Maxine Thévenot
organ
Versatile, engaging, and spirited Canadian-American organist, conductor, composer, and educator Maxine Thévenot is driven by a passion for music in all its forms and styles. Equally at home with repertoire from the classical canon and more contemporary compositions,
“… her playing is, as always, excellent. … [her playing] is extremely tender and very thrilling.” –The Diapason Magazine, (Prairie Sounds CD), July 2021
Maxine Thévenot is among the foremost artists of her generation, hailed across North America and Europe for her skillful, musical playing and inventive programming. As a collaborative artist, Maxine has given the U.S. and New Mexican premiere performances of numerous works for organ and orchestra, including Ottorino Respighi’s Suite in G for Organ and Strings with conductor/violinist David Felberg; Concerto for Organ and Orchestra in C by British composer/conductor Andrew Carter; the U.S. premiere of Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani by UK composer/conductor Philip Moore; Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings in g minor with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Grant Cooper; the U.S. premiere of Canadian composer Andrew Ager’s Concerto for Organ and Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Justin Bischof; and Concerto for Organ and Strings by Richard Proulx under the baton of Dr. Julian Wachner at Chicago’s Symphony Hall, as part of the 2006 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists.
Dr. Thévenot’s most recent appearances as organist have included the NM premiere and collaborative performance of Voiceless Mass by Pulitzer Prize-winning Diné composer, performer, and installation artist Raven Chacon; a recital for St. James-in-the-City, Los Angeles, on the International Laureates Organ Recital Series; a recital for the Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church at The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque; and a solo recital for the Royal Canadian College of Organists in Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Dr. Thévenot serves as Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, where she oversees a large choral music program and is artistic director of their extensive community outreach ministry, Friends of Cathedral Music.
Maxine is the Founding and Artistic Director of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, the state’s first professional, resident vocal ensemble. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico, where she teaches pipe organ and, from 2006-2020, served as director of the UNM women’s choir, Las Cantantes.
A member of the duo Air & Hammers, Maxine concertizes with her husband, acclaimed English baritone Edmund Connolly, specializing in programs that combine song repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries with new works by living composers. A published composer with Paraclete Press, her compositions have recently been premiered at the Cambridge University colleges of Clare, Selwyn, and St. John’s, as well as at Balliol College; Oxford University, UK; and subsequently performed across the UK and North America.
Recognized for her excellence as a recording artist, Dr. Maxine Thévenot has released 16 well-received CDs on Raven CD.
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Thévenot received the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music from the renowned Manhattan School of Music, NYC, in organ performance, and was twice awarded the Bronson Ragan Award for “most outstanding organ performance.” She earned her Bachelor of Music in music education (with distinction) at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Maxine is an Associate of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. She was made an Honorary Fellow of the National College of Music, London, UK, in 2006 for her “services to music.”
