Peter Kranefoed, born in Münster, Germany, began his piano studies at the age of six. From 1986, he studied organ privately with Michaela Ratte in Münster, and from 1994 to 1997 with Christoph Anselm Noll in Andernach. He was awarded first and second prizes in several organ competitions for youth. In 1992, he won the Second International Organ Competition in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He enjoys an active performance career as a soloist and also works regularly with choirs and orchestras. He is particularly interested in early music and has studied harpsichord and continuo as well. He has also studied organ building and is building a two-manual organ for his home.

In 1996/97, he served as Director of Music at the Auferstehungskirche in Münster. From 1999 to 2002, he was organist at the Blumhardt Parish Church in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2002 to 2004, Peter studied organ with James David Christie in the Artist Diploma Program of The Boston Conservatory, where he also studied conducting and served as Prof. Christie's teaching assistant. During this time, he was the organist at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Weston, Massachusetts.

In 2005, he received his Doctor of Sacred Music from the Hochschule für Musik and darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, where his organ teachers included Ludger Lohmann and Jürgen Essl. He also took part in master classes with Harald Vogel, Hans Davidsson, William Porter, Jon Laukvik, Edoardo Bellotti, Lorenzo Ghielmi and others.

As an organist and harpsichordist, he has performed throughout Germany and in France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, as well as in the United States (California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut). He has recorded four CDs, featuring North German Baroque Music (played on the Taylor and Boody organ at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.), Organ Music by J. S. Bach, romantic organ music from Germany and France, and the Duruflé Requiem. He is now organist at the Church of Saint Charles Borromeo in Winnenden, Germany.

The concert is free and open to the public. Ample parking is available behind the church, and the sanctuary is wheelchair-accessible. A reception for the artist(s) will follow the concert. For more information, please call 434-963-4690 or visit www.avenue.org/organconcerts. To receive concert notices via e-mail, send a message with subject "subscribe" to wocs@avenue.org.