Program Instructor: The program instructor, Arthur Omura, grew up attending St. Alban’s Church Services and studied organ with Richard Cushman as a teen. Mr. Omura has advanced degrees in keyboard music from the University of Southern California; in addition to the organ, he is also a fine pianist and harpsichordist, one with a fine hand in servicing on the latter. . (He built his first harpsichord in a classroom at St. Alban’s.)
Corbett: Sonata for Trumpet and Violin, Op.1 No. 12 (Dominic Favia, Trumpet)
Arthur Omura and William Cayanan: Overture to Les Indes Galantes by Rameau
Finances: In order to emphasize the value of the lessons, students are expected to contribute a portion of the lesson cost, according to their means, with Calliope offsetting the balance. Please see the application for more details. (link to application)
Geographic reach: Students should be current residents of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Kensington, Richmond, Oakland, or Alameda.
Age of Participants: Playing the organ requires sufficient height to reach all of the components. At this time, the minimum age of participants is 15; however, the application has a section where a student of 13 or 14 may petition to take part in the program (space permitting).
Maximum Length of program participation per student: The maximum length of participation in the program is three years. As a general concept, each year will have a theme: year one - introduction to basic technique; year two - getting to know the repertoire; year three - journeyperson - able to play for church services and/or concerts.
Agreements: After being accepted into the program (should capacity permit), students (or their parents, if they are under the age of 18) must complete an agreement regarding expectations surrounding behavior, practice, payment, and the like.
>> To inquire about current openings in the program, please email calliopeebma@gmail.com
>> To apply for the program, please complete an application
Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts Organ Scholarship Program
Program History and Overview: Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts, a secular nonprofit arts organization with the mission of “building community and advancing social justice through the arts”, has the unique advantage of being housed at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. St. Alban’s, with aesthetically beautiful, welcoming spaces and gorgeous acoustics, is also home to a very fine historic pipe organ; a 1914 Hook and Hastings instrument which was originally designed and built for the Sisters of the Presentation Convent in San Francisco.
St. Alban’s beloved longtime organist, the late Dr. Richard Cushman, (see below for his bio) had a lifetime passion both for organ music and for teaching, and was dedicated to keeping organ music alive as an art form by training young organists in the discipline. When he died unexpectedly in December of 2024 he had just started working with two new students.
Inspired by Dr. Cushman’s legacy and sudden passing, Calliope began work with St. Alban’s leadership on the creation of this special organ scholarship program: one where rising young keyboard musicians, with our support, can study with a highly qualified organist (who himself originally trained with Dr. Cushman!) to become accomplished organists who can, in turn, hone their craft by playing for the Calliope and St. Alban’s communities. The program launched in May of 2025 and currently has 3 students.
Eileen Chen
Eileen Chen studied keyboard and electronic organ at a conservatory part-time for over 13 years, developing an eclectic repertoire that spans classical and contemporary world music, with particular focus on orchestral transcriptions and sound design. This training, along with being drum major in a youth marching band, inspired an interest in cross-genre expression and experimentation, though organ remains her primary passion.
A multi-instrumentalist and big-band enthusiast, she occasionally performs at local gigs and jam sessions with an archtop guitar. Chen is currently pursuing a (non-music) PhD at the University of California, Berkeley.
Meet the scholars
Armen Phelps
Armen Phelps is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied applied math and computer science. He currently teaches math to juniors and seniors at Cristo Rey de la Salle East Bay High School in Oakland. He sees his current occupation as a high school teacher as a transitional job to get experience with teaching, and is considering beginning a doctorate in mathematics in the next 2 years.
Phelps grew up playing the piano, and is now seeking to focus especially on organ study, under the direction of Arthur Omura, with hopes of playing Baroque and early Classical repertoire, and serving as an organist in a parish setting in the near future. Outside of work and music, some of his interests include exploring and visiting different Orthodox and Catholic rites and liturgies, doing fun math problems, and studying philosophy and theology from the classical, early church, and medieval periods.
Nico Cárdenas
Nico Cárdenas is a 17-year-old pianist from the Bay Area, California, with nearly a decade of musical experience. He has a strong background in both solo performance and chamber music, and is an experienced accompanist, having worked with a wide range of instruments and ensembles.
Nico is the second prize winner of the Etude Club of Berkeley’s 2025 Young Artists Competition and received an honorable mention in the East Bay Music Festival 2025 Piano Competition, recognitions that reflect his high level of musicality. He has performed for several years at the East Bay Music Foundation’s Chamber Music Festival.
In the summer of 2025, Nico served as a counselor-in-training at Cazadero Performing Arts Camp, where he had the opportunity to teach piano students of various ages and skill levels, both in solo and small ensemble settings.
He resides in Albany, California, and studies with Dr. Alison Lee. After graduating high school, Nico plans to attend music school to pursue a career in music.
About Dr. Richard Cushman
Dr. Richard Cushman, a long-time, beloved organist and choir leader at St. Alban’s, passed away on December 26, 2024. A church organist since his first years of high school, he began to play professionally at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petaluma, where he conducted several choirs and oversaw a highly successful rebuild of the pipe organ.
Though always dedicated to sacred music, Dr. Cushman devoted his graduate PhD studies at UC Berkeley to Renaissance literature, lyric, and drama, with a special focus on sacred verse. He taught at Stanford University, where he received the Walter J. Gores Award for Faculty Excellence in 1997. He also taught at the University of San Francisco and at the College of the Holy Names. Most recently, Richard taught courses in literature at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, including classes in classical Greek and Roman literature, Dante, Shakespeare and early twentieth-century fiction. He also played organ for his own place of worship, The Newman Center at UC Berkeley. Richard was an inspiring teacher and a champion of young musicians, with a special passion for teaching the organ so that the art form would continue to thrive. This program is dedicated to his memory, and designed to honor his commitment to organ scholarship.
About Our Beloved Organ
Built in 1914 by Hook & Hastings, one of America’s premier organ makers. It has 520 pipes divided into three major “organs:” the pedestal organ, 1 rank of 32 pipes; the great organ and the swell organ, each having 244 pipes arranged in 4 ranks. It operates on air pneumatic actions with electrical assist. It has not been altered from its original voicing, specification or action and is a valuable historical artifact.
This wondrous instrument was designed for the Sisters of the Presentation Convent in San Francisco; when they built a new, larger hall, and purchased a larger organ for the hall, St. Alban’s became the lucky purchaser and new caretaker of this fine historic instrument.
Purchased by St. Alban’s in 1970, it has been played every Sunday and for special concerts and recitals. A major fund-raising campaign was undertaken and the organ was carefully upgraded from tubular pneumatic to electric pneumatic and the console restored by Warren Potter in 1994.