Andrew E. Henderson, Organ
Andrew Elliot Henderson became Director of Music and Organist at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (MAPC) in July 2005. Andrew succeeded his former teacher, John Weaver, following his distinguished 35-year tenure at MAPC. At the church he administers a busy liturgical program with a number of choirs including a choral society (the Saint Andrew Chorale), and a concert series sponsored by the Saint Andrew Music Society, “Music on Madison.” The recipient of a C.V. Starr Foundation fellowship, he was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Juilliard School in 2007, receiving the Richard F. French prize for the best doctoral document. He is the organ instructor at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and has served on the organ faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ.
Dr. Henderson, a native of Thorold, Ontario, holds degrees in music from Cambridge University in England and Yale University. While at Cambridge he held the position of Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge from 1996-1999, and at Yale he completed his graduate studies in organ performance on a full scholarship from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. From 2001 to 2005 he was the Assistant Organist at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York, where he was actively involved in their renowned liturgical and concert programs.
In August 2002 Andrew was one of four candidates chosen to compete in the final round of the international organ competition Grand Prix de Chartres held in Chartres Cathedral, France, and in 2003 he won first prize in the biennial National Organ Playing Competition sponsored by the Royal Canadian College of Organists. Recent performances include organ and continuo playing with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Musica Sacra, the Collegiate Chorale, in addition to performing solo recitals in Nebraska, New Jersey, Georgia, South Carolina, at the historic Round Lake Auditorium in Upstate New York and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
A Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, his teachers have included John Tuttle, Barrie Cabena, David Sanger, Thomas Murray and John Weaver. Andrew is married to organist Mary Wannamaker Huff, who is the Associate Director of Music at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and Director of the Children’s Choirs at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. Andrew and Mary have two young boys, Elliot (4) and Christian (2).
