Ken Cowan

Ken Cowan (born 1974) is a Canadian organist. A native of Thorold, Ontario, he has toured extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, and has made numerous recordings, most on the JAV label. Cowan is a graduate of both the Curtis Institute of Music (Bachelor of Music) and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Master of Music and Artist Diploma). He has held positions at Saint Bartholomew's Church, Saint James Episcopal Church, the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City, Saint Clement's Church, Philadelphia, and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he served as Assistant Professor of Organ and Coordinator of Organ and Sacred Music, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award.

Ken Cowan and Lisa Shihoten

He has also been on the roster of Associate Organists for the famous Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Philadelphia.

Cowan has been a featured recitalist at three national conventions of the American Guild of Organists. He lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Lisa Shihoten, where he serves as a faculty member at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Press

The American Organist:

Cowan's performance was stunning. [His] playing displayed understanding of the composer's intentions and allowed one to hear the beauty of the various families of color on this glorious instrument. There was passion and fire in this virtuosic performance [Max Reger's fantasia on "Wie schön leucht' uns der Morgenstern"] Cowan's careful and wonderfully sensitive musical interpretation of all the variations, and in particular, the powerful texts of the concluding verses, moved this writer to tears."[1]

Other press:

"All in all, this evening was one of the most memorable organ performances we’ve heard in years …" (2009 National Convention of the Organ Historical Society)

Awards
  • 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award.
  • 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Choral Performance - Duruflé complete Choral works - Houston Chamber Choir, Robert Simpson artist director, and Ken Cowan organ.

References
  1. The 2004 National Convention of the AGO in Los Angeles) - The American Organist
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