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Biography

A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Brent te Velde earned his undergraduate degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a double major in German literature and organ. As part of his undergraduate studies he spent a semester in Bremen, Germany, studying at both the University of Bremen and the Bremen Musikhochschule. He then earned his masters degree and an additional certificate in sacred music from Yale University, and completed graduate studies with doctoral work in organ, sacred music, and music theory at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His doctoral final project examined J.S. Bach’s early autodidactic study of fugal composition with a focus on Bach’s fugues borrowing Italian fugue subjects. A fifth generation organist, Brent began organ studies with his mother, the organist and composer Rebecca Groom te Velde. His primary organ teachers thereafter were Christopher Young, Bruce Neswick, Martin Jean, Jeffrey Brillhart, David Heller, Christoph Grohmann, and Hans Davidsson. He earned first prizes in the John R. Rodland Memorial Competition, the AGO Regional Young Organists competition, and the William Hall competition in San Antonio, and has performed for both regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists. His playing has also been featured on the public radio program Pipedreams. In his spare time, Brent enjoys cooking, gardening, running, playing tennis, and spending time with his children.