Joseph Arndt–Organist and Director of Music
Joseph Arndt began as Organist and Director of Music at The Church of St. Michael & St. George in August 2024. He previously served as Director of Music at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa, where he led the campaign for the 2018 chancel organ, Opus 173 by Schoenstein & Co. Mr. Arndt’s work in Tulsa included the 2019 founding of the Oklahoma Bach Choir, an ensemble dedicated to performing the sacred works of Johann Sebastian Bach with period instruments. He conducted a Leipzig 300 series commemorating the 300th anniversary of Bach’s appointment as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. This series included a lecture by author and Bach scholar Christoph Wolff.
A graduate of The Juilliard School (MM) and Westminster Choir College (BM), he is a former organ student of Paul Jacobs, Ken Cowan, and Diane Meredith Belcher. To celebrate the bicentennial of César Franck, he performed the composer’s organ works with a tour including performances in Houston, Fort Worth, New York City, Seattle, Denver, and Tulsa. Additional recent solo recitals have been given at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Church of the Advent in Boston, and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. He has commissioned new organ works, most recently Paean by Rebecca Groom te Velde, published in 2023 by Oxford University Press. He has served as Chair of Fundraising for both the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Dallas Boys Course of the Royal School of Church Music-America.
Heather Martin Cooper–Associate Organist
Heather Martin Cooper is an organist, pianist and singer with 30 years of experience as a performer, teacher and pastoral musician. She served as full time music director for St Monica Parish in Creve Coeur for eighteen years, and the previous eleven years for St Paul Parish, Englewood Ohio. Heather is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Salem College, with degrees in Organ Performance. She is certified in the Kodaly philosophy of music education, and is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists and National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
Heather’s passion is making and sharing music. Leading the congregation in singing God’s praises, playing solo, working with choirs and students, and helping people mark the pivotal moments of life through music are all part of how she discerns her life’s purpose. In addition to her work at CSMSG, Heather has a small studio of organ and piano students, is a principal singer with the Bach Society of St Louis, adjunct faculty with Community Music School of Webster University, an occasional substitute teacher and substitute organist in the St Louis area.