Jeff Binford has served as Organist at First Presbyterian since January of 2002.

Jeff, a native of Brownsville, Tennessee, received the Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.  His organ professors include Helen Trotter Midkiff, Dr. Donald McDonald, Dr. George Markey, Harald Vogel, and Virgil Fox, the internationally-known concert organist, Jeff also studied in France with Marie-Louise Langlais of the Paris Conservatoire.  

He has served churches in Tennessee, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Alabama as organist or organist/choirmaster since the age of twelve.   Before coming to Tuscaloosa, Jeff was the organist at the Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, one of the flag-ship churches in our denomination.  He has also written reviews and articles for the two major American organ publications: The American Organist and The Diapason.  Jeff appears in a  video series made in Paris that provides information about famous French organists, composers, and churches. The video is available from the Organ Historical Society.  He has played recitals throughout Europe in places such as Sainte-Clotilde church in Paris, the cathedral in Albi, France, the cathedral in Aix-en-Provence, as well as Bach’s church in Leipzig, Germany, the Kaiser Wilhelm church in Berlin, Saint Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, and various other venues in England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Most recently, Jeff played a recital on the largest pipe organ in the world at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In his position at First Presbyterian Church, he plays for two worship services each Sunday, accompanies the Adult, Youth, and Children’s choirs, and plays for all weddings, funerals, and special concerts with the Adult Choir.  He also helps in planning concerts for the Advent and Lenten recital series. 

Along with his life-long interest in music, Jeff recently has enjoyed being part of several productions at Theatre Tuscaloosa.  Other interests are reading, research, listening to recordings, attending concerts, home-improvement, travel, and anything to do with Colonial Williamsburg!