Jack Cleghorn

Organist and Choirmaster

Equally at home in front of choirs and orchestras or behind the keyboard, Jack A. Cleghorn (JAC) is a conductor, organist, collaborative pianist, and church musician whose career has been shaped by a commitment to artistic excellence, sacred music, and the building of vibrant musical communities. In 2026, JAC was appointed Organist and Choirmaster of the Basilica of St. Peter, marking a return both to South Carolina and to Catholic music ministry.

JAC comes to the Basilica following nearly a decade as Choirmaster and Organist of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, the largest Episcopal parish in Arkansas. There he led an expansive intergenerational music ministry encompassing children, youth, adults, professional singers, and handbells, with a rich schedule of choral liturgies, concerts, and major works. His ministry extended beyond the parish through ecumenical projects bringing together churches and musicians from across Northwest Arkansas, collaborations with regional arts organizations, and performances by St. Paul’s young singers featured by KNWA and Arkansas NPR.

During his years in Arkansas, JAC also developed a significant relationship with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA), first serving on its Board of Directors and later as Vice Chair before returning in an artistic capacity as a guest collaborator and curator. He curated a program at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in conjunction with a special exhibition of work by KAWS, bringing orchestral music into conversation with contemporary visual art. As a guest conductor in December 2025, he led two sold-out performances of the orchestra’s annual A Very SoNA Christmas program.

For nearly two decades, JAC has held leadership roles within the American Choral Directors Association at the state, regional, and national levels. His service has included appointments as Music in Worship Chair and Repertoire and Standards Chair for Music in Worship in South Carolina, and later as Music in Worship Chair and Lifelong Choirs Chair in Arkansas. He now serves as ACDA’s National Coordinator for Lifelong Choirs, encompassing Music in Worship, Community Choirs, and Professional Choirs. His writing has appeared in ACDA’s Choral Journal, addressing nonprofit arts management, organizational resilience, sustainability, community building, and excellence in lifelong choirs. He is also active as a clinician and presenter.

JAC’s professional roots in South Carolina run deep. While an undergraduate at the College of Charleston, he served as Organ Scholar at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston before receiving his first independent appointment as a church musician at Harbor View Presbyterian Church. Following graduate study at Westminster Choir College, he returned to Charleston and served at Stella Maris Catholic Church on Sullivan’s Island. Beyond the church, JAC was Artistic and Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra, during which the orchestra appeared annually at Piccolo Spoleto Festival. His work in the region has also included the Charleston Spiritual Ensemble and collaborations with schools, churches, professional musicians, and arts organizations throughout South Carolina.  

As an organist, JAC maintains an active life as both a liturgical musician and recitalist. He began his organ studies with Charlie Rigsby at St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, making his eventual return to the parish as Choirmaster and Organist particularly meaningful. His subsequent studies have included work with Julia Harlow, Scott Bennett, Alan Morrison of the Curtis Institute of Music and Westminster Choir College, and, most recently, acclaimed concert organist Bradley Hunter Welch. JAC has appeared three times on the L’Organo recital series of Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival, most recently in 2026, and has performed in churches, cathedrals, and concert settings throughout his career. 

As a collaborative pianist, JAC has accompanied All-State and All-Region choirs, ACDA events, festivals, clinics, and conference performances throughout the country. His engagements have included Music in Worship events, and Collegiate Honor Choir pianist, at the Southwestern ACDA Conference in Denver, and an appearance with Cane Bay High School at the Southern ACDA Conference in Mobile.

Internationally, JAC has led choirs at the organ, and from the podium, in residential appointments at Exeter Cathedral and Wells Cathedral in England, with a residency at Lincoln Cathedral scheduled for 2028. Visiting choirs are selected through an application and audition process and become part of the daily musical and liturgical life of the English cathedral tradition.

JAC’s continuing study has taken him throughout the United States and abroad. At the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Academy in Switzerland, he participated in orchestral conducting studies alongside an international community of musicians and artists under the tutalge of Jaap van Zweden. Additional advanced study has included the Oxford Conducting Institute at the University of Oxford in England with Dr. James Jordan and James Whitbourn, orchestral conducting study at the Peabody Conservatory, with Markand Thacker, and advanced choral study on the Motets of J.S. Bach at the Eastman School of Music with Dr. William Weinert.

JAC holds a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Charleston. His work spans repertoire from intimate liturgical music to major choral-orchestral works and has brought him before professional, collegiate, community, church, school, and youth ensembles.

JAC, his wife Grace, and their daughter Tallulah are delighted to return home to South Carolina and to become part of the community of the Basilica of St. Peter. At the heart of his work is a belief in the inestimable value of sacred music: its capacity to deepen worship, cultivate excellence, form lasting communities, and draw those who make and hear it more fully into the love of Christ.