Steven Wooddell is an organist in Atlanta and teaches at Berry College in Rome, GA.
He is from Roanoke, Virginia and grew up taking piano lessons after he saw a friend of his playing a piano piece. He was given opportunities to play at his local church and eventually decided to start taking organ lessons so that he could do more. Roanoke didn’t have enough organists so he wound up getting to play for all kinds of churches with many people who were encouraging of him continuing to learn more. He also started playing for weddings in high school- which taught him lots about being responsive to the surroundings- including what to do if the bride’s mother delays the wedding by a half hour because she forgot her shoes. (Fast forward to today- it’s amazing that is now possible to have all your music on an iPad and can keep playing piece after piece if necessary)
He went on finish high school at The North Carolina School of the Arts and then went to the Cleveland Institute of Music and Southern Methodist University where he studied organ performance. He was given the chance to work at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee where he got to work at an Episcopal Seminary playing for morning services and also play for the college choir there. The pattern of playing for college choirs and church has carried on till today with Steven playing at Berry College for their choral program and playing organ for Peachtree Presbyterian Church.
While taking piano lessons in high school Steven was also introduced to playing jazz since his teacher was a versatile player of jazz and classical music. He got to play saxophone in the high school and clarinet in a number of different ensembles. While he enjoys playing solo music, it’s always exciting to see how to respond to the ideas other people bring with them as they play. He looks forward to continuing to learn and make music in the Atlanta area.
Steven lives in Rome, GA with his wife and three children.

Followers of Petr Byrtus