Nicole Keller is an active solo and chamber music recitalist and clinician in the United States and abroad. She enjoys exploring all aspects of organ repertoire, especially pairing new music for the instrument with the staples of the repertoire. Recent solo performances include concerts in New York, St. Louis, Kansas, Germany, France, and Kazakhstan. Ms. Keller performs regularly as a solo and collaborative artist on the organ, piano and harpsichord, exploring organ duo repertoire with Timothy Olsen, Kenan Professor of Organ at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. She currently serves as the Director of Music at The Community of Saint John in Hudson, OH.
Ms. Keller is co-director Festival of Liturgical Arts of the Western Reserve (FLAWR), an organization devoted to exploring the symbiotic relationship between music and preaching. FLAWR debuted in June of 2011 with a 4 day conference and along with co-director Rev. Brian Suntken, Ms. Keller assembled a distinguished roster of clinicians and guest performers for the first conference including Dr. Gerre Hancock, Todd Wilson, Rev. Paul Westermeyer of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and Rev. Mitties MacDonald DeChamplain of The General Seminary of the Episcopal Church, NY. This year's conference is set for June 7-8 at Lakewood Presbyterian Church in Lakewood, OH.
Ms. Keller's extensive church music experience includes work in with volunteer and professional choirs and instrumental ensembles devoted to the highest level of music for worship. She is devoted to the development of amateur and volunteer choristers and musicians of every age level. Ms. Keller has created organ and choral scholar programs at small to mid size parishes, developed successful children's choir programs, and led choirs on tour including a residency at Bristol Cathedral in the UK in the summer of 2011 with concerts at Bath Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. She is currently serving The Community of Saint John, a newly formed, independent faith community devoted to high standards for worship and music.
Ms. Keller has competed in several national and international competitions. In April of 2011 she won first prize in the North American round of the Michael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition, earning a place in the second round in Kaliningrad, Russia in September. In Kaliningrad she was awarded the Special Shabyt Prize from the Kazakh National University of Arts in Astana, Kazakhstan for “the most promising organist for inspiration and luck” and includes a recital in Astana and a CD recording.
In August of 2010 Ms. Keller was an instructor in the Internationale Orgelakademie at St. Stephan’s Cathedral in Passau, Germany. The course focused on American and English organ music and included students from several countries in Europe. In conjunction with the course, she played a recital at St. Stephan’s Cathedral and at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Waldkirchen with Dr. Horst Buchholz, Director of Music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.
Ms. Keller has been the continuist for the Baldwin-Wallace University Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra since 2000. Works include several performances of the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the Mass in b minor, the Christmas Oratorio, and a host of cantatas, concerti and choral and orchestral chamber music of Bach and his colleagues and predecessors. She has also played numerous concerts and chamber music recitals on organ and harpsichord with members of the Baldwin-Wallace University faculty, members of The Cleveland Orchestra, members of The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and other artists from around the country.
Ms. Keller received the Performer’s Certificate and the Master of Music Degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York under the tutelage of David Higgs. While at Eastman, she studied continuo with Arthur Haas and improvisation with Dr. Gerre Hancock. She received the Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio, studying piano with George Cherry and Jean Stell and organ with Margaret Scharf. She was previously on the faculties of Cleveland State University and the Baldwin-Wallace University Conservatory of Music.