RÉSUMÉ / EXPERIENCE AT A GLANCE

Two disciplines.
A shared commitment to craft.

Explore my background in business and technology, or my work in music.

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Music résumé

Don Papenbrock

Organist · Church music director · Choral director · Pianist

Profile

Professional organist, church music director, choral director, and pianist with more than three decades of experience in liturgical music, worship leadership, choral preparation, and organ performance across Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian traditions.

My work has included weekly worship, choir leadership, recital and concert performance, collaborative music-making, and music ministry development. I value thoughtful service planning, strong ensemble preparation, stylistic versatility, and the role music can play in creating meaningful worship and community.

Appointments

Organist

Central Presbyterian · Atlanta, Georgia | 2025–Present

Organist & Music Director

First United Methodist Church · LaGrange, Georgia | 2020–2025

Organist / Director

Christ Church Episcopal · Norcross, Georgia

Organist / Director

Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal · Stone Mountain, Georgia

Organist

Good Shepherd Presbyterian · Lilburn, Georgia

Organist

St. Peter’s Episcopal · St. Louis, Missouri

Organist / Director

St. Peter’s Episcopal · Fernandina Beach, Florida

Organist / Director

St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church · Smyrna, Georgia

Organist / Director

St. Paul’s Catholic Church · Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Conducting & ensemble leadership

  • More than three decades of church choir leadership and ensemble preparation.
  • Experience directing volunteer choirs across varied liturgical traditions and musical styles.
  • Formerly active in musical theater in Atlanta and Jacksonville.
  • Recipient of a Metro Atlanta Theater Award for Music Direction.

Organ & piano

My performance work includes service playing, solo repertoire, collaborative accompaniment, orchestral organ, hymn leadership, and improvisational transitions within worship.

Selected highlights include:

  • Service organist at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City
  • Organist for Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 (“Organ Symphony”) with the LaGrange Symphony
  • Historically active recitalist for church and community programs
  • Extensive repertoire spanning Baroque, Romantic, twentieth-century, contemporary sacred, hymn-based, and liturgical music

Explore repertoire

Selected performances

Published recordings and selected performances are available throughout the Music section.

View recordings

Education & training

Jacksonville University

  • B.S. Music — Organ & Piano, graduated with honors
  • B.S. Business

Georgia Institute of Technology

  • B.S. Industrial Engineering