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Alain Barker
Jacobs School of Music
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812 856-5719

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Jacobs School of Music
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Last modified: Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Organist Bruce Neswick appointed to IU Jacobs School of Music faculty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Following a national search, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music announces that organist Bruce Neswick will join its faculty as associate professor of music (organ) in the fall of 2011, pending approval by the Trustees of Indiana University.

Neswick is presently director of music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, having previously served as the canon for music at the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta.

His previous appointments include assistant organist-choirmaster for the Girl Choristers at Washington National Cathedral, director of music at St. Albans School for Boys and the National Cathedral School for Girls, and organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Ky.; Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Geneva, Switzerland; and St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, N.Y.

"The Jacobs School of Music Organ Department is delighted to welcome Bruce Neswick to our faculty," said department chair Janette Fishell. "He is an undisputed master practitioner of sacred music, and his expertise in the areas of improvisation, choral training, accompanying and composition is rounded off by a full command of the concert literature. He brings years of practical experience in churches and cathedrals throughout the country and abroad and has ample experience in both building programs 'from the ground up' and maintaining traditions of excellence that stretch over many decades. Bruce will be a powerful role model and mentor to our students as they prepare to meet their individual vocational callings in a variety of denominations."

"I am thrilled to be joining the IU community and look forward to contributing what I can to the ongoing study of the organ and its many related fields of endeavor," Neswick said. "I am extremely impressed by the friendliness of the community as a whole, the brightness and talent in evidence among the students, the extraordinary performing and teaching careers of my colleagues on the faculty, and by the overall pursuit of excellence enshrined in the daily life of the School of Music. What a privilege and honor it will be to become a part of this impressive place!"

Active in the field of church music, Neswick holds the Fellowship degree from the Royal School of Church Music, for which he has conducted several courses for boy and girl choristers. He has served on the faculties of and performed for several church music conferences, including Master Schola, the Mississippi Conference, the Association of Anglican Musicians, Westminster Choir College Summer Session, the Montreat and Westminster Conferences of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Disciples of Christ Musicians, the Conference of Lutheran Church Musicians, the Sewanee Church Music Conference, Organ Alive! and the Evergreen Conference.

Neswick has been commissioned to compose for several performers and churches throughout the United States, and his organ and choral music is published by Paraclete, Augsburg-Fortress, Selah, Vivace, Hope, Plymouth and St. James' presses. His skill at improvisation garnered him three first prizes from the 1989 San Anselmo Organ Festival, the 1990 American Guild of Organists' national convention in Boston and the 1992 Rochette Concours at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland.

A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and of the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, Neswick's teachers have included Robert Baker, David Dahl, Gerre Hancock, Margaret Irwin-Brandon and Lionel Rogg. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Neswick has served the guild in many capacities, including chapter dean, regional convention chair, regional education coordinator, member of the national nominating committee and member of the national improvisation competition committee.

As a recitalist, Neswick has performed extensively throughout North America and has been a featured performer at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. In 1994, he played the opening convocation for its national convention in Dallas, Texas, and he was a featured artist at the guild's 2000 national convention in Seattle and its 2010 national convention in Washington, D.C. He is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists.

Jeffrey Smith will continue as adjunct associate professor with the Jacobs Organ Department from his new home in London, England, working specifically with international initiatives.