Charles Boyd Tompkins, Professor of Music and University Organist, Furman University

Charles Tompkins is recognized as one of America's most outstanding organ teachers and concert organists. A member of the Furman faculty since 1986, his students have gained admission to major graduate schools in organ performance—including Yale University, Indiana University, and Florida State University—and may be found in significant church and university positions.

A graduate of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Tompkins performs each year at universities and major churches throughout the United States. He has played recitals at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Piccolo Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, S.C.

Tompkins has also performed at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists, Association of Anglican Musicians, Music Teachers National Association, and the College Music Society. His performances have been broadcast nationally on American Public Media's PIPEDREAMS radio program.

An active church musician throughout his career, Tompkins has been organist of Greenville's historic First Baptist Church since 1997, where he presides over the largest organ in South Carolina, an 86-rank instrument by Casavant. He has served as consultant for a number of outstanding organs, including Furman's magnificent Hartness Organ, a 42-stop instrument by C.B. Fisk Organbuilders.