Jeffrey R. Neufeld, D.M.A., D.S.M., is Music Director and Organist at First Congregational Church in Elgin, Illinois, USA. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Doctor of Sacred Music degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation (in conjunction with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary), the Master of Music degree in organ and church music from Northwestern University Beinen School of Music, and the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. His organ teachers have included John Chappell-Stowe, Douglas Cleveland, Richard Webster, and Ed Zimmerman; and he has studied piano with William Phemister and choral conducting with Paul Wiens and Mary Hopper.
Dr. Neufeld has been involved in church music since an early age, and answering God’s call to dedicated ministry in music, he has held a number of church music positions in his native Minnesota and in Chicago area churches. Prior to FCC, he served as Director of Music & Worship Arts at Barrington United Methodist Church, and prior to that as organist and choirmaster at Our Redeemer’s United Methodist Church in Schaumburg, Illinois. He has also appeared as a guest organist with the Elgin Symphony, Elgin Master Chorale, West Suburban Choral Union, and the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra, and given recitals in a number of locations across the United States, including piano and organ duo concerts with his brother, Jeremy.
Dr. Neufeld is an ordained Deacon in the Global Methodist Church, a member of the Order of St. Luke, and an active member of a number of professional music organizations including the American Guild of Organists, the Royal College of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association, and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. In addition to his musical endeavors, Dr. Neufeld works as an independent I.T. consultant and project manager.
