$2,500* Award for 2023 (* up to $5,000)
A scholarship fund was established in 1998 to honor the life and work of Dr. M. Louise Miller (1914 – 2008), a founding member (1948) of the Greater Bridgeport chapter, and to recognize her great achievements in the fields of church music, organ playing and teaching. In 2015, through a generous gift from the estate of Dr. Paul E. Knox (1930-2015), an esteemed colleague of Dr. Miller and outstanding church musician and teacher, the Greater Bridgeport Chapter of the AGO renamed the scholarship and increased the award amount. A $2,500* scholarship will be awarded in June 2023 to an undergraduate student pursuing study in fall 2023 at an American college, conservatory, or university, leading toward a career in organ performance and church music. The winner will also be invited to play a recital in Connecticut for the AGO.
The application process includes writing a short essay and submitting a recording of two standard organ pieces (Bach and Romantic). Application deadline is June 1, 2023.
Click here for the .doc application form and detail instructions (check you Download area for the .doc). Please email lmillerpknoxscholarship@gmail.com the completed form or any other questions.
*The Greater Bridgeport AGO Chapter is also pleased to inform scholarship applicants that John Polo is also the Program Director of the Greenville SC AGO Chapter (Robert & Nancy) Powell Scholarship. Both scholarships have the same criteria and timeline but submitted separately and have separate judges. This is a unique opportunity to win up to $5,000 in scholarships. That application is available at this link.
John J. Polo
Program Director & Treasurer, M. Louise Miller-Paul E. Knox Scholarship Program
Current Judges – Galen Tate, Dr. Alice Caldwell, Dr. Stephen Rapp, Dr. Heitor Caballero, Kevin Bailey
Former Judges – K. Bryan Kirk, Dr. Paul Knox (In Memoriam), Dr. John Michniewicz, Rev. Dr. Paul Jacobson
Previous Winners
Anne Maria Lim
Katherine Jolliff
Hannah Engwall
Nathan Pennington
Elena Baquerizo
Jeremy Paul Jelinek
Alden Wright
David von Behren
Colin MacKnight
Katelyn Emerson
Amanda Mole
Mary Pan
Kevin Neel
Nicholas Capozzoli
Christopher Howerter
Scott Montgomery
Susan Beisner Powell
Frederick Teardo
Congratulations Anne Maria Lim – 2022 Winner!
Anne Maria Lim is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in both Organ Performance and Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music. She is in the organ studio of Anne Laver, having previously studied with Nathan Laube.
She began her music education at the age of three on the piano and soon after, started taking violin lessons. She has attained the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in Piano Performance, ABRSM Grade 8 Organ, and ABRSM Grade 8 Violin. Anne Maria completed her Diploma in Music (Piano Performance) at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she also took on Violin Performance as a second study and performed with the NAFA Orchestra and Project Strings.
In 2017, she took interest in the pipe organ and begun formal pipe organ lessons under the tutelage of Dr Evelyn Lim as an Organ Scholar of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Since then, she has been an active member of the American Guild of Organists and regularly participates in organ masterclasses, working with world-renowned artists such as Olivier Latry, Isabelle Demers, Winfried Louis Robilliard, and Jean-Baptiste Robin, among others. Recently, she was awarded the Third Prize in the 2022 Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition in Organ Playing. In Singapore, she performs and assists local and visiting organists at the Victoria Concert Hall and Esplanade Concert Hall. She also regularly performs in Rochester. Anne Maria is Music Director and Organist at St Anne’s Church in Rochester, New York.
$2,500 Award for 2022 – M. Louise Miller – Paul E. Knox Scholarship (Look for us again in February ‘2023)
A scholarship fund was established in 1998 to honor the life and work of Dr. M. Louise Miller (1914 – 2008), a founding member (1948) of the Greater Bridgeport chapter, and to recognize her great achievements in the fields of church music, organ playing and teaching. In 2015, through a generous gift from the estate of Dr. Paul E. Knox (1930-2015), an esteemed colleague of Dr. Miller and outstanding church musician and teacher, the Greater Bridgeport Chapter of the AGO renamed the scholarship and increased the award amount. A $2,500 scholarship will be awarded in June 2022 to an undergraduate student pursuing study in fall 2021 at an American college, conservatory, or university, leading toward a career in organ performance and church music. The winner will also be invited to play a recital in Connecticut for the AGO.
The application process includes writing a short essay and submitting a recording of two standard organ pieces (Bach and Romantic). Application deadline is June 1, 2022. MLMillerPEKnoxScholarship2022v1 for the .pdf version of the application form and detail instructions (check you Download area for the .pdf). Please email John Polo for a Microsoft Word version of the application form for completion or any other questions at LMillerPKnoxScholarship@gmail.com
John J. Polo
Chair & Treasurer, M. Louise Miller-Paul E. Knox Scholarship Program
Current Judges – Galen Tate, Dr. Alice Caldwell, Dr. Stephen Rapp, Dr. Heitor Caballero, Kevin Bailey
Former Judges – K. Bryan Kirk, Dr. Paul Knox (In Memoriam), Dr. John Michniewicz, Rev. Dr. Paul Jacobson
Previous Winners
Anne Maria Lim
Katherine Jolliff
Hannah Engwall
Nathan Pennington
Elena Baquerizo
Jeremy Paul Jelinek
Alden Wright
David von Behren
Colin MacKnight
Katelyn Emerson
Amanda Mole
Mary Pan
Kevin Neel
Nicholas Capozzoli
Christopher Howerter
Scott Montgomery
Susan Beisner Powell
Frederick Teardo