Artistic Leadership
Dr. Sarah Riskind | Music Director
Previously based in Seattle and Boston, conductor and composer Sarah Riskind is the Director of Choral Activities/Assistant Professor of Music at Eureka College. She leads the Eureka College Chorale, Chamber Singers, and instrumental Chamber Ensemble, as well as teaching courses in composition, improvisation, musicianship, and conducting.
Riskind is a long-time faculty member and choral director at The Walden School Young Musicians Program, an inspiring summer program in New Hampshire for creative musicians ages 9-18. She has written chamber music for the Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Hub New Music, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble Dal Niente as part of the Walden School Faculty Commissioning Project. Many of her choral works are settings of Jewish texts, such as Psalm of the Sky for TBB chorus, violin, and piano, which was premiered in 2020 as part of the Creative Commissions Project at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Her compositions are available on her website and featured in the contemporary choral music catalogue Project Encore.
As a presenter and clinician, Riskind specializes in Renaissance polyphony, Sephardic music, musicianship training, and choral improvisation. In a 2021 Walden Online Workshop entitled Chromaticism in Renaissance Music: What living musicians can learn from Gesualdo and friends, she discussed wide-ranging uses of musica ficta and guided the multi-generational participants in composing with similar techniques.
In addition to choral conducting, composition, and singing early music, Sarah Riskind enjoys playing Irish and French-Canadian fiddle and classical violin. She holds a DMA in Choral Conducting from University of Washington, an MM in Choral Conducting from University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a BA in Music from Williams College.
Jonathan Young | Pianist
Jonathan Young is Director of Music at the Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Champaign, Illinois. Originally from Moses Lake, Washington, Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, and completed doctoral coursework and recitals at the University of Illinois. Jonathan was the Alternate Winner of the 2011 Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition, held in conjunction with the fraternity’s triennial convention in Rochester, New York.
From 2014-2017, Jonathan was Director of Music and Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, and from 2011-2014 Director of Music at the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mattoon, Illinois. He was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Illinois teaching Aural Skills courses in 2016-2017, and was a Senior Lecturer and Visiting University Organist at PLU for the 2009-2010 academic year. Jonathan has appeared on several recordings with the PLU Choir of the West and Choral Union as an accompanist and soloist, including the Choral Union’s 2011 American Prize-winning 25th Anniversary Album featuring Benjamin Britten’s The Company of Heaven and movements from Kodaly’s Missa Brevis. He has served churches in many denominations as an organist and choir director, including military chapels (Joint Base Lewis-McChord), Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Catholic congregations and parishes. Jonathan maintains an active interest in organ building and voicing, and has worked for Paul Fritts & Company, Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, and Richards, Fowkes & Company. An avid student of automotive aerodynamics and aerodynamic efficiency, Jonathan is currently pursuing an Associate of Engineering Science degree at Parkland College in Champaign and is a 2-time winner of the Mod4 Hybrid class at the annual Green Grand Prix fuel economy competition held ar Watkins Glen International Raceway, where he competes with his modified 2013 Toyota Prius.
Section Leaders
Click on each photo to read about our section leaders.
