Our new Great Lakes Regional Ambassador (as of last summer) is Dr. Jeff Neufeld, who succeeds Dr. Larry Sharpe. The Great Lakes Regional Ambassador is the liaison between AGO National and the chapters within our region (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio). Jeff will represent chapter interests at the national level and help communicate national initiatives and resources to the chapters. Welcome, Jeff!
I am the Music Director & Organist at First Congregational Church of Elgin, I have been a church music director and nonprofit leader for nearly thirty years. Growing up in southwestern Minnesota, I began studying the piano at eight years old and then took up organ in high school. I went on to earn a Bachelor of Music in organ performance from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music where I studied organ with Ed Zimmerman, piano with William Phemister, and choral conducting with Paul Wiens; a Master of Music in organ and church music from Northwestern University where I studied with Douglas Cleveland and Richard Webster; an MBA in finance from Louisiana State University; and a Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance and arts administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I studied with John Chappell Stowe. I also work as a management consultant and I.T. project manager in the financial industry, and I and my wife Barbara live in Elgin. We have three adult children, Ivy, Charlie, and Lainie who is married to Kyle, two Golden Retrievers and two horses, but no partridges in a pear tree.
Jeff Neufeld
AGO Great Lakes Regional Ambassador