2023 Winners of the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition
Jonathan Lonsway
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Jonathan Lonsway has served as a Lutheran church musician for 14 years, most recently as the Director of Music Ministry at Trinity Lutheran in Midland. Church music was a catalyst in his development as a musician, having been singing and playing piano in church from a young age. He studied church music, along with piano and vocal performance at Moody Bible Institute and feels privileged to have a career in church music. Each church he has served has used the organ in worship, so he has begun learning and is thankful for the opportunity the Kent Dennis Memorial Scholarship has provided to further his education as a student of Dr. Steven Egler. Some of his favorite musical experiences have been performing opera with the Grand Rapids Opera Chorus and singing with the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, and he loves to work with church choirs and vocal ensembles.
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Olin Shaw
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Hello, my name is Olin Shaw. I am a freshman at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, I’m majoring in Aerospace Engineering and minoring in Organ. I was one of the recipients of the Kent S. Dennis scholarship this year, for which I am very grateful. Over this last semester, I have been taking Organ and music theory instruction and have been progressing quite well in my musicianship skills. I want to thank the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (SVAGO), for supporting my academic endeavors, my teacher, Mrs. Calla Ringgenberg, for preparing me for my college career, and especially my family for supporting me even at a college so far away from home. Thanks for everything!
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2022 Winner of the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition
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Matthew Benkert completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Central Michigan University where he studied organ performance and church music with Dr. Steven Egler. There he graduated as a Centralis Honors Program Scholar. Currently he is pursuing his Master of Music degree at CMU as well. He has won numerous musical awards, including the Richard D. Featheringham Endowed Organ Scholarship, the Kent S. Dennis Memorial Scholarship, the CMU School of Music Scholarship, and the CMU Opus Gala Scholarship.
A church musician since the age of sixteen, he has served a variety of churches over the years. These include St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Flint) and Court Street United Methodist Church (Flint) where he currently serves both churches as organist and choral accompanist. He is also an active member of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where he has served as a Member-at-Large. Matthew plans to continue his organ studies at the doctoral level at the University of Indiana, where he will specialize in organ performance and Sacred Music. |
2021 Winner of the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition
Press release for the 2021 Kent Dennis Memorial Organ Scholarship Competition
The Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists if pleased to announce the 2021 recipient of the Kent Dennis Memorial Organ Scholarship is Matt
Benkhert. Matt is a graduate student at Central Michigan University studying with Dr. Steven Egler. Matt currently holds two position in the Flint area: St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, and Court Street United Methodist Church where he currently serves both churches as organist and choral accompanist. He is also an active
member of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where he has served as a Member-at-Large of the SVAGO Executive Committee.
The purpose of the Kent Dennis Memorial Scholarship is to encourage and enrich musical education of present and future church or synagogue organists. The award is in memory of Dr. Kent Dennis, who played for Memorial Presbyterian Church of Midland, for over 49 years. It is through this partnership with Memorial
Presbyterian Church, the Midland Community Foundation, and the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists that this scholarship is continued and available every year.
Benkhert. Matt is a graduate student at Central Michigan University studying with Dr. Steven Egler. Matt currently holds two position in the Flint area: St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, and Court Street United Methodist Church where he currently serves both churches as organist and choral accompanist. He is also an active
member of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where he has served as a Member-at-Large of the SVAGO Executive Committee.
The purpose of the Kent Dennis Memorial Scholarship is to encourage and enrich musical education of present and future church or synagogue organists. The award is in memory of Dr. Kent Dennis, who played for Memorial Presbyterian Church of Midland, for over 49 years. It is through this partnership with Memorial
Presbyterian Church, the Midland Community Foundation, and the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists that this scholarship is continued and available every year.
Matthew Benkert
Matthew Benkert completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Central Michigan University where he studied organ performance and church music with Dr. Steven Egler. There he graduated as a Centralis Honors Program Scholar. Currently he is pursuing his Master of Music degree at CMU as well. He has won numerous musical awards, including the Richard D. Featheringham Endowed Organ Scholarship, the Kent S. Dennis Memorial Scholarship, the CMU School of Music Scholarship, and the CMU Opus Gala Scholarship.
A church musician since the age of sixteen, he has served a variety of churches over the years. These include St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Flint) and Court Street United Methodist Church (Flint) where he currently serves both churches as organist and choral accompanist. He is also an active member of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where he has served as a Member-at-Large.
A church musician since the age of sixteen, he has served a variety of churches over the years. These include St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Flint) and Court Street United Methodist Church (Flint) where he currently serves both churches as organist and choral accompanist. He is also an active member of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where he has served as a Member-at-Large.
2020 Winners of the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition
Due to Covid-19, the actual competition in March was cancelled and the decision was made by the judges to equally divide the scholarship 3 ways. Mair Alsgaard, Calla Ringgenberg, and Robert Sabourin were the judges. Dr. Adrienne Wiley is the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition Coordinator.
Due to Covid-19, the actual competition in March was cancelled and the decision was made by the judges to equally divide the scholarship 3 ways. Mair Alsgaard, Calla Ringgenberg, and Robert Sabourin were the judges. Dr. Adrienne Wiley is the Kent Dennis Scholarship Competition Coordinator.
Collin Whitfield
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Collin Whitfield's compositions have been described by librettist Nicholas Giardini as "beautiful, rapturous and unabashedly romantic, without any of the failings that so often accompany these qualities." He was recently a recipient of the 2019 James Highsmith Award from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for his orchestral work, Eclipse. It received its world premiere by members of the Berkeley Symphony in January 2020. In 2018, his setting of Emily Dickinson’s Because I could not stop for Death for SATB accompanied chorus was selected as the winning piece for the annual ACDA Choral Composition Competition at Central Michigan University.
Since 2018, Collin has served as Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Saginaw. He holds a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Central Michigan University, where he studied with Dr. Steven Egler. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with notable composers David Conte and Mason Bates. He frequently enjoys collaborating on recitals with his wife, soprano Erin Whitfield. |
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Grace Ridley
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Grace Noelle Ridley is composer and pianist based in Midland, Michigan. Currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in Music: Theory/Composition at Central Michigan University, Grace is looking forward to a future spent creating and performing music. Grace is currently studying composition with Dr. José-Luis Maúrtua, as well as piano with Dr. Adrienne Wiley and organ with Dr. Steven Egler. Grace’s additional experiences in clarinet, violin, and guitar have informed her compositions, and her ability to garner inspiration from the world around her has resulted in numerous successful performances throughout central Michigan. In the future, Grace plans to pursue composition at the graduate level, hoping one day to receive her doctoral degree in music composition and continue to share her love of music with the world.
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Joel Opificius
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Joel Opificius is a junior at Central Michigan where he is pursuing the Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance as a student of Dr. Adrienne Wiley. Joel is not only active as a pianist, but he is also an organist and composer. In 2018, Blue Lake Symphony Band premiered Joel’s Opus Opificius. Prior to the performance, Joel came to a rehearsal to speak with the students and to conduct the rehearsal. Joel is also currently taking organ lessons from Dr. Steven Egler. Joel is active in his church, Trinity Missionary Church of Yale, playing piano and organ, participating in the choir, and teaching children’s Sunday school classes on occasion.
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Past Winners
2019 - Timothy Nechuta
2018 - Timothy Nechuta
2017 - Melanie C. Willison
2017 - Aislinn Eddy
2016 - Alisha Bohnert Schimm
2015 - Matthew Benkert
2014 - Matthew Benkert
2018 - Timothy Nechuta
2017 - Melanie C. Willison
2017 - Aislinn Eddy
2016 - Alisha Bohnert Schimm
2015 - Matthew Benkert
2014 - Matthew Benkert