Organ Studio

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Lamont offers an exceptional environment for organists, combining individualized instruction with world-class resources and performance opportunities. Our studio is vibrant, where organists leverage Lamont’s exceptional resources in pursuit of artistic excellence. Guided by Prof. Cindy Lindeen-Martin, students engage in intensive private lessons, performance class, ensembles, and masterclasses with renowned guest artists. At Lamont studio, students celebrate each other’s successes and push one another to reach new artistic heights.

Audition Requirements

Organ Auditions

Studying Organ at Lamont

At Lamont, organ students have the rare privilege of practicing and performing on one of the finest instruments in the country: a 56-rank, 3,000-pipe Schuke Orgelbau Berlin organ, built in Germany and housed in the acoustically stunning Hamilton Recital Hall. This exceptional instrument, designed specifically for the space it now commands, serves as the heart of organ study at Lamont.

As an organ student, you’ll receive a key to Hamilton Recital Hall, granting you personal access to this world-class organ whenever the space is not in use. In addition, you’ll have access to a dedicated organ practice room to support your daily development.

Your weekly schedule will center around personalized instruction in private lessons with Professor Cindy Lindeen-Martin, along with a rich curriculum designed to develop your artistry and professional readiness. You’ll participate in keyboard performance class, where you’ll perform regularly, give and receive constructive feedback, and work closely with Lamont’s full team of keyboard faculty. Courses in organ pedagogy and repertoire will broaden your knowledge of the instrument’s vast literature while equipping you with essential teaching skills. You’ll also gain valuable collaborative experience, preparing you to work confidently with vocalists, instrumentalists, and ensembles in a variety of settings.

Whether you're preparing for a career in performance, church music, teaching, or all of the above, Lamont’s organ program offers the individualized support, exceptional resources, and high-level performance opportunities to help you thrive.

1-2 organ students at Lamont

3,000 pipes in our Schuke Orgelbau Berlin organ

300+ performance opportunities per year

Faculty

Lamont organ students study with Prof. Cindy Lindeen-Martin, who has performed extensively across Europe, Mexico, the U.S., and collaborates frequently with leading ensembles in Colorado, including Kantorei, The Denver Brass, and Stratus Chamber Orchestra. In addition to her work as a recitalist and clinician, she has directed and adjudicated several major organ competitions, including serving as Director of the National Competition of Organ Improvisation and currently as Co-Director of the International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival.

Full bio of Cindy Lindeen-Martin

Dr. Cindy Lindeen-Martin has recently been appointed Adjunct Faculty in Organ at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. She is also Director of Music and Organist at Church of the Ascension in Denver, Colorado where she continues to build a thriving music ministry including vocal and handbell choirs.
Lindeen-Martin is in demand as performer, instructor, lecturer, and adjudicator. She has concertized in Europe and Mexico and in the east and midwest United States. As a resident of Colorado, she is a frequent performer there, as a soloist or in collaboration with others, including The Denver Bach Society, Denver’s Stratus Chamber Orchestra, the Denver Brass, Stellar Brass (Air Force Academy), and the respected Denver-based choir, Kantorei. Concerto performances to her credit include Poulenc’s “Organ Concerto for Strings and Percussion”, Pierre Petit’s “Concertino”, Rheinberger's “Concerto in G Minor", CPE Bach's “Concerto in E-flat Major”, Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante”, Alfred Casella’s “Concerto Romano”, Camille Saint-Saens’ “Organ Symphony” and Handel’s “Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 4”.
Dr. Lindeen-Martin’s teaching credentials include numerous private organ students, many who have continued studies at the college level. She also served as Interim Professor of Organ at Colorado State University Center of the Arts for one term.
During Cindy’s tenure at First Presbyterian Church from 1988-1993, she managed the Ottumwa National Undergraduate Organ Competition. A few years later, during her twenty year tenure at Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver, she founded and was the Competition Coordinator for the Augustana Arts/Reuter National Undergraduate Organ Competition. Unique to most competitions, competitors were required to play a specific organ concerto. The winner performed with orchestra that same weekend. Although no longer under sponsorship, it was considered one of the premiere organ competitions in the U.S.
Cindy is a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of The American Guild of Organists. She has served a few of these professional local and national organizations in various capacities. By virtue of managing a few competitions, Cindy was invited to serve as a member of the AGO Competitions Committee at the national level and eventually was named director of the National Competition of Organ Improvisation (NCOI) from 2016-2022. She was also the Hymn Competition Coordinator for Denver’s committee, serving the Association of Anglican Musicians 2013 Conference. Presently, she serves as Competition Co-Director for the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival in Fort Collins, a renowned international piano competition.
Additionally, Lindeen-Martin has presented workshops and adjudicated several competitions across the country.
Cindy earned her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree and the prestigious Performers Certificate from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY and MM and BM degrees from Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Additional studies took her to France, earning the coveted Degré d’Excellence with Madame Marie-Claire Alain at the Conservatoire de Rueil-Malmaison, France. Dr. Lindeen-Martin is a recipient of the “Distinguished Alumnus Award in Music” from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance of Colorado State University.

Degree Programs

Auditions

Applicants may choose to either audition in person in Denver OR submit a recorded video audition.

Applications received after January 15 will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. You may indicate your preference for a live or virtual audition on the Lamont application.

Click here to view the current year’s audition dates and the full steps for how to apply.

In-Person Audition Requirements
All auditions are approximately 15 minutes in length. The applicant will choose one of their prepared works to perform. The faculty will choose the second of the prepared works and possibly an additional work as well.

Undergraduate (BM and BA)
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
  - Baroque (e.g., prelude/fugue or chorale prelude by Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns, etc.)
  - Romantic (e.g., Mendelssohn sonata movement, Brahms chorale prelude, Franck, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
  - 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Langlais, Hindemith, Rorem, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Undergraduate (Minor)
- Ten (10) minutes of repertoire consisting of two (2) or more classical-genre pieces or movements including one work by Bach (prelude/fugue or chorale prelude).
- In certain cases, a student may be admitted who has had no organ study but does have a strong background in piano. In such individual cases, a piano audition is permitted instead of an organ audition.
- Memorization is not required
Graduate (MM and certificate in performance)
- Thirty (30) minutes of repertoire to include a work or representative movement from each of the following (for the Romantic and 20th/21st century work, one must be primarily lyric, and one must be primarily virtuosic):
  - Before 1750—not Bach (e.g., Buxtehude, Sweelinck, French Classic, etc.)
  - J. S. Bach (e.g. Prelude, Toccata, or Fantasy and/or Fugue; Trio Sonata movement; Passacaglia; Leipzig chorale prelude; Clavierübung chorale prelude)
  - Romantic period (e.g., Mendelssohn, Reger, Franck, Guilmant, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
  - 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Messiaen, Langlais, Dupré, Duruflé, Hindemith, Distler, Hakim, Guillou, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Review Requirements for Artist Diploma
Video Auditions Requirments
Applicants unable to travel to Denver for a live audition may submit a video audition via the Lamont application. Repertoire may be recorded separately in multiple takes; editing within each take is prohibited.

Undergraduate (BM and BA)
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
  - Baroque (e.g., prelude/fugue or chorale prelude by Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns, etc.)
  - Romantic (e.g., Mendelssohn sonata movement, Brahms chorale prelude, Franck, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
  - 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Langlais, Hindemith, Rorem, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Undergraduate (Minor)
- Ten (10) minutes of repertoire consisting of two (2) or more classical-genre pieces or movements including one work by Bach (prelude/fugue or chorale prelude).
- In certain cases, a student may be admitted who has had no organ study but does have a strong background in piano. In such individual cases, a piano audition is permitted instead of an organ audition.
- Memorization is not required
Graduate (MM and certificate in performance)
- Thirty (30) minutes of repertoire to include a work or representative movement from each of the following (for the Romantic and 20th/21st century work, one must be primarily lyric, and one must be primarily virtuosic):
  - Before 1750—not Bach (e.g., Buxtehude, Sweelinck, French Classic, etc.)
  - J. S. Bach (e.g. Prelude, Toccata, or Fantasy and/or Fugue; Trio Sonata movement; Passacaglia; Leipzig chorale prelude; Clavierübung chorale prelude)
  - Romantic period (e.g., Mendelssohn, Reger, Franck, Guilmant, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
  - 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Messiaen, Langlais, Dupré, Duruflé, Hindemith, Distler, Hakim, Guillou, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Review Requirements for Artist Diploma

Life After Lamont

Lamont students have worked with some of the most prestigious music organizations in the world. Alumni have performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolf Trap, Vancouver Symphony, Broadway, the West End, and San Francisco Opera. Lamont composers have premiered works at Carnegie Hall and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and conductors have led orchestras from Brazil to Hungary. Graduates of our Musicology and music theory programs hold posts at prestigious institutions nationwide. And our recording and production students have launched careers in Hollywood, editing soundtracks for films like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Daniel Foster - MM 2020

Organist, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colorado Springs
Deke Polifka - AD 2015

Organist St. Paul’s Memorial Church at the University of Virginia
Daniel Romero - MM 2020

Director of Music, Grace Church in Newark, NJ