Holbrook Organ Series
November 14, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Jiae Kwak
Concert Organist
Arts on Alexander
2111 Alexander Ave
Austin, TX 78702
Holbrook Organ Series concerts are free and open to the public. Contributions are encouraged.
Meet Jiae Kwak
Jiae Kwak is an organist whose work spans solo performance, church music, and collaboration across the U.S., Korea, and Europe. She has performed in competitions such as Musashino (Japan), Silbermann (Germany), and Saint-Maurice (Switzerland), and won 1st Prize at the Interbulgo Organ Competition as well as multiple top awards in national collegiate competitions in Korea. She received the AGO Salisbury Award for two consecutive years and has studied in masterclasses with F.G. O’Donnell, Arvid Gast, Jon Laukvik, and others.
In Rochester, she served at Rochester Christian Reformed Church and performed at the Memorial Art Gallery, Episcopal Church of Christ, and on PIPEDREAMS Live!. As a teaching assistant at Eastman, she supported the “Tuesday Pipes” series and “Colloquium” course.
After moving to Austin, she became Assistant Music Director and Organist at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church, leading the handbell choir and giving solo recitals during Lent and Advent. She also performed at Good Shepherd Episcopal, First UMC, and Westlake Hills Presbyterian.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Korea National University of Arts and her master’s from the Eastman School of Music under Nathan Laube. She begins her DMA studies this fall at the University of Houston with Daryl Robinson and is preparing for the 14th Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition.
For Jiae, the organ has been a quiet place of prayer and offering since she began playing at her local Catholic church at age nine.