Joshua Stafford is noted as a recitalist, improviser, choral conductor, and silent film accompanist. In 2016, Joshua was named the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize Winner of the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, which boasts the largest monetary prize of any organ competition.  His playing has been for his “meticulous technique, innate yet highly mature musicality, and constant musical engagement.” Joshua has been a regular performer on the world’s two largest pipe organs, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, and has appeared at churches and concert halls throughout the country. Recordings of his performances have been aired on Minnesota Public Radio’s Pipedreams and WRTI’s Wanamaker Organ Hour.

A native of Jamestown, New York, Mr. Stafford received the Bachelor of Music Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010 as a scholarship student of Alan Morrison. In 2012 he received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music as a student of Thomas Murray (organ performance) and Jeffrey Brillhart (organ improvisation).

Since March of 2023, Mr. Stafford has served as Minister of Music at First Congregational Church in Columbus, Ohio. From 2020-2026, he was also the Director of Sacred Music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair Organist of Chautauqua Institution in western New York. Mr. Stafford was Director of Music at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Florida from 2021-2023 and at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey, from 2013-2021.