We are pleased to award the 2026 James Litton Grant for Choral Training to Vernon Snyder, organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN.

Vernon plans to use the grant to spend up to two weeks in Cambridge, England, attending Evensongs, Complines, Vespers, auditing choral rehearsals, and learning from musicians at the heart of Anglican music in the university chapels. He writes, “I’m deeply grateful to AAM for having been awarded the James Litton Grant in Choral Training. This funding will allow me the opportunity to travel to Cambridge for two weeks, in order to be immersed in the extraordinary Anglican choral traditions of the University of Cambridge chapels. I look forward to bringing what I learn to my work at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Memphis, and far beyond.”

The James Litton Grant for Choral Training honors the late James Litton, one of the co-founders of the Association of Anglican Musicians and a generational leader in church and choral music. Its purpose is to aid musicians in developing their own choir training skills, building a chorister program for young singers, or for another endeavor which lives into the spirit of creating excellent choral experiences within the Episcopal Church. The Litton Grant is an annual program for which tax-deductible contributions may be made to www.anglicanmusicians.org/litton.

Vernon Snyder is an organist, choral conductor, and collaborative pianist based in Memphis, Tennessee, where he holds the post of organist-choirmaster at Saint John’s Episcopal Church. In addition to the role of organist, he directs the Choir of Saint John’s, which offers Choral Eucharist and Choral Evensong, as well as the Schola Cantorum, which sings choral Compline monthly according to the Sarum Rite of 1662. Vernon also cultivates the concert series Music at Saint John’s, featuring distinguished artists from around the world. Under his direction, members of the choir completed a nine-day period of choral residency in Ireland in 2023 (singing at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and Saint Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway), as well as a one-week residency at Liverpool Cathedral in May, 2025.

As an active organist, pianist, and educator, Vernon has concertized throughout the United States, Bangladesh, England, Korea, Taiwan, and on live radio broadcasts, including world premieres of works by award-winning composers. Dr. Snyder has held music faculty positions at Pomona College in Claremont, California, and CSU (Cal Poly) in Pomona, California, and is author of An Introduction to Music, an interactive, university-level e-book published through Great River Learning.