Dr. Don Cook
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.
Amber Dahlberg
Amber (Schumann) Dahlberg, a native of Poway, California, received her Master and Bachelor of Music degrees in Organ Performance from Brigham Young University, where she studied under Don Cook and Neil Harmon. During her graduate studies, she taught undergraduate courses in aural skills, group organ, and private organ instruction, and was a key contributor to the production of the ‘New Ward Organist’ YouTube series. Amber also studied carillon under Don Cook and worked as a student carillonneur for four years, performing daily noon recitals and for graduation ceremonies. Additionally, Amber participated in two study abroad programs with the organ department where she had the opportunity to play historic organs across Germany and France.
Amber currently serves as a Guest Tabernacle Organist on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. She won first place in the 2019 AGO West Regional Competition for Young Organists and has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic, at the 2020 AGO National Convention, and in the Midday Pipes Series at First United Methodist Church of San Diego. Amber regularly substitutes as an organist for various denominations in San Diego County. In addition to her role as Digital Project Coordinator at Bonneville International, she teaches organ and piano and serves as ward organist.
Amber and her husband, Drew, reside in Oceanside, CA. They recently welcomed their first child, Wade, in July 2024.
Elizabeth Forsyth
A native of San Francisco, Elizabeth Forsyth received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ performance from BYU. Active in church music for almost 50 years, she has served Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and LDS congregations as both organist and director of music. Currently, she is the organist at First Congregational Church, Berkeley. She has served on the executive boards of both the San Francisco and Philadelphia chapters of the American Guild of Organists and served as one of four program chairs for the AGO National Convention in San Francisco in the summer of 2024.
As a recitalist, Ms. Forsyth has performed throughout the Bay Area, Utah, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. Recent collaborations with performing groups have included the First Church Festival Chorus, Chora Nova, the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, the Folsom Lake Symphony, and the Stockton Symphony. Elizabeth teaches both piano and organ at her home in Orinda, CA, where she takes special delight in introducing her teenage piano students to the organ. She is the proud mother of four sons, and has ten grandchildren.
Laurie Swain
Laurie Swain graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a master’s degree in organ performance studying with Dr. Paul Hesselink and a bachelor’s degree in organ performance studying with Ethelyn Peterson. She graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. Laurie is a certified teacher in both piano and organ through the Music Teachers National Association. Her piano teachers have included Carol Stivers, Roger Bushell, and N. Jane Tan.
For many years Laurie has taught piano and organ, and she loves teaching students of all ages. She has conducted frequent music pedagogy workshops for both piano and organ in various settings including festivals, conventions, and church music seminars. Laurie is the author of Organ for Primary, an innovative approach for teaching organ to the beginning organ student. Laurie currently serves as the Las Vegas Music Teachers Association State Certification Chairman. Since 2015, she has served as an organ editor for the Federation Festivals Bulletin of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Laurie was recently named an MTNA Foundation Fellow for distinguished service to the music teaching profession.
Laurie feels her greatest accomplishment is having a terrific husband, five beautiful children and nine grandchildren. Her musical expertise has grown with each of her children, who have pursued advanced music degrees and have been recognized in music competitions on various instruments at the local, state, regional and national levels. She has also learned much about teaching and development from her second child who is profoundly mentally delayed with cerebral palsy.