Tom Mueller

Biography

Tom Mueller serves as Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Music at Concordia University Irvine in California. He previously served as Music Department Chair and brings extensive experience as an educator and academic leader.

As a performing artist, Mueller won first place in the 2014 Schoenstein Competition in Hymn-Playing at the American Guild of Organists national convention and was honored by The Diapason as a member of the inaugural “20 Under 30” list of influential figures in organ and church music. He maintains an active concert schedule across the United States and Europe, with notable achievements including a complete performance of J. S. Bach’s organ works in seventeen concerts. His compositions have been broadcast on national radio and television, and his recordings include works released on the Gothic label. His published organ and choral works are available through ECS/MorningStar Publishing and Concordia Publishing House.

Mueller’s scholarly interests encompass the early organ and keyboard works of J. S. Bach, performance practice of organ continuo in classical-era German and Austrian sacred music, and the American reception of nineteenth-century opera star Jenny Lind. He has presented workshops and lectures for numerous professional organizations and has served in leadership positions with the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Lutheran Musicians.

He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Sacred Music in organ from the University of Notre Dame, and a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz composition and piano from the University of Maine at Augusta, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Publications

• Mueller, Tom. “Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica and Applications for Liberal Music Education.” In Reading by Starlight: Core Texts from Confucius to Zadie Smith, edited by Tuan Hoang, Michael Dink, Samuel Stoner, Alan Pichanick, Catherine Klancer, and Elizabeth-Jane McGuire, 133–142. Association for Core Texts and Courses, 2025. https://coretexts.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/81/2025/08/READING-BY-STARLIGHT-2025.pdf.
• Mueller, Tom. “A Compositional Case Study: Seven Versets on “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern.” In CrossAccent 2020, no. 3: 21-35.
• Mueller, Tom. “A New Evaluation of ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,’ BWV 739.” In CrossAccent 2020, no. 2: 16-25.
• Mueller, Tom. “Mindful Hymnody and Leadership.” In In Tempo 2018, no. 2.
• Mueller, Tom. “Towards the Recovery of Authentic Organ Continuo Practice in Haydn’s Concerted Sacred Music.” In Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America 7, no. 2 (Fall 2017). https://remix.berklee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=haydn-journal.
• Mueller, Tom. “The 2016 EROI Festival—Breath for Singing: The Organ and the Human Voice.” In The Diapason 1293 (2017): 22.

Published Compositions

• Chorale Prelude on “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” for organ solo. In Proclaim! Preludes and Harmonizations for the Hymn of the Day, Vol. 3. Concordia Publishing House, 2025.
• Lift Your Voice Rejoicing, Mary for two-part chorus, organ, and optional flute or violin. ECS, 2025
• Five Chorale Preludes on Joyful Themes for organ solo. Concordia Publishing House, 2024.
• Seven Versets on “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” for organ solo. ECS, 2023.

Papers, Presentations, and Workshops

• “Symbolism and Rhetoric in Bach’s Orgelbüchlein,” Long Beach AGO Chapter, January 2021.
• “Organ Consoles and Hymn Registrations for Church Musicians,” LCMS All Workers Conference, November 2020
• “Leading the Church’s Song from the Organ,” Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Conference, Portland, OR, June 2019
• “J. S. Bach’s Clavier-Übung III,” St. John’s Lutheran Church, Orange, CA, February 2019
• “Text-Driven Interpretation and Leadership in Congregational Hymnody,” Lectures in Church Music, River Forest, IL, October 2018
• “Musical Poetics: Rhetoric and Music in the Seventeenth Century and Applications for Modern Liberal Education,” Association for Core Texts and Courses 24th Annual Conference, Framingham, MA, April 2018
• “A Leader and a Servant: Preparing Hymns for Congregational Singing,” LCMS Institute for Preaching, Liturgy, and Church Music, Chicago, July 2017
• “Organ Continuo Practice in Viennese Concerted Sacred Music,” American Guild of Organists National Convention, Houston, June 2016
• “Jenny Lind Sheet Music in Pre-Lindomania America,” North American Conference for Nineteenth-Century Music, Andover, MA, July 2015
• “Seventeenth-Century Influences on the Earliest Organ Works of J. S. Bach,” University of Notre Dame, October 2014
• “A New Evaluation of ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,’ BWV 739,” American Guild of Organists National Convention, Boston, June 2014

Professional Service

• Region 4 President, Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, 2018–2023
• Chair, Organ Study Grant Program, Orange County AGO, 2018–2023
• Member, Committee for Continuing Professional Education (CCPE), American Guild of Organists, 2015–2021
• Member, Education Committee, Los Angeles AGO chapter, 2014–2016
• Co-chair, Programming Committee, American Guild of Organists 2019 Regional Convention
• Subdean, Orange County AGO chapter, 2015–2017

Courses Taught

• MUS 303 Music Theory III
• MUS 304 Music Theory IV
• MUS 306 Music Theory III: Commercial
• MUS 403 Orchestration and Instrumentation
• MUS 430 History and Analysis of Modern Music
• MUS 102 Music Fundamentals
• MUS 111 Experiences in Music
• MUS 331 Music History I
• MUS 332 Music History II
• MUS 305 Arranging

Applied organ, composition, harpsichord, and jazz piano

Director, Concordia Jazz Orchestra and Ensembles
Director, Concordia Americana Ensemble