Dr. Nicholas Halbert is a concert organist, choral conductor, collaborative keyboardist, scholar, and educator based in Southeastern Pennsylvania. He is the Canon Precentor of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Artist-in-Residence at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and the Staff Keyboardist for the Allentown Camerata.
At the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Nicholas directs the Cathedral Choir, the Cathedral Schola, and the Nativity Choristers. He is the Cathedral's principal organist and performs there regularly in recital. Under his leadership, Nativity has re-established its chorister program, initiated regular services of Evensong and other major liturgical events including the All Souls Requiem, Advent Procession, and Lessons and Carols for Christmas and Easter, and holds an annual concert series – Music at Nativity. As Artist-in-Residence at Rowan University, Nicholas manages the organ division of the School of Music. He is responsible for instruction of all organ students, development of the organ recital series including an annual faculty recital, and overseeing maintenance and expansion of the Pfleeger Concert Hall Organ.
Nicholas is dedicated to passion and excellency in his artistry at the organ. Recent performances have included solo recitals at St. James-by-the-Sea (La Jolla, CA), St. Philip's Cathedral (Atlanta, GA), St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral (Wilkes-Barre, PA), Trinity Episcopal (Princeton, NJ), Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Phoenix, AZ), Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego, CA), the Organ Hall at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ), and St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral (San Diego, CA). He has been heard at Christ the King Roman Catholic (Dallas, TX), the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration (Dallas, TX), the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation (Dallas, TX), the Southern Methodist University Canterbury House (Dallas, TX), Christ Church Episcopal (Rochester, NY), and Downtown United Presbyterian Church (Rochester, NY). Nicholas was a recitalist at the 2015 Western Regional AGO convention and a presenter at the 2019 Organ Historical Society conference, and was a Semi-Finalist in the National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance at the AGO National Convention in July, 2026, in St. Louis, MS. He has appeared twice on NPR's Pipedreams.
Dr. Halbert is the Staff Keyboardist for the Allentown Camerata and has worked with the Bethlehem Bach Choir as a soloist and accompanist. He appeared with the San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival All-Star Orchestra as harmoniumist for a chamber reduction of Mahler's Fourth Symphony and as the organist for Faure's Requiem. Nicholas was joined by soprano Michelle Pérez for a collaborative recital of voice and piano at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie, Pennsylvania, in July, 2024, and in St. Stephen's, Wilkes-Barre, in February, 2026. During his time at ASU, he performed with the University Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Concert Choir in concerts featuring works of Maslanka, Vierne, and Molly Joyce.
Nicholas is a published scholar. His thesis, Symphonies at the Johanneskirche: The Organ Sonatas of Hans Fährmann, is available on Proquest; a synopsis of that research was published in the November, 2024 issue of The Diapason. He is the Chair of the Editorial Resources Committee for The American Organist, the journal of the national American Guild of Organists and sits on the Segreteria di Redazione of the Italian journal, Informazione Organistica e Organologica.
Nicholas was the recording engineer and producer for organist Christopher Anderson’s album Max Reger: 52 Easy Preludes on the Most Common Protestant Chorales, Op. 67, released on the Centaur label. He recorded and produced two full-length concert films for the Southern Methodist University organ department, including a lecture-recital on Bach’s Orgelbuchlein. His recordings of the Arizona State University organ studio performing music of Margaret Sandresky were featured on NPR’s Pipedreams.
Nicholas has been ensconced in sacred music since the age of nine years old when he joined the Boy Choir at St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, where he served as one of the Head Choristers. At sixteen, he was appointed the Organ Scholar of the Cathedral, a position which saw him serve as the principal service player and accompanist to all of the Cathedral's choirs. Subsequently, Nicholas earned a Bachelors in Organ performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He studied organ with Nathan Laube, as well as harpsichord and fortepiano with Edoardo Bellotti. He then earned a Masters Degree and Performers Diploma in Organ at Southern Methodist University in the studio of Stefan Engels, holding the teaching assistantship during his final two years there. While at SMU, he also studied liturgical organ playing and choral accompanying with Scott Dettra. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Arizona State University in the studio of Kimberly Marshall, where he was the Organ Teaching Assistant during his first year. Nicholas has held organist positions at the Church of the Transfiguration, Dallas; Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, Dallas; St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego; and director positions at Christ Church of the Ascension, Phoenix, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, New York, and the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
