Dr. Roger Nyquist, concert organist, master teacher and composer is a native of Rockford, Illinois. Music study commenced at an early age and culminated in an earned doctorate in music from Indiana University in Bloomington. Hallmarks of excellence are always present in Nyquist performances: technical mastery, rhythmic energy, faithfulness to score, absolutely clean articulation and power of musical expression all combine to produce flawless music making. Dr. Nyquist's formidable technical skills are always subservient to the voice of the composer--whose music is allowed to come alive through the hands of a masterful organist.

Very much like his famous teachers, Arthur Poister, Catharine Crozier, and Andre Marchal, Dr. Nyquist has devoted a major portion of his career to teaching. He has served on the faculty of Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas. The University of California at Santa Barbara, and from 1968-1992 he was Professor of Music and University Organist at Santa Clara University. Dr. Nyquist was responsible for developing the music department at Santa Clara University.

In addition to an active concert career, Dr. Nyquist has recorded extensively. With 25 albums (over 197 compositions) to his credit, he has recorded for Century, Chapel Bridge, Orion Master Recordings (Yehudi Menuhin Foundation), Arkay Records, Digital Disc Corporation. The most recent CD was released in 2007.

Dr. Nyquist has written a book, DOES THE ORGAN SING? (An Organist's Guide). He has published ALLELUIA, an anthem for mixed choir, and a re-release of his ADAGIO, a composition for organ.

The music critic John Ogasapian, writing in The American Organist, makes this statement about Nyquist's playing; "It is clean, exciting, aesthetically satisfying, eschewing extremes and idiosyncracies of interpretation on the one hand and empty displays of virtuosi technique on the other. One can tell that the technique is there, such that he feels no need to show it, nor we to have it demonstrated to us inappropriately. Instead, the whole production makes a fine aesthetic whole."

Dr. Nyquist's ability to communicate so forcefully through his music making can be explained by a quote from his own writings: "It is the spirit of the music that remains with the listener long after the sound has subsided. The spirit of the composer co-mingles with the performer's spirit to produce one blended spirit. When this act occurs, one hears the very essence of the music."

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