New Duke Chapel Organ Scholar to Hone Church Musicianship
Selected as the next Organ Scholar at Duke University Chapel, David M. Lim will perform on the Chapel’s four organs, assist with choir rehearsals, and receive intensive musical instruction throughout the coming year. He begins his new role on August 18.
Lim comes to Duke Chapel from Minnesota, having served Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic parishes. He holds degrees from Gustavus Adolphus College (biology and music), the University of Iowa, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oklahoma.
This year, the Chapel’s organ scholar position is offered jointly with the American Guild of Organists’ Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Organ Scholar Program.
He has performed solo organ recitals across the country and sung with the National Lutheran Choir. A teacher and researcher, Lim has taught collegiate-level applied lessons in organ performance and courses in keyboard harmony and music theory at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the University of Oklahoma, where he was a 2021 recipient of the Provost’s Certificate of Distinction in Teaching. He was the winner of the 2014 Immanuel Lutheran Church Organ Scholar Award and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda in 2017. He has presented at the American Guild of Organists National Convention and the THEMUS Conference at Temple University in Philadelphia. His musicological research has been published by the Organ Historical Society and The Diapason.
A committee comprising AGO and Duke Chapel musicians selected Lim from a national pool of candidates.
“From cover letter to conversations, David’s understanding of the church musician’s vocation—combined with his skills as an organist and instincts as a conductor—is a wonderful fit for the Chapel’s mission, vision, and the scope of its music program,” said Chad Fothergill, a committee member and Duke Chapel Organist.
“The AGO's mission is ‘to foster a thriving community of musicians who share their knowledge and inspire passion for the organ,’” said Daniel Gauger, a selection committee member and also a member of the AGO’s Young Organists Committee. “We at the AGO are happy and thankful to see this mission come to fruition with Duke's continued collaboration in the AGO Organ Scholar Program.”
“I look forward to joining the community and musicians at Duke Chapel this academic year,” Lim said. “Serving as Organ Scholar unites my varied vocations as a musician, scholar, and educator—an exciting opportunity to learn and collaborate."
Begun in 2015, the Duke Chapel Organ Scholar program trains members of the next generation of church musicians with practical, hands-on skills. The Chapel’s music program comprises three choirs, four organs, a carillon, and a Bosendorfer grand piano, which feature in year-round Sunday morning services, holiday services and academic ceremonies, Evensong services, and a robust concert and recital series.
The AGO is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields. The Guild serves approximately 250 chapters and 10,000 members throughout the United States and abroad. Its Pogorzelski-Yankee Organ Scholar Program offers emerging organists the opportunity to experience an annual ten-month internship within a significant music ministry program in the United States.