Provo Organ Workshop Instructors

Dr. Don Cook joined the organ faculty of Brigham Young University in 1991. In that capacity he serves as organ area coordinator, as university carillonneur, and oversees the group organ program. Formerly he held associate organist/choirmaster positions at Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and at First United Methodist Church, Lubbock, Texas. He toured Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia with the Lubbock choir, and accompanied the Parish Choir of Christ Church Cranbrook on a singing tour of England.

After earning Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ at Brigham Young University, he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance from the University of Kansas. His principal organ teachers were J.J. Keeler at BYU and James Moeser at KU. For many years he served as head of the instrumental area for the BYU Workshop on Church Music, and currently directs the annual BYU Organ Workshop, founded in 2002. He appears frequently as a Guest Organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Cook studied carillon with Albert Gerken while pursuing doctoral studies in organ at the University of Kansas. He became a full member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 1984, and has performed actively throughout North America since that time. He has served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Music Publications Committee for the Guild. Carillon performances include a concert tour of Holland in 1990, and a recital tour of east-coast carillons in the summer of 1992. In 1994 he hosted the annual Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America at Brigham Young University.

He has developed and published the first multimedia organ tutorial for pianists, Organ Tutor Organ 101 in several versions. The tutorial is used for private and group instruction, BYU Independent Study courses, and by individuals in at least nine countries.

Mark Campbell is a native of Provo, UT. In high school he began his organ studies with Carol Dean (1947-2018), one of the most prolific and important private organ teachers in Utah Valley. She made sure to immerse Mark in the vibrant organ culture in the region, as well as introduce him to the organ program at Brigham Young University.

Since then, Mark has studied with Professors Douglas Bush (1947-2013) and Don Cook (BYU), Professors David Eaton and Robert S. Brewer in San Antonio (UTSA), and recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Church Music at the University of Kansas (KU) where he studied with Professors James Higdon, Michael Bauer and Kevin Vogt.

Alena Hall loves playing the organ!! Accompanying and collaborative work are part of that continuing passion, as is teaching. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Combined Piano and Organ Performance from BYU and then a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance, also from BYU. One of the personal highlights of her career was working as an organist at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Currently she has a small studio of piano and organ students and enjoys teaching at a variety of workshops.

Valerie W. McDougal is a graduate in Organ Performance at Brigham Young University, where she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance studying under Dr. Douglas E. Bush. Also received her Master’s Degree in Organ Performance studying under Dr. Brian Mathias and Dr. Andrew Unsworth.

She holds both Colleague and Service Playing Certificates from the American Guild of Organists. She is a member of Salt Lake and Utah County Chapters of the AGO.

Mrs. McDougal currently serves as Stake and Ward organist, and has conducted and taught LDS training for organists of all levels. Sister McDougal is currently serving as a service missionary in the Jordan River Utah Temple where she serves as the organist coordinator of over 60 temple service missionary organists in addition to her temple organist assignment.

She is an organ teacher of private students.

Valerie and her husband Mark, reside in South Jordan, Utah. They are the proud parents of five children and grandparents of 8.8 grandchildren.