On July 12, Ms Christina Hutten will be playing an 8:00 p.m. recital at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Kitchener.Ms. Hutten, a native of St. Mary’s Ontario, is the first recipient of a new scholarship founded in honor of the pre-eminent Canadian organist, composer and teacher Barrie Cabena.

She completed her undergraduate studies in music history and organ at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2006, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Organ Performance at Arizona State University.

She was one of 13 applicants for the prestigious award, all of them so accomplished that the selection committee, which included Barrie Cabena, was challenged in picking a clear winner. “It was nice that we had a struggle,” Cabena observed after the late-May decision was reached. For him, the excellence of the applicants points to another generation of gifted musicians “who will continue to celebrate the organ as it so richly deserves…”

Ms Hutten, who will be formally presented with the scholarship just prior to the opening of next month’s ORGAN FESTIVAL ON THE GRAND (July 13-16, 2008 www.festivalotg.ca) said, “I am so pleased to receive this scholarship, and I would like to thank everyone who made this opportunity possible.” She hopes to use the funds to enter a major international organ competition in Italy next year.

Reached at ASU shortly after her win, Hutten explained that her journey toward a musical vocation didn’t begin with the organ. Although she entered the music degree program at WLU as a proficient pianist, “I found performing at the piano very daunting. As a result, I decided to pursue undergraduate studies in music history,” with a goal of eventually teaching the subject in university.

During her second year, however, she began taking organ as a secondary subject with instructor Marlin Nagtegaal, whom she credits with radically changing her perspective. “It was under his guidance that I learned to enjoy performing,” she said. “It was in part his continual enthusiasm for playing and teaching that caused me to begin to consider a career as a musician and music teacher, rather than strictly as a history professor.”

A poster of the event is available.