Noted nationally: Church musician keyed up over honor

When he learned in July that he had won the "Music Director of the Year" award (Director of Music Ministry division) from the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, his first question was, "Who turned me in?" But the organization would not tell him who nominated him for the award.

However, "they told me [the judges' vote] was unanimous," noted the musician, who has been music director at St. Gabriel's parish in Rotterdam for nine years.

Mr. Kogut has published three books of his arrangements of sacred music, and next month will bring the debut of his new CD, "Psalms for the Church Year (Volume 10)." He has also accompanied Proctor's Theatre and Starlite Theatre productions, and stars like Eddy Arnold, Regis Philbin and Kathy Lee Gifford when they appeared locally.

The music director believes that nominees for Music Director of the Year are selected on the basis of their "spirituality, service to the Church community and how you relate to the people you work with."

He also cited his work for the bimonthly magazine published by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, which encourages music directors to seek out additional education on liturgy and music.

"I think [the award] was partially to due to some magazine columns I had written for them," he said. The articles covered "pastor and musician relations," continuing education for musicians, and repetitive stress injuries.

The award was presented recently at a national music directors' convention in Pittsburgh. Mr. Kogut told The Evangelist that before he learned of the honor, he was already excited about both giving a workshop on stress injuries at the convention and the fact that some psalms he had written would be highlighted there.

"It was a big convention for me," he stated. "There was a plaque and mention [of the award] at the convention and in the magazine. That's the greatest honor you can receive -- to be acknowledged in front of your peers."

(To learn more about "Psalms for the Church Year," call GIA Publications, 1-800-442-1358.)

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