Dean: Jeffrey Mills

For the last 14 years, Jeffrey Mills has served as Organist and Choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville. Previously in the Boston area, he has served in several parishes as Interim or Organist/Choirmaster including the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont; Christ Church, Hyde Park; and Grace Church, Newton, and substituted at scores of churches. Prior to his undergraduate studies at Indiana University under the tutelage of Oswald Ragatz, he studied with Marianne Webb in Carbondale, Illinois. Since coming to Boston, he has studied with John L. Hooker and David von Behren. He has served as Secretary pro tem, Registrar, and Sub-Dean of the Boston Chapter. Recently retired after 20 years with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Jeffrey has more time to serve as a mentor and trainer in the Education for Ministry program of the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. As Dean, he hopes to continue the Chapter’s commitment to growth, deepening our networks by collaborating with other chapters and musical performing groups, continuing to build our archive of online presentations, and promoting our Emerging Artists Young Organists Initiative (YOI) programs. Buddies for new members and Dinners with the Dean will also continue, strengthening connections among the membership.

Sub-Dean: Nathan Skinner

Nathan Skinner is Director of Music and Organist at Park Street Church, Boston, where his greatest passion is selecting and leading congregational hymns each week. Nathan performs regularly, including recently at a BAGO First Night organ recital; he has also hosted a chapter-sponsored organ crawl. His Master of Sacred Music is from Boston University, where he was a student of Peter Sykes and Carl P. Daw. Other teachers include Roy Brunner and Mia Chung, though his parents taught him the most important lessons. As sub-dean he would hope to build on the good work of the program committee, drawing in chapter members and the general public with solid, appealing offerings. Nathan lives in Danvers with his wife Sarah (violinist) and their five daughters: Ellen Cecilia, Marie Aurelia, Margaret Elizabeth, Sylvie Anne, and Cecily Alexandra. He spends his free time renovating his 1917 house, and in his basement workshop, fixing everything  under the sun.

Treasurer: Sean Glennon

Sean Glennon has served as an organist and choir director at churches in the Greater Boston area for over twenty-five years. He has been the organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Hanover (MA), since 2011. Sean has been a member of the BAGO Executive Committee since 2022 and has enjoyed his roles as a member of the Program Committee and Finance Committee; Chair of the Operating Procedures Committee; and Moderator of the chapter's listserver.  In his full-time career, Sean is employed as the Community Development Director for the City of Quincy, MA, where he manages millions of dollars in federal grants. He is the Immediate Past President (and former Treasurer) of the Quincy Lions Club; and current Treasurer of the National Community Development Association. Sean is also a volunteer Cub Scout den leader. He resides in Quincy with his wife, Erin, and their three children

Secretary: Josh Lawton

A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Joshua T. Lawton is an accomplished organist, pianist, singer and composer living and working in the Boston area.  He undertook organ studies with Edwin I. Lawrence after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Williams College, and went on to obtain a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance with Distinction from the Longy School of Music as a student of Peter Sykes.  An experienced church and choral musician, he has sung in groups including the choirs of Trinity Church Boston, First Parish in Framingham, New Century Voices, the Boston Cecilia, and the Seraphim Singers.  As solo recitalist, collaborative pianist and chamber musician, he performs a wide variety of repertoire, specializing in the organ works of Olivier Messiaen, Paul Hindemith, Hugo Distler, and others.  He presently serves as Music Director of the Parish Choir and Chorister Academy at Trinity Parish of Newton Centre, Assistant Director and rehearsal accompanist for the Seraphim Singers, and Secretary of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Registrar: David Baker

David Baker is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas.  He received a B.M. in piano performance at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  He then relocated to New York City, where he earned an M.A. in music education.  While in New York, he transitioned to playing the organ.  His teachers included Claire Coci and McNeil Robinson.  He served a number of R.C. and Episcopal churches in NYC.  Similarly, in the Boston area, he has served a number of churches of various denominations.  At present, he is organist/choirmaster of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Marlborough, which he has served for about 16 years.  While in law school, he lived in Lawrence, MA.  He was (and still is) active in the Merrimack Valley AGO chapter, for which he served as sub-Dean and then Dean for two terms. For both the Merrimack Valley and Boston chapters, he has aided in the administration of the chapters’ websites, and also coordinated the Boston chapter’s young organists competition for several years.  He welcomes the opportunity to further serve the chapter.

Members-at-Large

Daryl Bichel has been active in the Boston Chapter for many years, with a particularly long stint as treasurer that he will complete this program year. He has been membership secretary and produced the annual membership directory for a number of years. He has previously served terms on the Executive Committee, was on the transportation committee for the last national convention in Boston, and in 2025 he became BAGO webmaster and developed a new website for the chapter. Daryl is parish organist at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Needham, Artistic Director for Night Song (compline) at First Church in Cambridge, and President and General Manager for The Seraphim Singers. He has served on boards for the Old West Organ Society, Cappella Clausura, and Blue Heron. He has a strong interest in developing financial support for the YOI program.

D.J. Cleavinger, a native of Cincinnati, OH, grew up exploring many artistic realms, including piano and voice study, lead roles in musical theatre productions, studio art classes, and various genres of choral singing as early as he can remember. He began organ lessons at his church as a high-schooler, but while pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Piano (Miami University ’21), he elected to also study organ, sparking a deeper understanding of this instrument's role in worship and abilities in performance. In 2025, he finished his Master of Music at Boston University under tutelage of Pavel Nersessian. He has also studied with Dror Biran, Heather MacPhail, and Asiya Korepanova. D.J. has appeared in recitals and festivals in the United States, Austria, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Spain.  Since age 14, he has held church positions as cantor, pianist and organist. He is a member of the Boston and Worcester AGO chapters, and is currently Director of Traditional Music at Faith Lutheran Church in Andover, MA.

Don Hodgkins MM, RMT, has been around organs most of his life, as his father was a Congregational pastor and he thus spent a lot of time in church! After pestering his piano teacher (Dr. M. Louise Miller of Connecticut) for a couple of years, she finally let him begin organ lessons the summer before his freshman year at Mt. Hermon School and he has been playing ever since, continuing lessons at Mt. Hermon and through college at Drew University (with music as a minor) and the University of Miami School of Music, where he earned his MM in Music Therapy with organ as his principal instrument. He worked for over 30 years as a Music Therapist/Special Ed. teacher for the Commonwealth of MA, and joined the Boston Chapter of the AGO in the 1970’s. He has held organist/choir director positions at several churches in eastern MA, including over 20 years as Director of Music Ministries at the First Parish Congregational Church in Wakefield. 

Brian Locke is a coach, pianist, organist, and répétiteur in a career that spans academia, church music, concertizing, and opera. He has been heard throughout North America and Europe in both recital and liturgical settings. For nearly 20 years, Brian has worked in some of the most dynamic parishes in the United States including Trinity Cathedral, Columbia SC; the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta; St. James Cathedral, Chicago; and others. As Director of Music and Organist at St. Mary’s Church, Park Ridge IL, he oversaw a 60% growth in the music program and choir participation, introduced the parish to regular pattern of Evensong, Compline, and Lessons & Carols, and began a multi-year collaboration of cross-diocesan choral partnerships with other medium-sized music programs. He is a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists and since summer 2024 has been based in Boston, MA where he has enjoyed serving parishes during their interim periods including Trinitarian Congregational Church, Concord; Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist, Hingham; and United Parish in Brookline.

John Roper is the Organist and Music Director at St. Joseph’s Church (Boston) and St. Margaret’s Church (Dorchester). He studied Music, Computer Science, and Theology at Assumption University, serving as Organ Scholar. John’s relationship with the Guild began as a recipient of a Boston AGO Young Organists Initiative scholarship. Since then, he has remained an active participant in chapter life. John contributes regularly to the wider organ community. He currently serves on the Program Committee for the Worcester Chapter. He co-presented at the 2025 AIO Annual Convention, the Worcester AGO mini-convention, and will present at the AGO National Convention in St. Louis in July 2026 (a session planned for adaptation for the Boston Chapter). John holds professional memberships in the American Institute of Organbuilders, the Organ Historical Society, and the American Choral Directors Association. Active as an organ technician and consultant, he also owns and operates Plenum Technologies and has worked with the OHS since 2019 to develop the Pipe Organ Database. John’s primary interest in the pipe organ is increasing access to the instrument through education and the revival of neglected instruments. He is grateful for the nomination to stand for Member-at-Large.