Jon Riss

Award winning conductor and organist Jon Riss presents an organ concert with music of Dupré, Franck, J.S. Bach, and Vierne.

Jon Riss has been Director of Choral Activities at Hastings High School and Farragut Middle School since 2013, where he conducts five choirs and teaches 5th and 8th grade music classes. He has also served as Director of Music & Organist at Irvington Presbyterian Church in 2016. Mr. Riss received the 2013 American Guild of Organists Choir Master Prize for the highest overall score nationwide on the Guild’s day-long written and practical exam in choral conducting, and was awarded 2nd Prize in the 2009 American Choral Directors Association National Student Conducting Competition, Undergraduate Division.

In 2016, Mr. Riss was named a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists in 2016 – the Guild’s most distinguished level of professional certification. He has toured the United States and Europe as a guest accompanist for choral festivals, including the inaugural NAfME All-Eastern Honors Treble Voice Chorus (2013), the 2013 OAKE National Youth Choir, the 2012 ACDA Western Division Junior High Girl’s Honor Choir, and the 2010 Rhapsody! Children’s Music Festival (Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague), all under the baton of Dr. Janet Galván. He has also been a frequent participant in Ithaca College’s all-Bach harpsichord recitals in collaboration with former teacher Jean Radice.

He has participated in masterclasses in conducting with Anton Armstrong, Simon Carrington, and Ann Howard Jones; organ improvisation with Justin Bischof and Gerre Hancock; and harpsichord with Susan Toman and Peter Watchorn. He has also been an accompanist for masterclasses with a great number of luminaries in the music field including soprano Phyllis Curtin, mezzo-soprano Theodora Hanslowe, composer Richard Hundley, composer Karel Husa, collaborative pianist Gilbert Kalish, jazz vocal artist Darmon Meader, saxophonist Eugene Rousseau, tenor Paul Sperry, baritone William Stone, and soprano Sharon Sweet.

Mr. Riss is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Elaine Brown Tribute Award from Temple University, awarded to the graduating conducting student “who most reflects the musicianship, dedication to excellence, and humanitarianism that has distinguished the career of Dr. Elaine Brown.”
He holds degrees in conducting and music education from Temple University and Ithaca College in addition to post-graduate study in organ, conducting, and improvisation with mentor Dr. Justin Bischof.

Mr. Riss is also a Voice Adjudicator for NYSSMA, Accompanist for the Riverside Choral Society in Manhattan, and Artist-in-Residence at Cultural Arts Playhouse in Syosset.

Performances: 5:00 pm Irvington Presbyterian Church 

Links: YouTube