on the Green Episcopal Church in Norwalk, CT, and the University Church at Yale in New Haven, CT.
An active performer, Samuel and has been featured as an organ recitalist for conferences hosted by the American Guild of Organists and the Church Music Association of America. His performances have also been featured on Pipedreams, a National Public Radio Broadcast service hosted by Michael Barone. He is also a composer and arranger of music for choir, organ, piano, and chamber ensembles, and his compositions have been published by Paraclete Press.
Sam holds degrees from Saint Olaf College (B.M.), the Yale School of Music (M.M.), and the University of Oklahoma, (D.M.A.) He completed his organ studies in performance and improvisation with John Ferguson, Catherine Rodland, Martin Jean, Damin Spritzer, and John Schwandt, and he studied conducting with Anton Armstrong, Christopher Aspaas, Maguerite Brooks, and Timothy Mahr. Samuel is a recipient of many distinguished scholarships and awards, including Saint Olaf College’s G. Winston Cassler Scholarship, Yale University’s Mary Baker Award for excellence in organ accompaniment, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Ruth and Paul Manz Scholarship Competition, and nomination to Pi Kappa Lambda, a national honor society for music.