Originally from Oak Park, IL, Madeleine Woodworth currently serves as the Director of Music at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance at the Eastman School of Music studying with Nathan J. Laube. During her time there, she won first prize in the American Guild of Organists’ Regional Competition for Young Organists (Great Lakes Chapter) and the Westchester Organ Competition. Her interest in new music led her to collaborate with Wilhelmina Esary, to premiere a new piece called “On Track” for the organ as part of the AGO’s Student Commissioning Project. She participated in student government and was inducted into the music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota.
At the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Madeleine sang in the Yale Schola Cantorum and studied with Marguerite Brooks, Dr. Jeffrey Douma, and David Hill to earn her Master of Music in Choral Conducting. During her second year at Yale, Madeleine served as Choir Director of the Marquand Chapel Choir, the experimental service laboratory for the Yale Divinity School students, where she emphasized programming of living and diverse composers. She has participated in master classes and workshops with conducting mentors including Masaaki Suzuki, Simon Carrington, Dr. Jerry Blackstone, Dr. Joe Miller, Diane Witry, and Sarah Ioannaides. Upon graduating from Yale, Madeleine was awarded the Robert Shaw Prize for excellence in conducting and the Richard Paul DeLong Prize in church music.
Currently, Madeleine serves as the Director of Music at Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park and sings alto with La Caccina, a nine-voice professional treble vocal ensemble in Chicago. She is on the National Marketing Committee of the AGO and served as a Member at Large for the Chicago Chapter of the AGO in 2018-2021. She is a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and is active in the Oak Park Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. In her free time, Madeleine enjoys exploring cities, trying new restaurants, playing video games, and spending time with friends and her cat, Tigger.