Joshua Stafford, Organist and Choirmaster
Joshua Stafford is a second year graduate student at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, where he studies organ performance with Thomas Murray and improvisation with Jeffrey Brillhart. The recipient of both a full-tuition scholarship and the Robert Baker Award, granted each year to the most promising incoming organ student, he currently serves as Organist and Choirmaster at both St. Andrew’s Anglo-Catholic Parish in Stamford, CT and the Episcopal Church at Yale. Joshua received the Bachelor of Music degree from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2010, where he was a full-tuition scholarship student of Alan Morrison.
Joshua has performed numerous recitals across the country, including such notable venues as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Princeton University Chapel, Ocean Grove Auditorium, Spivey Hall, and Ursinus College. A regular performer on the world’s largest outdoor organ, the Massey Memorial Organ at Chautauqua Institution, he was also an Assistant Organist at the world’s largest organ, the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Philadelphia. Joshua has been a featured performer on the nationally syndicated radio show Pipedreams and WRTI’s Wanamaker Organ Hour. As a collaborative musician, Joshua has performed with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Curtis Opera Orchestra, the Temple University Concert Choir, the Bach Collegium of Philadelphia, Conservatory Brass, the Dolce Suono Ensemble and the Buxtehude Consort. From 2008-2010, he served as the accompanist for the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, performing works such as the Bach B-Minor Mass and Pärt Te Deum.
In July 2009, Joshua traveled to England for an extensive tour with the choirs of the Church of the Redeemer, Bryn Mawr. While there, he played for concerts and services in many historic venues, including Gloucester Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, St. Alban’s Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, the Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich, and St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
A native of Jamestown, NY, Joshua began piano studies at the age of six. His interest in the organ was sparked at a Pipe Organ Excursion held by the Chautauqua, NY chapter of the American Guild of Organists that he attended at the age of ten. Joshua’s previous teachers include Jared Jacobsen and James Bigham. Former positions include Assistant Organist at St. Mark’s Anglo-Catholic Church, Philadelphia, Assistant Director of Music at The Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, and Organ Scholar at the historic Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge.
The Organ
J. W. Walker & Sons, Ltd., Established 1828, Brandon, Suffolk 1987, 19 Stops, 22 Ranks
Great
Open Diapason 8’
Stopped Diapason 8’
Principal 4’
Spire Flute 4’
Fifteenth 2’
Twelfth 22/3
Sesquialtera II 22/3 + 13/5
Mixture IV 13/5
Tremulant
Swell
Chimney Flute 8’
Salicional 8’
Voix Céleste 8’ TC
Gemshorn 4’
Flageolet 2’
Larigot 11/3
Trumpet 8’
Tremulant
Pedal
Subbass 16’
Bass Flute 8’
Octave 4’
Trombone 16’
Couplers
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Great
Swell Sub Octave