Jack Mitchener will present  the opening recital of the 2016 November Organ Recital Series at Independent Presbyterian Church. He has recently been appointed Director of the Townsend-McAfee Institute of Church Music, Associate Professor of Organ in the Townsend School of Music and University Organist at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. A former faculty member at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, he also has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Salem College, the Eastman School of Music (Community Education Division) and the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Dr. Mitchener has concertized widely and has performed in notable venues such as the Church of St. Sulpice and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, St. Thomas Church, New York City, the Augustinerkirche (St. Augustine’s) in Vienna, the St. Jacobikirche in Lübeck, Germany, and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts as well as the Performer’s Certificate in both organ and harpsichord from The Eastman School of Music. His undergraduate degree is from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. During his two years studying in Paris, he won the Médaille d’or (Gold Medal), Prix d’Excellence, and Prix de Virtuosité at the Conservatoire National de Rueil-Malmaison, France.