About Evalyn

Evalyn's Bio

Dr. Evalyn Cogswell is the music director and organist at Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit, NJ, a position they began in July of 2021. Evalyn’s doctorate in organ performance was from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University under the tutelage of Dr. Chris Young. Prior to attending IU, Evalyn received a Master’s of Music from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, studying with Martin Jean. While at Yale, Evalyn gave several lectures on the organ music of Olivier Messiaen, and these lectures eventually developed into Evalyn’s doctoral thesis—an analysis of Messiaen’s Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité, tracing its Wagnerian and improvisational influences. At Yale, Evalyn taught several graduate level theory classes as a TA for music theory. Evalyn continued teaching at IU, where she was the graduate organ instructor for two years.
 
Evalyn's love of Messiaen and most French music of the 19th and 20th centuries began around the time of their first organ lessons at age twelve. They were quickly drawn to the colors and harmonic language of Widor, Dupré, Duruflé, and Vierne, eagerly desiring to build the technique to learn their masterpieces. Nearly two decades later, the organ symphonies of Louis Vierne have become another staple of Evalyn's repertoire along with the works of Olivier Messiaen. Evalyn is also passionate about the music of Charles Tournemire, and she will program Jeanne Demessieux's Te Deum whenever asked.

As an undergraduate at The Hartt School, Evalyn was able to merge their passion for the organ and new music by commissioning and premiering multiple student works for organ each year, sometimes for solo organ and sometimes for chamber ensembles featuring the organ. Recently, Evalyn has taken to programming lesser known works alongside their favorite organ repertoire in an effort to highlight music by composers from under represented groups. Evalyn has continued their composing on top of their church and choir duties, most recently composing a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for the Calvary Choir.

Evalyn is also a life-long theater lover, and she has been happy to lend her keyboard skills and music directing skills to various community theaters over the past several years. When not playing or composing music, Evalyn can usually be found watching movies or caring for their cats and many fish.