JAMESTOWN, N.D. (UJ) – The University of Jamestown Department of Music is pleased to announce the return of its concert series featuring the Black-Schlossman Organ in the historic Voorhees Chapel.

The first concert in the series will kick off October 16 at 2 p.m. with a performance by Dillon J. Swanson. The concert is open to the public with a free-will offering at the door.

As an author and composer, Swanson has been awarded for his practice and innovation in the art of sacred music, liturgical theology, and worship practices. His concert at UJ will feature works by John Rutter, Buxtehude, Bach, Herbert Howells, and Louis Vierne.

Working in music ministry for over a decade in congregations across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, Swanson currently serves as Cantor for Bethesda Lutheran Church in Moorhead. He directs and instructs the Bethesda Music Academy, as well as the liturgical music life of the worshipping community.

Swanson holds the offices of Dean of the Red River Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (RRVAGO) and President of the Red River Theatre Organ Society (RRTOS). Other appointments include serving as House Organist of the Fargo Theatre, as well as Producer of the annual RRTOS Silent Movie Night and the Holiday Pipes Concert Series at the Fargo Theatre.

While at Concordia College in Moorhead, Swanson studied organ performance, church music, and instrumental and choral conducting. He is now a candidate for ordination to the roster of Word and Sacrament in the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a Master of Divinity student at Luther Seminary.

The Black-Schlossman Memorial Organ, which will be featured in the program, was built in 1999 by the Johnson Organ Company of Fargo. It is a gift of the late Anna Jane Schlossman and her family in memory of George Black and William Schlossman.