Former Artistic Directors
David Arcus, 2021-2022
David Arcus was appointed as Organist and Choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Instructor in Organ and Church Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina in 2021. Before these appointments in summer 2021, he was Director of Music and Organist of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he oversaw adult and junior/youth choral programs and presided at the 1883 Hook & Hastings organ in the early nineteenth century church. Since July 2018 he served as Music Director for the Raleigh Convocation Choir, an itinerant choral ensemble dedicated to sharing the great heritage of church music with Episcopal parishes across the Diocese of North Carolina. He was at Duke University for nearly 30 years, where he served in various capacities in the Department of Music, Divinity School, and Duke Chapel.
Dr. Arcus holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the School of Music at Yale University, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has received awards in composition and improvisation competitions, and he is in demand as a solo recitalist, having performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Great Britain.
Dr. Arcus' recitals have included premieres of new works by well known composers such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Dan Locklair, and Marianne Ploger. He is frequently commissioned to write new works for organ and choir, and he is also active as clinician, teacher/lecturer, and conductor. His compositions are published by Concordia, Hinshaw, and Wayne Leupold Editions. His CD, The Organs of Duke Chapel, is on the Gothic label.
Dr. Arcus holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the School of Music at Yale University, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has received awards in composition and improvisation competitions, and he is in demand as a solo recitalist, having performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Great Britain.
Dr. Arcus' recitals have included premieres of new works by well known composers such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Dan Locklair, and Marianne Ploger. He is frequently commissioned to write new works for organ and choir, and he is also active as clinician, teacher/lecturer, and conductor. His compositions are published by Concordia, Hinshaw, and Wayne Leupold Editions. His CD, The Organs of Duke Chapel, is on the Gothic label.
Andrew Scanlon, 2009-2021
A native of Methuen, Massachusetts, ANDREW SCANLON was a professor in the keyboard department at East Carolina University from 2009-2021, where he directed the graduate and undergraduate programs in organ and sacred music. In addition, he was the organist & choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, NC and artistic director of East Carolina Musical Arts Education Foundation. From 2005—2009 Andrew served as organ faculty at Duquesne University, and previously held positions at Christ & St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (New York), St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral (Buffalo), First Presbyterian Church (Pittsburgh) and Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. A frequent performer at the organ, Scanlon has performed at national conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the Organ Historical Society. He is in frequent demand as a clinician and workshop presenter, having presented sessions for AGO conventions in Boston and Richmond, as well as teaching and performing at courses for the Royal School of Church Music in Charlotte and in Nigeria.
Scanlon has given recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Africa, performing in some of the world’s most significant religious venues such as The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, (New York), Notre-Dame Cathedral, The American Cathedral and La Trinité Church (Paris) and other venues in England, Italy, Germany, Canada and Croatia. Actively involved in the AGO, Andrew Scanlon holds the Fellowship diploma (FAGO), has been a faculty member for three Pipe Organ Encounters, serves on both the National Board of Examiners and served six years on the Committee on Professional Certification. He is a graduate of Duquesne University and both the Institute of Sacred Music and School of Music at Yale University. His most recent CD recording, Solemn and Celebratory, featuring the Fisk organ at St. Paul’s in Greenville, was released in 2013. The Organists’ Review (UK, June 2014) called Scanlon’s playing on this recording “stately,” “well measured,” and “exemplary”; and The Diapason (Feb. 2015) describes it as “beautifully realized,” stating that “both performer and organ seem to excel in [the] French Romantic repertoire.” Andrew’s principal teachers have been John Skelton, Ann Labounsky, David Craighead, John Walker, and Thomas Murray.
Janette Fishell, 1998-2009
A founding member of the Foundation, Janette Fishell was our first artistic director and was instrumental in the design and procurement of OPUS 126. Her numerous achievements may be read about on her webpage.