Bach Festival Society
Colin MacKnight
Colin MacKnight
Colin MacKnight is a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School, where he also received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Colin is in the studio of Paul Jacobs and is working on his dissertation, entitled “Ex Uno Plures: A Proposed Completion of Bach’s Art of Fugue.” Colin currently serves as Associate Organist and Choirmaster at Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island, New York. Prior to serving at Incarnation, he was Assistant Organist and Music Theory Teacher at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue and Assistant Organist at Church of the Resurrection, both in New York City.
Called “a stunning player of exceptional ability” by composer and conductor Bob Chilcott, Colin is a frequent competition prizewinner. His first prizes and scholarships include the 2019 Paris Music Competition, 2017 West Chester University International Organ Competition, 2016 Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition, 2016 Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition, M. Louise Miller Scholarship from the Greater Bridgeport Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the 2013 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, and the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship. He also won the New York City AGO Competition and advanced to the Northeast Regional Competition and won first place, which led to a “Rising Star” recital at the 2016 AGO National Convention in Houston. Colin also received the Clarence Snyder Third Prize in the 2016 and 2019 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competitions.
In December of 2016, Colin and composer Jon Cziner were selected for an AGO Student Commissioning Project grant, resulting in Jon’s Fantasy Chorale, which Colin premiered in 2017. Colin has also received the Fellow and Choirmaster Certifications from the AGO, receiving the prize for top Choirmaster score, and was named one of the top “20 Under 30” eminent young organists by The Diapason magazine in 2019.
Colin has performed at venues such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC; The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, NYC; St. Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Wall Street, NYC; The National Cathedral, Washington, DC; Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church, Montreal; Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Kingston, Jamaica; Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore; and Grace Cathedral, Topeka. Upcoming highlights include recitals in Ingelheim, Germany; Kingston, Jamaica; and at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC. For more information, media, and a calendar of performances, please visit colinmacknight.com.
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