Andrew J. Van Varick, M.M.

Andrew Van Varick is a Doctor of Musical Arts student at the Eastman School of Music, where he studies organ performance under Professor David Higgs and accompanies the Eastman-Rochester Chorus under the direction of Dr. William Weinert. Previously, Andrew received a Master of Music degree from Eastman, and he holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University, where he studied organ, piano, and harpsichord. During his time at Montclair, Andrew served as the principal student accompanist of the Montclair State University Chorale and performed as organist for their performances of Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo and John Rutter’s Gloria. He participated as a continuo harpsichordist in the MSU Collegium Musicum, accompanied an undergraduate opera workshop, and played keyboards in the pit orchestras of multiple musical theater productions.

Andrew has played in coachings and masterclasses with Raul Prieto Ramirez, Balint Karosi, Michel Bouvard, Wilma Jensen, Simon Johnson, Ezequiel Menendez, Chelsea Chen, and Alan Morrison. As a recitalist, he has performed on the “Young Organ Artist” series at the Central Synagogue in Manhattan, New York City, on the “Wednesdays at Noon” series at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, and for the Greensburg, Pennsylvania and Little Rock, Arkansas chapters of the AGO. In 2022, he was selected as a semifinalist in the American Guild of Organists’ National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance, which was held at the AGO convention in Seattle. In September 2023, Andrew was chosen as a semifinalist at the Ninth International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo in Japan.

When not on the organ bench, he enjoys cooking, learning Japanese, listening to Indie and Folk rock music, and foiling his opponents in Words with Friends.