Grace Forbord,  Organist 

Grace Forbord grew up in a musical family in rural Benson, MN where her mother served as church organist for approximately 35 years. Her first piano teacher was her mother, who also inspired her interest in the organ. Grace started playing organ for church while in high school and went on to study organ with Professor David K. Blanchar at Augustana College from 1976 to 1980, during which time she received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. She has served as organist for churches in rural Benson, MN; Sioux Falls, SD; Norwich, VT and Lake Crystal, MN. She moved to Brainerd in 1991 along with her family. She has 3 adult daughters, Emily, Jocelyn, and Alexandra. Grace is an RN Case Manager for St. Croix Hospice, she sings in a local group “Consensus”, and has served as church organist at First Congregational UCC in Brainerd since 1992.

Laura Raedeke,  Organist

Laura Raedeke grew up on a farm between Jackson and Lakefield, Minnesota, and began studying pipe organ at ages 12-18 with a Lakefield graduate of the MacPhail School of Music.  She began serving as a Sunday organist at age 14, playing at her home church of Immanuel Lutheran, which had a fine pipe organ built by the Reuter Company out of Kansas City. Laura majored in biology, with a pre-med degree, and after moving to Worthington in 1976,  completed a Masters Degree in Selected Studies with concentrations in music theory and composition at Augustana College in 1993.  During this time, she studied piano with Augustana’s  Dr. J. Earl Lee from 1981-1992, served as organist at St. Matthew Lutheran, First Lutheran, and First United Methodist in Worthington, as well as taught piano lessons, co-founded the Worthington Area Piano Teachers Association in 1990, and founded the Worthington Area Music Boosters Organization in 1994. Since moving to Nisswa in 2001, she has served as an organist at Lutheran Church of the Cross, and in 2004 began playing at First Congregational UCC in Brainerd.  Other pursuits include accompanying the Legacy Chorale of Minnesota, chairing the Creation Care Team at Lutheran Church of the Cross, serving on the board of the Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government, and, with her husband Jerry, owning the Raedeke Art Gallery in Nisswa.