Brian Schoettler serves as Minister of Music & Organist at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois where he directs their Chancel, Festival, Handbell, and Children’s Choirs and plays their recently restored Austin organs (IV/78, II/15). He is chair of the Organ Department at the Music Institute of Chicago and teaches music theory for their pre-college Academy. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, his Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and Composition at Westminster Choir College, and his bachelor’s degree in Organ Performance, Church Music, and Instrumental Music Education at Carthage College. He studied organ with Edoardo Bellotti, Michael Burkhardt, Ken Cowan, David Higgs, Richard Hoskins, and Alan Morrison and composition with Benjamin C.S. Boyle.
Recently, Brian has been a guest performer with the Chicago Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony. As a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the batons of such conductors as Jacques Lacombe, Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Brian has been featured on American Public Media’s radio program “Pipedreams,” on the Notre Dame Children’s Choir’s CD “O Day of Peace,” and in a video showcase of Austin’s Op. 319 produced by the Organ Media Foundation.
Brian has participated in summer composition programs at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music and with the European American Musical Alliance at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and his compositions have been performed throughout the United States. His compositions include his “Scherzo” for organ, “The Windows” for choir and orchestra, liturgical music including his “Service in B-flat,” and a corpus of sacred music for choir and instrumental ensembles. His cantata, “Passages from Luke,” is available in three versions: for piano four-hands, for string orchestra and organ, and for full orchestra. Brian serves as Dean of the North Shore chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and is a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
For publicity materials, click here.
Recently, Brian has been a guest performer with the Chicago Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony. As a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the batons of such conductors as Jacques Lacombe, Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Brian has been featured on American Public Media’s radio program “Pipedreams,” on the Notre Dame Children’s Choir’s CD “O Day of Peace,” and in a video showcase of Austin’s Op. 319 produced by the Organ Media Foundation.
Brian has participated in summer composition programs at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music and with the European American Musical Alliance at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and his compositions have been performed throughout the United States. His compositions include his “Scherzo” for organ, “The Windows” for choir and orchestra, liturgical music including his “Service in B-flat,” and a corpus of sacred music for choir and instrumental ensembles. His cantata, “Passages from Luke,” is available in three versions: for piano four-hands, for string orchestra and organ, and for full orchestra. Brian serves as Dean of the North Shore chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and is a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
For publicity materials, click here.