Rachel Mahon

Rachel Mahon is a Canadian musician.
She is the Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral, and a performing professional musician.
Before taking up her post at Chester, Mahon was the first female organ scholar of St Paul's Cathedral in London, England, assuming the post in September 2014.
Mahon was raised in Toronto, Ontario, where her parents were both choral directors. She sang with the Girls' Choir of Grace Church on-the-Hill and later the Oratory Children's Choir. She initially began studying piano, but switched to organ in 2005 after hearing the Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor. Mahon won a scholarship from the Royal Canadian College of Organists to begin studying with Melva Graham, and in 2007 continued under Andrew Ager. She received the degree of Bachelor of Music in organ at the University of Toronto School of Music under John Tuttle.
Mahon has held organ posts at St. James Cathedral, Trinity College, and Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto and at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, England. She is one of the Canadian organ duo Organized Crime, which "attempts to reinvigorate the instrument by arranging popular music for the organ, playing scores to James Bond and Star Wars wearing five-inch stiletto heels and blue sequined spandex."
She has won several awards for organ performance, including first place at the 2012 Competition for Young Organists, second in the 2013 Canadian National Organ Playing Competition, and a number of awards from the Kiwanis Festival. Mahon has performed with a number of choirs: the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Larkin Singers, and the Tallis Choir, among others.
As the William and Irene Miller Organ Scholar at St Paul's, Mahon was responsible for directing choir rehearsals, performing for church services, playing in recitals, and acting as assistant choir librarian, among other duties.