We are very excited to announce the six semi-finalists for this year's National Organ Competition: Peter Bayer, Maria Gajraj, Isaac Howie, Samuel Lee, Aron Sipos and Qing Xu (see bios below). We would like to thank our preliminary jurors: Lottie Enns-Braun, Andrew Henderson and Jonathan Oldengarm.
Peter Bayer, FAGO, holds a BA in Organ Performance and Classics from The Catholic University of America. He has been the Bevan Organ Scholar at Trinity College of the University of Toronto since the fall of 2022 whilst writing his PhD dissertation on the notion of the inner teacher in Clement of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, and the Platonist tradition. At The Catholic University of America, he studied with Prof. Ronald Stolk, and he spent the fall semester of 2016 in Rome studying the Italian baroque organ repertoire under the instruction of Maestro Armando Carideo, performing a recital at Santa Barbara dei Librai on the restored Renaissance instrument there. In 2018, he passed the fellowship examination of the American Guild of Organists, winning the FAGO prize and Lewis Elmer Award for academic excellence. He has performed recitals in several churches around the Washington, DC area and in Toronto, including St. Matthew’s Cathedral in DC, St. James Cathedral, and for the Organix series in Toronto. Further, he has participated in masterclasses at the Oberlin Summer Organ Academy, the McGill Summer Organ Academy, and The Organ Scholar Experience, a week-long program at Oxford run by the Royal College of Organists.
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Maria Gajraj is a Montréal-based organist and Doctoral Candidate at McGill University. Her research focuses on 20th-century Caribbean organ repertoire. She is the co-founder of Sapphonix Collective, which promotes women, queer, and racialized classical musicians, and has been featured on CBC Radio. Maria has performed internationally, at venues like Blackburn Cathedral (UK), Maison Symphonique (Montreal), and in series such as Cal Performances and Bergen Orgelsommer. A recipient of the Godfrey Hewitt Scholarship (2022) and other awards, her doctoral research is funded by the FRQ (Fonds de Recherche du Quebec). In her concert programs, Maria is passionate about highlighting women and composers of colour. As Deirdre Piper wrote in “Pipelines”, Maria’s “spirited, clean, and colourful performance lent real meaningful significance” to this music. By creating engaging concert programs, and by featuring the organ in innovative and multidisciplinary contexts, Maria strives to break stereotypes, and to make the organ more accessible to everyone.
Completing a BMus at the University of British Columbia this spring, Isaac Howie is an organist and lifelong Vancouverite. Entering UBC at 15, he studied organ with Michael Dirk and harpsichord/improvisation with Alexander Weimann, after studying Forestry and alongside a major in Classics; clinicians have included David Briggs, David Palmer, Marc D’Anjou, Denis Bédard and Edoardo Belotti. Since 2021, he has been organist at Holy Family Vancouver (FSSP), and holds an ARCT in piano. A sought-after collaborator, recent highlights include improvised Silent Movie Mondays at the Orpheum Theatre, Stainer’s Crucifixion at St. Mary’s Vancouver, Rutter’s Gloria at the Chan Centre, Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony at Christ Church Vancouver, and Mozart’s Requiem at Holy Rosary; he also appeared in the 2nd Internationaler Feith Orgelwettbewerb last year in Blieskastel, Germany. Isaac has been President of the RCCO Vancouver Centre from 2024 - 25, and his choral work has been premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Besides playing organ, Isaac enjoys building computers, brewing coffee and selling real estate.
Samuel Lee is an organist and a pianist who loves exploring transcribed music written for other instruments. He is currently a doctoral candidate at McGill University studying organ performance with Isabelle Demers, receiving twice the Graduate Excellence Fellowship, and lately the John Grew Award. Samuel was finalist in the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition in 2023. In 2021, placed third in the RCCO National Organ Playing Competition, Samuel was awarded the Muriel Gidley Stafford Prize. He received the Healey Willan Prize and the Heather Spry Prize on completing the FRCCO, while at the same time completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance with David Jalbert at the University of Ottawa. Samuel also obtained an ARCT diploma in piano. Samuel has previously served at Montreal West United Church, and Christ Church Cathedral Montreal.
Originally from Budapest, Hungary, Áron Sipos is currently an undergraduate student at McGill University, where he studies organ with Isabelle Demers. Previously Áron studied organ with László Stachó and Ferenc Monostori, and music theory and composition with Boglárka Terray and Márton Levente Horváth. Since his arrival in Canada, Áron has been organ scholar at The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montréal. Áron has won multiple awards and scholarships, including the Hugh Brock and Schulich scholarships from McGill University, the Undergraduate Trust from Cambridge University, and The Donald and Helen Mackey memorial award. Áron is the recipient of third place and a special distinction for sight-reading in the 2022 National Hungarian organ competition. Áron has appeared in solo recitals in Montréal and Budapest, including a concert at The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul as part of their Organ Intermezzi Summer Organ Concert series. In the 2024-2025 academic year Áron also had the privilege of accompanying the combined McGill choirs in Vierne’s Messe Solennelle, as well as performing as a soloist with the McGill Baroque Orchestra. A student with varied interests, Áron is also profoundly interested in history, mathematics and philosophy.
Qing Xu is now a doctorate student at McGill University, where she studies with Isabelle Demers. Prior to commencing her studies in Montreal, she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in the class of Yuan Shen, a leading Chinese organist. Her professional career in organ performance began in 2018 when she was selected for the Haarlem International Organ Festival’s “Young Talent” program. The same year, she also won the second prize in Concours International d’orgue de Versailles Jeune Talent (Versailles International Young Concert Organist Competition). In 2021, she won the Special Jury Prize at the 12th International M. Tariverdiev Organ Competition. Ms. Xu has performed the Chinese premiere of numerous works and has given recitals in several cities in China. She worked with composer Chang Qi on her piece Micro-carving, which won the International Kajia Saariaho Organ Composition Competition prize and was performed at the inauguration of the Helsinki Music Centre’s new organ in 2024. As a specialist in late Romantic repertoire, several of Ms. Xu’s articles on this topic have been published in Chinese academic journals.
