Abigail Wood, the 2023-2024 winner of the chapter's Robert and Nancy Powell Scholarship, performs a recital at Christ Church.

Abigail (Abbie) Wood is a recent graduate of Syracuse University, studying with Dr. Anne Laver for a major in organ performance, and minoring in jazz studies. During her time there, she has been Organist at University United Methodist Church in Syracuse, NY, and she substitutes for various churches during academic breaks. She will be attending the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins starting in the fall of 2025 for a master's degree in Organ Performance, and she will be studying with Dr. Daniel Aune.

Abbie was a multiple-year recipient of the Yocum and Shenk Organ scholarships, and also received a monetary award in the Quimby Harrisburg Chapter Organ Competition in 2021. In 2023, she won 2nd prize in the George Mathias Memorial Scholarship Competition in Brooklyn, NY, and received 1st place in the Quimby Potomac Chapter Organ Competition. She recently received the 2024 Robert & Nancy Powell Scholarship of Greeneville, SC. She also was a winner of Syracuse University’s 2024 Outstanding Artists Competition and has performed C. M. Widor’s Allegro from Symphony VI with the Syracuse University Orchestra.

Most recently, Abbie was awarded VPA Scholar by Syracuse University, in addition to the Setnor School of Music's Academic Music Award and the Arthur Poister Prize for organ majors, and she has been named of The Diapason’s “20 under 30”, Class of 2025. Her research focuses on the Victorian British organ, and she attended the Royal College of Organists’ 2024 Summer Course, studying with professionals in London. She made in-person recordings of these instruments for two weeks in July-August of 2024, and wrote a research paper about the experience and historical background. This was funded through Syracuse University’s SOURCE program. Also funded through this program, Abbie was able to assist Dr. Anne Laver in presenting data found on organ programs of the 1915 San Francisco Exposition at the July 2024 AGO National Convention.

A scholarship fund was established in 2022 to honor Robert Powell, FAGO, organist and composer of hundreds of choral and organ service pieces of published music, along with his wife, Nancy Powell, AAGO, also a consummate organist. They have served the Greenville community for decades as leaders and role models for the organists and church musicians of this community. For more information or to make a contribution to the scholarship fund, contact John Polo at john.polo@charter.net or contribute online.

Download the printed program.