Ethan Hill
Organ Played
Knox United Church
Knox United’s Organ (Casavant Frères Opus 2336, 2001, Originally built in 1956) has 70 ranks, 5,018 pipes, 6 divisions, 4 manuals and 62 stops and…
Knox United’s Organ (Casavant Frères Opus 2336, 2001, Originally built in 1956) has 70 ranks, 5,018 pipes, 6 divisions, 4 manuals and 62 stops and is one of Alberta’s biggest and best!
The church’s architecture contributes to the instrument’s dynamic sound and, besides being a historical landmark, makes this organ a must-hear in Calgary.
Biography
Ethan Hill is a Calgary-based organist, pianist and composer. He studied composition and theory at the University of Victoria (2015–19) with Anna Höstman, and piano with Bruce Vogt. In Victoria he also trained as a liturgical musician and was organ scholar at St. John the Divine Anglican Church. In 2019 he moved to Montreal to study organ with Hans-Ola Ericsson at McGill University, where he completed a Graduate Diploma in Organ Performance. During that time he was organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral.
His work in the church led to an interest in metaphysics, symbolism and ontology, which he continues to explore. He has been Director of Music at Knox United Church in Calgary since 2024, and was organist at Sacred Heart Church in Calgary from 2020 to 2025. Since 2021 he has worked as a musician with Alberta Ballet and as a collaborative artist with the Savridi Singers. He also works with Westwinds Music Society and the St John Choir Schola.
As a composer he has taken part in residencies and workshops at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Evolution: Quartet, 2022), where the Uxor Quartet performed his piece Rather, as well as the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix New Music Session (2023), Continuum Contemporary Music’s HATCH (2023) and the Quatuor Bozzini’s Bozzini Lab (2024). Ethan serves as Co-President of RCCO Calgary Centre and as a representative for Alberta and the Northwest Territories with the Canadian League of Composers.