Meet the Recitalists

 Phoon Yu: 

As an organist and composer, Phoon Yu is active both in Singapore and in the United States. In Singapore, he has performed as a soloist multiple times at Victoria Concert Hall, as well as at the Esplanade and St. Andrew’s Cathedral, while recent performances in the States include a shared solo recital at the Cathedral Basilica at St. Augustine and a performance with Orlando Sings of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. He performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2022 alongside his co-composer Jonathan Shin for the premiere of their orchestral-choral-work Illuminations (commissioned by the Esplanade) and his début album, SEVEN – Organ Music of Singapore, was released by Centaur Records in April 2022.

Recent compositional premieres include an arrangement of the folksong ‘Rasa Sayang’ at the School of the Arts in Singapore in August 2025 (commissioned for the Singspire Choir Festival SG60), his Straits in Sepia for organ duet at Victoria Concert Hall in January 2025 (commissioned by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra), and his A Transi for the Common Man at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (commissioned by the TENG Company) in April 2024. His Three Organ Anthems were published and released by Muziksea in 2020.

Previously a doctoral student at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Paul Jacobs, Phoon Yu was awarded the French prize for his dissertation on Handel and Porpora’s settings of Siroe, re di Persia in connection to Jacobitism. Phoon Yu is currently the Parish Organist at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, FL.

 Amelie Held: 

Known for her red organ shoes, organist Amelie Held quickly became an internationally acclaimed artist. She regularly performs on stages in Europe and the United States. Her solo concert activities include performances at the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Philharmonie Essen, the Konzerthalle Bamberg, the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Helsinki Music Center and the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Concert Hall as well as major cathedrals in the world’s most important music centres, such as Leipzig, Hamburg, Lübeck, Milan, Paris, Zurich, London, Boston and New York City.

She has a broad repertoire, both as a soloist and with orchestra and chamber ensemble, ranging from early music to contemporary compositions, as well as her own transcriptions. The Diapason named her a member of the “20 under 30” Class of 2023.

Miss Held studied organ and violin at the conservatories of Paris, Stuttgart, and Milan and has an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School in New York.

Amelie is passionate about literature and speaks four languages fluently. Currently living in New York City, in her free time, she indulges in dancing, working out, or riding motorcycles.

Raphael Vogl: 

German organist Raphael Attila Vogl began his early musical study with cathedral organist Ludwig Ruckdeschel in Passau, Germany. At the age of 18, he attended the Hochschule für Katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik (College for Catholic Church Music & Music Education) in Regensburg, Germany. While in Regensburg, he studied Organ Performance and Church Music under Stefan Baier and Markus Rupprecht. Subsequently, he studied under László Fassang for one year at the Franz-Liszt-Academy in Budapest, Hungary. Raphael graduated with a Master's degree in Organ Performance from the world-famous Juilliard School in 2020, where he studied under the Grammy Award-winning Paul Jacobs. The following year, he was admitted to the most advanced course of study offered at The Juilliard School — The Doctor of Musical Arts.

Raphael A. Vogl has participated in various competitions, winning prizes in The International Mendelssohn Organ Competition in Switzerland, The International Tariverdiev Competition in Russia, and The Boulder Bach Festivals World Bach Competition. Raphael made his Alice Tully Hall debut in 2020, where he performed the New York premiere of Sophia Gubaidulina's The Rider on the White Horse at the Focus Festival at Lincoln Center. As a concert organist, he has performed in concert halls and cathedrals across Europe and America, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Madison Symphony, and Marian Anderson Hall, and he performs regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra, working with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Roderick Cox, or Daniele Rustioni.