Paul Davidson is a voting member of the Recording Academy, soloist on the Grammy®-winning albums Grechaninov: Passion Week (2007) and Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil (2015). He performed as a professional musician in South Korea, England, Canada, the District of Columbia and fourteen US States. He sings with the Kansas City Chorale, Kantorei KC and Cecilia Ensemble of Augusta, GA. He is a member of the Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and a cantor both there and St. Mary-St. Anthony Parish in KCK. He is a section leader at Trinity Lutheran; he lives in Kansas City, KS.
https://pauldavidsonbass.com/about/
Geoffrey Wilcken is a prolific composer, conductor, organist, and pianist. He has written for ensembles of all sizes and kinds, including solo, oratorio, concert band, jazz, and liturgical forces. Recent commissions include works for sacred and liturgical use, including Anthems for the Cross (2017) for St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and arrangements such as Angel Noels (2009) for the Kansas City Fine Arts Chorale, and a number of charts for jazz bands in the Kansas City metropolitan area. He is also the composer of the score for The Midwest in Panels (2014), a feature-length documentary about comic book shops.
Geoffrey is an accomplished church musician, jazz pianist, conductor, and organist who can currently be heard on the organ of historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Kansas City. In addition, he has performed with various ensembles in Lawrence and the Kansas City area, including the Kansas City Fine Arts Chorale, Musica Vocale, and the Moon City Big Band, as well as serving as the artistic director of the Songflower Chorale, a semi-professional chamber choral ensemble in Kansas City.
Geoffrey earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition in May 2018. He holds a Master of Music degree in choral conducting under Simon Carrington at the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from Iowa State University.
https://www.gwcomposer.me/bio
John Schaefer is retired director of music and organist of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Missouri, and was organist at Park University for 27 years.
Educated at Ohio State University, Union Theological Seminary, the Royal Academy of Music (London), and the University of Oxford (New College), he served as principal musician at First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio (1969–1973) and St. James Episcopal Church, Greenfield, Massachusetts (1974–1976) before coming to Kansas City. At the cathedral, he was in charge of a music program that included four choirs and several concert series.
He oversaw the installation of an organ by Gabriel Kney in 1981, the acquisition of a chamber organ built by Leslie Smith in 1998–1999, and the addition of a harpsichord built by Oliver Finney in 1982. Under his direction, the cathedral’s Trinity Choir toured Great Britain five times, and elsewhere in Europe in 2001. Schaefer was named Canon Musician Emeritus at his final service on December 31, 2016.
The Sept 6 concert, including the 2nd performance of Geoffrey Wilcken's "Blessed are the Poor" (the world premiere being in KPR studio two days before), was the kickoff for a series of six fundraising concerts and events.
The series is raising funds to help the Schola Cantorum (17 professional staff musicians) at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception go on tour to Prague in Summer, 2026.
The second will be in November, a progressive event starting with a docent led tour of a section of the Nelson-Atkins followed by dessert and music at the brand new Bishop Hogan building attached to the Cathedral at 11th and Broadway.
Exact time and date TBA, bookmark KCGolddome.org (the Cathedral website's) "Prague" page and check at the end of September for full details.