Church Staff
Pianist and Organist - Risa Okina
Risa Okina
Dr. Risa Okina is a theorist and collaborative pianist who has performed throughout the United States and Japan. Before moving to upstate New York, she was a much-sought-after collaborative pianist in the Philadelphia Area and regularly performed with students and local musicians. She has also collaborated with many local opera and theater groups, including the Philadelphia-based opera company, ENAensemble. She was a member of the Toradze Piano Studio, where she studied with the world-renowned pianist Alexander Toradze. She performed regularly at the Toradze Studio Recital series during her master's program.
Risa received her Ph.D. in Music Theory from Temple University, where she has taught both written and aural music theory. Her dissertation "Brahms and The Uncanny" explores the musical uncanny in the piano chamber music of Johannes Brahms, utilizing the notion of the uncanny from the perspective of the German philosophers Ernest Jentsch and Sigmund Freud. Her primary argument is that the musical uncanny acts as a hermeneutic window to reach a deeper musical meaning, which can open us up to unique interpretations.
Her research interests include Sonata Theory, Musical Semiotics, Musical Narrative, Psychoanalysis, Schenkerian Analysis, and Hermeneutic Analysis of the music of Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers. Her work has been presented in both national and international conferences, including the International Brahms Conference in Irvine, CA (2019), Music Theory Midwest Annual Conference and the Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting (2020). She was also invited as a guest scholar for the Performance and Analysis Graduate Seminar at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where she performed Brahms's Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 108 and discussed how our analysis and hauntological reading of the piece could shape our interpretations and performance. This past summer, she presented at two international conferences: The 29th European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) Conference, Belgrade, Serbia, and the 15th International Congress on Musical Signification, Barcelona, Spain.
She holds a MM in music theory from Temple University, a MM in piano performance at Indiana University South Bend, and a baccalaureate degree from the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan. She has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Temple University, a pianist for the Villanova Singers and the Main Line Singers, as well as Rowan University, and West Chester University, and an organist for Trinity Reformed UCC in Collegeville, PA, and Emanuel UCC in Philadelphia, PA.
Choir Director - Anthony Steen
Anthony Steen
Anthony Steen began attending Potsdam United Methodist Church, and immediately joined the choir in August 2023, when he moved from Troy, NY to Potsdam, NY to continue his college career.
Anthony is currently working on his bachelor's degree in Music Education at Crane. He previously received an Associates degree in Music Performance at SUNY Schenectady.
Anthony's home church is Trinity United Methodist Church in Albany, NY. Anthony was appointed Assistant Choir Director in February 2024, and Choir Director, in June of 2025. Anthony is very happy to be serving Potsdam UMC and spreading God's word through music.
Organist Emeritus - Debby Nikkari
Debby Nikkari
Debby is a native of Sebeka, Minnesota, starting as organist for her home church at the age of 11. After moving to Potsdam in 1977, she has played at numerous churches in the Potsdam-Canton area. She became the organist at the Potsdam United Methodist Church in 2009.
Debby has a BM and MM in music education from The Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. She is a retired music teacher from Potsdam Central Schools and taught piano for over 50 years. Currently she sings in the St. Lawrence University Choral Society and plays percussion in the St. Lawrence University Wind Ensemble.
She has accompanied musical performances for the Grasse River Players, Community Performance Series, area high school musicals, and various soloists at Crane and in the community. Her son Eric lives in Michigan, and her daughter Becky and partner Chris live in New Hampshire with their sons, Linus and Paavo.
Forever in our hearts - Choir Director (2007-2024) - Warren A. Potter
Warren Potter
Originally from Bombay, NY, Warren became a part of the Potsdam community and of our congregation when he began his studies at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music.
After graduation, Warren taught music at various area schools, directed several musicals, and was a popular sports broadcaster.
In 2007, after years of singing in both the Chancel Choir and the Men's Choir, Warren became the director of both, where he served until his untimely death in January 2024