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RRVAGO Chapter Officers, Committees, and Appointed Positions

Our chapter officers consist of a Dean, Sub-Dean, Secretary, and Treasurer, who make up the Executive Committee. These officers and other committees and appointed positions are strictly volunteer-filled by the membership as the RRVAGO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All terms of office begin on July 1st and expire on June 30th of the following year.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (OFFICERS) 2025-26

Benton Schmidt, Dean

email: dean@rrvago.org

Benton has belonged to the RRVAGO since 2023, and currently serves as the Director of Music at the Newman Center, North Dakota State University.

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He received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at NDSU, a Master of Sacred Music from Notre Dame, and is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Kansas.

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As an organist, Benton particularly enjoys liturgical music of seventeenth-century France, early Baroque Lutheran music from Germany, and modern works of Messiaen and Olivier Latry.

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He is passionate about singing, studying, and teaching chant in its multiplicity of forms, from medieval manuscripts to modern vernacular pieces.

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Benton's academic interests include the liturgical theology of Joseph Cardinal Razinger, musical aesthetics, and ancient Greek classics.

 

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Bill Tweten, Sub-Dean

email: sub-dean@rrvago.org

Since August, 2023, Bill has held the position of organist at First Lutheran Church of Fargo, on the largest pipe organ in Fargo-Moorhead.

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A native of Buxton, ND, Bill studied organ under Ruth Berge at Concordia College in Moorhead.

 

He has belonged to the RRVAGO since the 1990s, and he has held the offices of Dean, Sub-Dean, Secretary, and Treasurer, in addition to serving on various committees.

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He has also served as organist and several area churches, including Messiah Lutheran Church, Fargo; Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Moorhead; and Gethsemane Episcopal Cathedral, Fargo.

 

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Dr. Jean M. Hellner, Secretary

email: secretary@rrvago.org

Dr. Jean Hellner holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Texas and a master‛s degree in musicology from The Florida State University. Her scholarly interests include narratology, nineteenth-century German symphonic literature, and opera. She has presented papers on elements of narratology in Robert Schumann's D-Minor Symphony and in Fryderyk  Chopin's Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 49 for a variety of international conferences, including the International Congress on Musical Signification.

 

Among numerous publications, her paper entitled "Elements of Enlightenment in Osmin's Rage: Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail" was published in the proceedings for an international conference titled Mozart in Prague. She has been a panelist for several sessions held at the national meetings of the American Musicological Society, and she served on the Committee for the Status of Women for the Society for Music Theory.

 

Jean is active in a number of local organizations, most notably as cofounder of the Community Orchestra Academy and the Edvard Grieg Society of the Dakotas. Jean is also a very active member of the Red River Theatre Organ Society (RRTOS) where she serves as treasurer of the Capital Campaign Committee to restore the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ at the Fargo Theatre. She has also served as treasurer and historian/archivist of the RRTOS in addition to other positions and committees.

 

At Minnesota State University Moorhead Jean currently teaches music history and is the collaborative pianist for the choirs. In addition to research and teaching, Jean plays piano, organ, and euphonium.

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Jean joined the RRVAGO in 2016 and has served various positions and committees, including its Archivist-Historian and Webmaster.

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Alex Swanson, Treasurer 

email: treasurer@rrvago.org

Alex Swanson was raised on a farm near Moorhead, Minnesota, graduated from Moorhead High School, attended Minnesota State University Moorhead and earned a B.A. in Communication Studies, and then attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and earned a B.S. in Mortuary Science.

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He studied organ under his grandmother Beth Buchholz, and past RRVAGO Deans Gaylord Fagerland and Michael Olson.

 

He was an active member, organist, and historian of the Oak Mound Congregational Church until its closing and has since belonged to North Buffalo Lutheran Church in Kragnes Township, where he serves as church treasurer, substitute organist, historian, and choir director.

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Alex has served as a substitute organist for many Fargo-Moorhead area churches and as part-time organist at Peace Lutheran Church (Fargo), Glyndon Lutheran Church, First Congregational UCC of Moorhead, and St. John Lutheran Church (Arthur, ND).

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He is also member and treasurer of the Red River Theatre Organ Society where he has held various offices, and is also a house organist of the Fargo Theatre on the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theatre pipe organ there.

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He has belonged to the Red River Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists since November 2017 and has served as secretary and on various committees.

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He is employed as a mortician at West Funeral Home in West Fargo, ND.

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COMMITTEES 2025-26

ARCHIVES-HISTORIAN

    Alex Swanson, Chair; Dr. Jean Hellner, Dylan Thiele

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BUDGET/FINANCE

    Terri Diers, Chair; Alex Swanson, Dylan Thiele​

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COMPETITION/CERTIFICATION 

    [Vacant]

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GRANT-WRITING 

    Jamin Krause, Chair; Dr. Jean Hellner

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HOSPITALITY 

    Jamin Krause, Chair

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MEMBERSHIP

    Bradley Steen, Chair; Alex Swanson, Elliot Sander

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NOMINATING

    Alex Swanson, Chair; Bradley Steen, Robyn Vinje

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OPERATING PROCEDURES

    Dr. Jean Hellner, Chair; Bradley Steen, Alex Swanson, Dylan Thiele

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PIPELINE

    Elliot Sander, Chair & Pipeline Newsletter Editor

    Dr. Jean Hellner, Pipeline Proofreader

    Alex Swanson, Pipeline Proofreader

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PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS 

    Elliot Sander, Chair

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PROGRAM

    Bill Tweten, Chair; Elliot Sander, Jean Hellner, Alex Swanson, Terri Diers, Dylan Thiele

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APPOINTED POSITIONS 2025-26

AUDITOR: Sally Harmon​

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PUBLICIST: Alpha Roeszler

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REGISTRAR: Alex Swanson

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REPORTER: Alex Swanson

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WEBMASTERS: Dr. Jean Hellner, Alex Swanson

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The Red River Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists

P.O. Box 2223

Fargo, ND 58108

Email address:

webmaster@rrvago.org

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The RRVAGO is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization.

Copyright 2025 by the RRVAGO

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