David von Behren

David von Behren is the first organist to receive Cleveland Institute of Music’s (CIM) prestigious Darius Milhaud Award, given each year to a student “who displays qualities of unusual talent and creativity, sensitivity, expressiveness, strong love for and dedication to the musical arts, outstanding musical accomplishment, and evidence of academic excellence.” A native of Falls City, Nebraska, he is an organ performance/music theory double major, studying with Todd Wilson at CIM.  Having performed with the CIM Orchestra at Kulas Hall and Severance Hall, David was recently named one of The Diapason’s “20 Under 30”, a group of young organists, organ builders, harpsichordists, and church musicians who show superior accomplishments, leadership, creativity, and innovative thinking. David works as the music intern (associate organist/choir director) at Plymouth Church, UCC in Shaker Heights, Ohio, playing the organ for worship services and working with the choirs, and is also an accomplished pianist and violinist.

Alcée Chriss

Winner of the Firmin Swinnen second prize at the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition 2016, Alcée Chriss III has been celebrated for his “grace, skill and abundant proficiency” (Journal Assist News, Albuquerque). He has performed throughout the United States and France and is emerging as an outstanding young concert artist of virtuosity and versatility. He has won top prizes at international and national competitions, receiving First Prize and Audience Prize in the Miami International Organ Competition (2014), the Fort Wayne National Organ Competition (2016), the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition in Wethersfield, CT (2013), and the Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists in Austin, TX (2013). Alcée was also selected as one of five finalists for the final round of the Taylor Organ Competition in Atlanta, GA in April 2015, and won the $5,000 second prize. In addition to being a “Rising Star” performer at the AGO National Convention in Boston, MA during the summer of  2014, he also received a grant from Oberlin’s 1835 fund to spend January 2014 in France studying historic organs and repertoire. Alcée returned to France in April 2016 to perform a solo recital as a part of the Festival Myrelingues in Lyon and continues to do international music outreach work as the parrain of a music immersion course in Lyon’s Duchère district.

An alumnus of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Alcée received the Masters degree in historical keyboard and a Bachelors degree in Organ. At Oberlin, he studied organ with James David Christie, Olivier Latry, and has had studies in improvisation with Marie-Louise Langlais. He has studied harpsichord and continuo playing with Webb Wiggins and Hank Knox. In May 2015, he served as the harpsichordist for Oberlin’s production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera Les Plaisirs de Versailles at both the National Museum of American History and the Boston Early Music Festival.

In the fall of 2015, Alcée began his doctorate degree at McGill University where he studies with Hans-Ola Ericsson. He has performed in such venues as the Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas, TX), John F. Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, Caruth Auditorium, and St. Olaf’s Catholic Church, Minneapolis MN, among others. In addition to his organ and harpsichord studies, Alcee is active as a conductor and jazz pianist.

Chong Ai Cho

Chong Ai Cho is a passionate pianist and organist who earned her Bachelor in Music Degree in Piano Performance in Sacred Heart College in Seoul, South Korea. She had extensive teaching experience as a music teacher after her graduation. While her husband was earning his PhD in Economics in Johns Hopkins university, she studied with a Zhanna Friedman in Peabody Institute of Music, where she performed many concerts in Leikin Hall. Currently, Chong Ai enjoys sacred music and plays as an organist in her church in Ulsan, Korea, where she lives with her husband. She has two children, living in Boston and New York, who she taught music throughout their lives.