The Class of 2015: 20 leaders under the age of 30

The Diapason’s second annual “20 under 30” selections came from a field that included over 130 nominations, a response that exceeded the previous year’s. The nominees were evaluated based upon information provided in the nominations; we selected only from those who had been nominated. We looked for evidence of such things as career advancement, technical skills, and creativity and innovation; we considered a nominee’s awards and competition prizes, publications and compositions, and significant positions in the mix. Our selections were not limited merely to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves and about their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

Since we had to decline multiple nominees for each one we chose, selecting only 20 from a field of very worthy nominees was quite a challenge. We encourage you to participate in the “20 under 30” awards next year—a person must be nominated in order to be selected.

 

The Diapason Staff

The Diapason’s third annual “20 Under 30” selections came from a field that included over 110 nominations. The nominees were evaluated based upon information provided in the nominations; we selected only from those who had been nominated. We looked for evidence of such things as career advancement, technical skills, and creativity and innovation; we considered a nominee’s awards and competition prizes, publications and compositions, and significant positions in the mix. Our selections were not limited merely to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord and clavichord, carillon, and church music. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves and about their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

One candidate was nominated and selected, after which it was determined the nomination contained an erroneous birth date. The candidate has an exemplary list of accomplishments to his credit; however, because he is now above the age of 30, we had to remove him from our list of 20. We are grateful for his graciousness in this process. This experience proves that all persons who submit nominations to our 20 Under 30 program must ensure that they provide accurate and confirmed birth dates for all nominees! The staff of The Diapason determined this year’s class would thus have 19 people, not 20.

In order to assure that future classes of our 20 Under 30 program continue the level of excellence of our previous three classes, the staff of The Diapason has decided that this will now be a biennial event. Nominations will again open for 20 Under 30 in December 2018 for our Class of 2019. Please carefully consider those you may know that deserve this honor and begin to take notes for your nomination. We can only honor those who are nominated.

The Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America (APOBA) is graciously providing a one-year subscription to our 20 Under 30 Class of 2017.

 

Bryan Anderson is a native of Georgia. Currently working toward a master’s degree at Rice University under Ken Cowan, Anderson’s undergraduate work was at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he earned degrees in organ (studying with Alan Morrison) and harpsichord (with Leon Schelhase). A rising concert artist, he has performed at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, Woolsey Hall at Yale, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Princeton University Chapel, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. He has been featured in performance at conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. His recent positions have been as organist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, as well as serving as an assistant organist of the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Macy’s department store for several years. During 2015–16, Anderson held the post of organ scholar at Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England. He serves as an organist at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. In addition to work as an organist, Anderson has enjoyed extensive collaboration as a chamber musician, performing many times as a continuo artist and ensemble pianist. His website is www.bryan-anderson.com.

An interesting fact: I make hobbies of longboarding and studying ancient Akkadian.

Proudest achievement: I am most proud of becoming a competent improviser (by my own standards). It was not something I was exposed to early in training, and it is relatively recently that I feel confident in that skill set, especially liturgically.

 Career aspirations and goals: One of my goals is to build church music in a place that doesn’t already enjoy a great program. If I could help make something “from the ground up,” I would consider it really useful and enjoyable work. I also aspire to be in a position (academic, ecclesiastical, or unofficial) where I could regularly present curated concerts. A concert with some kind of focus can be more rewarding than a “touring” recital program, and I would like to have more outlets in that direction.

 

Juilliard-trained organist David La’O Ball (BM 2014, MM 2016) serves as organist and assistant director of music at Christ Cathedral in Orange, California (formerly Crystal Cathedral). David is a well-lauded young performer—The New York Times declared his appearance in Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival “a rousing performance,” and his performances have been broadcast on American Public Media’s Pipedreams and New York City’s WQXR.

As part of a wide-ranging musical vision for 21st-century collaboration—a vision cultivated during his time studying at Juilliard with Paul Jacobs—Ball is committed to making the “King of Instruments” play well with others. He has spearheaded a number of chamber recitals, performed as an orchestral musician, and commissioned multiple new works for the organ. His website is www.davidballorgan.com.

The only thing matching Ball’s passion for performance is his commitment to liturgical music. From his earliest days as organ scholar under John Romeri at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Ball played and accompanied the basilica’s choirs in performances across the country and in Rome, Italy. While at Juilliard, he worked as the assistant director at St. Malachy’s—The Actors’ Chapel. Currently, as Christ Cathedral organist, Ball’s music underpins an array of services and events, accompanying the cathedral’s choirs and supporting the diocese’s diverse congregation.

An interesting fact: I only just got my driver’s license after moving to California. Starting to drive as a Southern California driver probably wasn’t the easiest introduction to the skill. Also, I’ve always been deathly afraid of roller coasters—but since my new job is essentially down the street from Disneyland, I’ve been working towards conquering that fear. Actually, the driving has helped, I think. There are plenty of similarities between riding roller coasters and driving in Southern California traffic—high speeds, sharp turns, sudden stops, especially the way I drive! 

Proudest achievement: Probably my degrees—I earned both my Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees at the Juilliard School in New York City. It was an incredible amount of work, and there were plenty of times when it certainly didn’t seem like I’d ever make it through, but I did! Ear training with Mary Anthony Cox and all!

Career aspirations and goals: Being a church musician is my passion. I love playing recitals and concerts, but I grew up as a church musician, and in the midst of a big liturgy, or a small, intimate one, is where I truly feel most fulfilled. I’m living the dream right now as a cathedral organist, and could only hope to continue doing what I’m doing, and perhaps to have a cathedral program of my own to run someday.

 

Viktoria Franken started organbuilding in 2008 at H. P. Mebold in Siegen, Germany, where she was trained in the historic craft of organbuilding and as tonal assistant. She also attended the Oscar Walcker School for Organbuilding in Ludwigsburg, Germany, where she earned a certificate of completion as well as a certificate of apprenticeship in organbuilding from the chamber of crafts in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2012 she began work at Killinger Pfeifen, Freiberg, Germany, where she mastered special skills in assembling and prevoicing reed pipes.

Since 2015 she has worked for John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois, as a tonal assistant. She is responsible for soldering, pipe repairs, racking, and pipe-related woodworking. She is being trained in all aspects of voicing and placement of pipes in the organ.

An interesting fact: I love being out in my yard gardening, growing vegetables, as well as cooking. 

Proudest achievement: Growing up in a small village and working in a five-person shop, I never imagined being anywhere else other than in Germany. Now I live in the United States and work at places I just knew from television previously. I’m proud having this awesome opportunity and loving what I do for work.

Career aspirations and goals: I want to become a voicer! Creating sounds that will touch people deep in their souls and make them feel them just like I was touched by sounds as a little kid.

 

Christopher Grills is leading a multifaceted career as clavichordist, harpsichordist, church musician, opera director, and tuning and temperament scholar. Grills’s special affinity for the clavichord has brought him to attention on the international music scene. In 2013 he performed on the clavichord at Musica Antiqua a Magnano in Italy, and in May 2017 he will perform at the Nordic Historical Keyboard Festival in Finland. 

Originally from Joplin, Missouri, Grills is the first student in North America to pursue graduate studies focused on the clavichord. He earned his Master of Music in historical performance at Boston University under the tutelage of Peter Sykes and received a full-tuition scholarship to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the same institution. He has been featured in interviews in The Joplin Globe and in Tangents, the bulletin of the Boston Clavichord Society.

Grills is a collaborative keyboardist and performs harpsichord continuo with the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra and the Boston University Baroque Orchestra. He is currently co-directing the Boston premiere of the Hasse opera Alcide al Bivio with the Harvard Early Music Society. He is organist at First Congregational Church in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

An interesting fact: At age 12, I wrote a historical monologue on Thomas Jefferson and performed it in period costume, which won an award in a competition called National History Day. I was later invited to reprise it at the annual Fourth of July celebration at the U.S. National Archives.

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement is overcoming the limitations of my autism, learning how to interact with and love others, and getting to where I am in life now. I feel like I’ve become an inspiration for other young people with disabilities—nothing can stop us from achieving our dreams! 

Career aspirations and goals: I plan to continue to professionally promote, on both a local and global scale, an interest in and awareness of historical performance practices in all musicians at all levels of musical instruction, as well as the broader inclusion of the clavichord in the 21st-century musical scene. Upon completing my doctorate, I hope to secure a music director position that can provide the financial stability to pursue my dreams and a venue to create and inspire music among congregants and the general public alike. I aim to eventually direct my own Baroque orchestra and perform and record lesser-known solo keyboard, chamber, orchestral, and opera works.

 

Nathaniel Gumbs is a native of the Bronx, New York, and is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, studying with David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He received the Master of Music degree in organ performance from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Shenandoah Conservatory, Winchester, Virginia. His former teachers include Martin Jean and Steven Cooksey. As a young artist, Gumbs has performed recitals throughout the United States and has played many historic instruments in Paris and Rome through Shenandoah Conservatory and in Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig through the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. His playing has been described by music critics as “mature, lyrical, accurate, and energetic.” Nathaniel was recently mentioned in the New York Times for playing with “deft and feeling” on his duo recording with bass-baritone Dashon Burton. In April 2016, he was featured on the American Public Media broadcast Pipedreams Live!. Gumbs has also earned Service Playing and Colleague certifications from the American Guild of Organists. He is currently the director of music and arts and church organist at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

An interesting fact: I love fine dining experiences, traveling, and playing gospel music on the piano!

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement is being accepted to two of the finest institutions for organ and sacred music (Yale and Eastman) and studying with two awesome pedagogues (Martin Jean and David Higgs). Another proud achievement is serving as director of music for Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, one of the largest African American churches in North Carolina.

Career aspirations and goals: I plan to have a thriving career as a concert organist, teach at a major conservatory, and be a significant figure in church music. 

 

A native of Talladega, Alabama, Christopher Henley serves as organist of Anniston First United Methodist Church, where he provides service music for the traditional worship services, manages the Soli Deo Gloria Concert Series, and accompanies various vocal and instrumental ensembles. Prior to his service at Anniston First United Methodist Church, he served as organist of the First United Methodist Churches in Talladega and Pell City, Alabama. He is the founder and artistic director of The Noble Camerata, an auditioned vocal ensemble that sings choral services in the Anniston, Alabama, area and seasonal concerts. Henley also serves on the faculty of the Community Music School of the University of Alabama, where he is an instructor of piano. Henley is currently a senior in pursuit of the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance at University of Alabama, where he studies with Faythe Freese. He is an active member of the American Guild of Organists and University of Alabama Music Teachers National Association. For the AGO, he was appointed as a member of the executive board for the AGO Young Organists initiative for the Southeast Region.

An interesting fact: Growing up, I worked with my father in our family business, Talladega Auto Parts. I stocked shelves, managed office work, and worked with customers. Even now, I work with my dad during my off-seasons! 

Proudest achievement: Being named a member of the 2017 class of “20 Under 30” alongside several friends and colleagues is a tremendous honor. 

Career aspirations and goals: I desire to work full-time in a church music program, either as organist or organist and choirmaster. While I enjoy performing recitals, I feel a deep calling to a life of service in the church.

 

Jeremy Paul Jelinek is an undergraduate in the organ studio of David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Thanks to an exchange program, in 2016–2017 he studies interprétation d’orgue (performance) with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard and organ improvisation with Laszlo Fassang at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP). While in France, he maintains an active concert schedule. 

Sacred music is his purest joy; he is interested particularly in early music. Jelinek has developed a rigorous study and a passion in French Classical organ music, having given classes on this subject. He is student at l’École du Chœur grégorien de Paris, where he studies interpretation, semiology, and history of chant, singing offices and Masses. As a church musician, he has held various positions at Calvary Church, St. Andrew’s Church, and St. Anthony’s Chapel (Pittsburgh), and Christ Church (Rochester). He is the recipient of several organ competition prizes and awards. Jelinek “interpret[s] . . . with aplomb . . .
demonstrating impressive technical facility” (The American Organist, September 2016) and “play[s] with elegance and assurance” (The Diapason, November 2016). He is also a composer, notably of choral works, and has written for several ensembles.  

An interesting fact: I am most inspired in all aspects of my life as musician by the ancient chant melodies and the vast body of choral and instrumental music that chant has influenced. 

Proudest achievement: Studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP).

Career aspirations and goals: As a performer, it is my sincerest hope, amidst this complicated world, to transcend hearts and minds towards something greater. As a church musician and leader, I want to share all that I have with others, and in doing so, preserve tradition and nurture music of the highest quality.

 

American organist Weston Jennings is quickly establishing himself as a talented and engaging international performer. Having first encountered the pipe organ at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp (Michigan) at the age of 16, he later graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy. At the Eastman School of Music, Jennings earned his Bachelor of Music degree and the Performer’s Certificate. In May 2017, he will graduate from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music with his Master of Music degree. 

Prior to his graduate studies, he completed two years in England as the organ scholar of Canterbury Cathedral and Chelmsford Cathedral. During this time, he was also appointed the first organ scholar to the Royal Festival Hall, London. 

His organ teachers include Thomas Murray, Michel Bouvard, Hans Davidsson, David Higgs, and Thomas Bara. Following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) in 2009, he has performed across the United States and Europe, including Westminster Abbey (London), St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue (New York), the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles), the Chapel of the Queen’s College (Oxford), Royaumont Abbey (France), and the Berliner Dom (Germany).

His website is www.westonjennings.com.

An interesting fact: I own a small collection of typewriters from just after the Second World War. Occasionally, I put them to good use, and type letters to friends and family.

Proudest achievement: Earning the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.

Career aspirations and goals: Following graduation from Yale, I aspire to further develop my concert career, as well as continue my work as a sacred musician. Teaching has always been a particular joy for me, and I would like this to play a larger role in my future career.

 

Jerin J. Kelly has been working for Goulding & Wood of Indianapolis, Indiana, since the summer of 2012. Prior to that, he was a student at Herron School of Art & Design, where he earned the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in furniture design. Since starting at G&W he has been active in the construction of two new organs, Opus 50 in Lexington, Kentucky, and Opus 51 in Mobile, Alabama. He has also worked on numerous renovations and major repairs. His responsibilities in the shop include building off-note chests, expression boxes, general structure, and pipe racking. In addition to building pipe organs, he also leads a service crew, tuning and maintaining about 200 pipe organs in the eastern United States.

An interesting fact: I play guitar and harmonica in an Americana group called Bigfoot Yancey. Our first full-length album, Hills, was released on April 28. 

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement is at the end of any organ installation—seeing these beautiful architectural-scale instruments in their environment, and knowing that I’m part of a crew that can pull off such a project. As an art school graduate, finding myself in the company of such talented craftsmen is quite an achievement.

Career aspirations and goals: My goals are to get better at what I do, to become a more efficient builder and more knowledgeable technician. I’ve been in this profession for five years. There’s still a lot to learn.

 

Edward Landin is a graduate of the St. Thomas Choir School, Interlochen Arts Academy, and
Westminster Choir College. His principal organ teachers have been Thomas Bara and Ken Cowan. Further studies and coachings have been with Roberta Gary, David Higgs, Susan Landale, Marie-Louise Langlais, Kimberly Marshall, Paula Pugh Romanaux, Kathleen Scheide, and Carole Terry.

Currently the assistant director of music at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, his duties include directing numerous children’s and handbell choirs and serving as principal accompanist for the 65-member Sanctuary Choir. In addition to recitals at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and St. Thomas Church in New York City and Old West Church, Boston, Landin has also performed in France, Germany, and Wales.

A major interest in contemporary organ music, particularly by American composers, led Landin to commission E, Fantasia, and Parodies by Kathleen Scheide; Praeludium and Psalm 139 by Pamela Decker; Prelude on the Carillon d’Alet by Craig Phillips; and Exordium by Carson Cooman. A collection of Landin’s own compositions, Flourishes and Reflections—Organ Music for Service or Recital was recently released by Lorenz. More information may be found on his website: www.edwardlandin.com.

An interesting fact: I am a major animal lover (currently have two dogs and two cats) and a longtime figure skating fan. Michelle Kwan’s autograph is one of my prized possessions!

Proudest achievement: The recent publication of some of my compositions by Lorenz was a wonderful achievement for me. I hope it’s only the beginning of my work as a composer.

Career aspirations and goals: Each piece I have commissioned by Carson Cooman, Pamela Decker, Craig Phillips, and Kathleen Scheide has been a wonderful experience. Keeping the organ alive includes adding new and fresh repertoire to all the wonderful music that is already out there.

 

Christopher Lynch is Fellow in Church Music at Trinity Cathedral, Portland, Oregon. He sang in the boy choir at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, before attending the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey. Lynch studied organ performance at Indiana University (IU), where his teachers included Janette Fishell, Bruce Neswick, Jeffrey Smith, and Christopher Young. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from IU.

Before coming to Trinity, Lynch served on the music staff of Episcopal churches throughout the country, including St. Mark’s Cathedral (Shreveport, Louisiana), Trinity Church (Bloomington, Indiana), and St. Paul’s, K Street (Washington, D.C.). In these appointments, he has been mentored by such noted church musicians as Bruce Neswick, Robert McCormick, and Marilyn Keiser. 

A member of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians, Lynch is a frequent staff member for the Royal School of Church Music’s summer courses, including RSCM Pacific Northwest, where he has served as course organist.

An interesting fact: When not on the organ bench, I love hiking and exploring the limitless beauty the Pacific Northwest has to offer!

Proudest achievement: I find myself most proud as a teacher. In the several music programs that I’ve been a part of where boys’ and girls’ choirs are one of our main areas of focus, I find there is nothing more satisfying than witnessing the development of a chorister and getting to introduce them to music that is hugely important to me and will hopefully be equally important to them in their lives.

Career aspirations and goals: I aspire to be an organist/choirmaster for a large, vibrant church music program like the many I’ve been privileged to be a part of as a chorister and organist.

 

Patrick Parker is minister of music and organist at Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lake Charles, Louisiana, artistic director of Houston Baroque, and artistic director of Renaissance Southwest. He can be heard on recordings through Raven: Houston Baroque’s My Soul Sees and Hears featuring music by Buxtehude and Handel; Rheinberger: Songs and Sonatas with Katie Clark, mezzo-soprano; and the complete works of van Eijken (winter 2018). As a concert organist, Parker’s repertoire includes the complete solo organ works of Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and others. Major performance venues include St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Grace Episcopal Church (New York City); Cathedral of St. Philip (Atlanta); St. Cecilia Cathedral (Omaha); Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and Christ Church Cathedral (Houston); Trinity Cathedral (Cleveland); Grace Church Cathedral (Charleston); Cathedral Church of St. John (Albuquerque); La Madeleine (Paris); Wells Cathedral (England); Nieuwe Kerke (Amsterdam); Auferstehungs-kirche and Michaeliskirche (Leipzig); and Michaeliskirche (Hamburg). In 2015, Parker resided in Leipzig and performed on historic organs throughout Europe. He holds degrees from Cleveland Institute of Music and University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance from University of Houston. His website is: www.patrickaaronparker.com.

An interesting fact: I grew up in a very small town in North Carolina, and as a child I loved country music and wanted to be the next Vince Gill. I did not really know what classical music was until I was 16 or so, and never heard or saw an organ until I was a freshman in college! Now I’ve gone to the other side of the spectrum and love listening to Bruckner and Wagner (especially Parsifal).

Proudest achievement: I am always proud when I get to expose people to organ and church music and share my passion with them. The greatest source of pride for me comes from first-time performances of masterworks. There is something very special, vulnerable, and memorable in asking an audience to sit with me and share time together while we go through the process of a major cyclical work. I played Bach’s Clavierübung III during Reformation in 2010; playing Messiaen’s Les Corps Glorieux in Memphis recently was another very special experience. I’m looking forward to doing Messiaen’s Harawi with my friend, soprano Julia Fox, this summer and Livre du Saint Sacrement next season.

Career aspirations and goals: I get to wake up every day and do what I love for a living. My biggest goal is to remember that and stay grateful for the absolutely wonderful life I have. I believe that if I can stay in gratitude and focus on connecting with others through music, the rest of my career will fall into place organically.

 

Nicholas Quardokus is a first-year student in organ in the Master of Music degree program at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, New Haven, Connecticut, where he studies with Martin Jean. Quardokus concurrently serves as organ scholar at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, as well as at Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. A recent graduate of Indiana University, he completed his Bachelor of Music degree with highest distinction at the Jacobs School of Music with a major in organ performance and minor in early music, studying with Janette Fishell. Solo performances have included recitals throughout the Midwest and East Coast, including the American Guild of Organists Region V Convention in 2013 and a “Rising Star” recital at the AGO National Convention in Boston in 2014. In 2014, he was awarded first prize and hymn prize in the Young Professional Division of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition. In addition, he was one of the featured organists at the 2015 Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. His performances have been heard broadcast across the nation on public radio’s Harmonia Early Music and Pipedreams.

An interesting fact: In my spare time I enjoy baking, especially chocolate chip cookies and focaccia bread.

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement has been working for the parishes I’ve served thus far, in Indianapolis and New Haven. Whether it be something special, like being the organist for a tour of English cathedrals, or something more routine such as playing Sunday services or helping train choristers, my hope has been to make a small, subtle difference by living out my vocation each day. That’s what I find extremely rewarding.

Career goals and aspirations: My goal for my career is first of all, to be a church musician. I feel very strongly that church music is as important an effort and vocation as anything we can do as organists. I hope someday to be a part of a parish that trains both children and adults to be good musicians and good people. My goal is to create music that does not merely enhance worship, but rather music that is an integral part of worship.

 

Latvian Brazilian Cristiano Rizzotto is a doctoral candidate at the American Organ Institute at the University of Oklahoma, under John Schwandt, and is the organist and choirmaster at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Magna cum Laude, 2010), where he studied under Miriam Grosman (piano) and Alexandre Rachid (organ). He was awarded second place at the XVIII ArtLivre National Piano Competition in São Paulo.

Before moving to the United States, Rizzotto served as titular organist at the Benedictine Abbey in Rio de Janeiro, where the monks have kept the tradition of the chants and liturgy alive since 1590. The abbey organ, built in 1773 and later expanded in the 20th century, is one of the oldest organs in South America.

Rizzotto moved to the United States to study with Andrew Scanlon at East Carolina University, and earned a master’s degree in sacred music in 2013. He became a published composer when his Toccata was released by Wayne Leupold Editions in 2014. He is an active recitalist, having performed in 20 American states, Europe, and South America. Cristiano and Clara Rizzotto married in Alaska in 2015 and are expecting their first child to be born this summer. His website is www.cristianorizzotto.com.

An interesting fact: I am fascinated by the aurora borealis, and that is one of the reasons behind my constant, lifelong pursuit of the North. Other reasons are that I love cold, and winter is my favorite season of the year. I even started learning Bokmål as a result of this passion for all things Northern. A funny fact: When I did my master’s audition at ECU, I had just heard of the existence of organ shoes. I auditioned wearing regular shoes, and the jury called me up front afterwards to take a closer look at my footwear. I remember the surprise of one of the jury members: “How can you play Langlais wearing that?”

Proudest achievement: I am proud to be happily married to my dear Clara, who is an accomplished medical physicist, an incredible Renaissance woman, and a supportive and truly wonderful person. She is an incalculable blessing in my life.

Career aspirations and goals: My aspiration is to contribute to the enrichment of the organ and choral music landscape in liturgical and performing contexts. One way to do this is to continue to present Latvian repertoire for organ and choir to audiences throughout the world. The history of Latvia, the Singing Nation, is deeply connected to music that ennobles the people and strengthens their faith. Another way of doing this is to continue to promote talented musicians through the International Concert Series I established in the Twin Cities and by connecting musicians throughout the world for concerts in the United States and abroad. Finally, I want to keep working with choirs, adults and children, teaching them chant and the Church’s inestimable treasure of sacred music, which reflects the beauty of the Eternal.

 

Sarah Simko, a master’s degree student at the University of Michigan, studies organ with Kola Owolabi. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied organ with Nathan Laube, Edoardo Bellotti, William Porter, and Hans Davidsson. During her time at Eastman, she also studied harpsichord with Bellotti and Porter. A native of Rochester, Michigan, she was a scholarship winner of the Detroit Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in 2008, 2010, and 2011. She has since been invited back as a member of the jury. Sarah was recently named the winner of the Schoenstein Competition in the Art of Organ Accompaniment, hosted at the University of Michigan this past March. She was also the recipient of the 2010 Marilyn Mason Young Musician’s Scholarship from the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. She has performed in masterclasses with Marilyn Mason, David Wagner, Ken Cowan, Bruce Neswick, and Olivier Latry. Simko is currently the organ scholar at Christ Church Cranbrook. Previously, she held positions at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Greece, New York, and University Presbyterian Church, Rochester, Michigan.

An interesting fact: I got my first bottle of crazy nail polish in the second grade: neon blue! Since then, I have developed quite the collection, and a penchant for fancy toe nails. I’d paint my fingers, but the crazy designs are too distracting when practicing!    

Proudest achievement: I have been very fortunate to travel quite frequently for musical reasons. Growing up, my high school church choir at University Presbyterian Church went on a spring tour every year. After graduation, I was invited back as an accompanist and assistant director. With the Agape Singers, I have been to New York, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Ireland, and Scotland. Whenever we travel, we visit major attractions, but perform in smaller, more intimate venues. It is a truly humbling experience to share the gift of music with people from all walks of life at these concerts. The shared joy is a constant reminder of why music is such an important art. As an undergraduate student, I was able to travel to Northern Germany for the Arp Schnitger organ competition, first as a registrant and later as a competitor. It is impossible to not fall in love with those instruments or the repertoire! The colors of those instruments have a way of sticking with you and driving your creativity to find those sounds long after you return home. Now as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, my colleagues and I are preparing for an amazing trip to France this summer! Cavaillé-Colls, here we come!

Career aspirations and goals: I would like to be an organ professor at a university someday. I have had and continue to have the most amazing mentors and teachers. They have always supported me in all my endeavors without quelling my musical ideas. They are a constant reminder of what it means to work hard and to work for others. I want to be a mentor for future students and inspire them to pursue their dreams.

 

The meticulous technique, innate yet highly mature musicality, and constant musical engagement exhibited by Joshua Stafford compelled the jury of the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition to name him, out of 12 stellar competitors, the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize Winner of this illustrious event, earning him a cash award of $40,000. Already in demand as a recitalist and improviser, Stafford has performed at many notable venues. His recital at the 2015 conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians was hailed as “technically flawless yet exceptionally nuanced and spontaneous.” Recordings of his performances have been aired on American Public Media’s Pipedreams and WRTI’s Wanamaker Organ Hour.

A native of Jamestown, New York, Stafford received the Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010 as a 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 and Jeffrey Brillhart.

Stafford is director of music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey, where he conducts an RSCM-based program with choirs of boys, girls, and adults. The chorister program is paired with an after-school outreach program for the city’s underserved children, offering excellent music education at no cost.

An interesting fact: When I was in high school, I played for a weekly AM radio show on a Hammond spinet, broadcast live from a Friendly’s Restaurant! 

Proudest achievement: I’d have to say winning the Longwood Gardens competition, especially while maintaining a full-time church job!

Career aspirations and goals: My goal is really to continue doing what I do now, maintaining a balance of church work and a recital career. I feel very fortunate to be in a parish that has been incredibly supportive of both the program here and of my performing. It’s so rewarding to see the progress of choristers and to be able to have daily rehearsals singing much of the great Anglican choral repertoire!

 

Michael Sutcliffe grew up in Tolland, Connecticut, only minutes away from the organ shop where he would eventually begin his career. He has had a lifelong passion for music and began studying guitar at age eight. Relentless tinkering also defined his early years. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2010 with a degree in sociology and came to work at Foley-Baker, Inc., starting in the leather shop. Upon returning to UConn part-time for a Master of Business Administration degree, he was promoted to general manager at Foley-Baker. Since then, he has overseen all of Foley-Baker’s major reconditioning projects, ensuring they are completed on time and under budget.

An interesting fact: I enjoy riding motorcycles, even in the chilly Connecticut weather.

Proudest achievement: Being a part of the team that reconditioned the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ in Portland, Maine. Standing on stage with the rest of the Foley-Baker crew during the dedication was surreal.

Career aspirations and goals: I’d like to open more regional Foley-Baker branches and eventually turn the company into a nationwide chain of full-service locations.

 

Brian Tang is an associate carillonist at the University of California, Berkeley. He studied carillon as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley with Jeff Davis, and later with Geert D’hollander. Since his induction into the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 2010, he has given recitals across North America and Europe, including at the International Carillon Festivals in Springfield (2013) and Barcelona (2016). In the 2014 Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition at Mechelen, Belgium, he was awarded second prize and the SABAM (Belgian Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers) prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary Belgian work. Brian Tang regularly produces carillon arrangements and transcriptions, one of which received first prize at a contest for the 2016 GCNA Congress at Yale University. In addition to the carillon, he plays the piano and is an erstwhile cellist.

An interesting fact: I have been an appreciative host to a family of chinchillas for the past few years.

Proudest achievement: Live music is such an ephemeral art, and carillonneurs are physically removed and usually anonymous to their audience, so it’s particularly rewarding when somebody can recall a performance from the distant past and tells me that I impacted their day.

Career goals and aspirations: My goal as a performer is to share under-appreciated music and assist with the development of the carillon as a concert instrument. One day, I hope to contribute original compositions to the carillon repertoire.

 

Janet Yieh, 24, a native of Alexandria, Virginia, is pursuing her Master of Music degree with Thomas Murray at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and School of Music, New Haven, Connecticut. She also serves as organ scholar at Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green, New Haven, under the direction of Walden Moore, and as director of music at Berkeley Divinity School. Yieh is a graduate of the Juilliard School (Bachelor of Music degree in organ, 2015) and former assistant organist of Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City.

Winner of the 2015 Franciscan Monastery and Washington, D.C., Chapter of the American Guild of Organists Young Organist Competition, as well as the 2015 Northern Virginia and Potomac and 2013 Philadelphia AGO Quimby competitions, Yieh performs around the United States and Asia, with highlights including Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington National Cathedral, St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei, and Momoyama St. Andrew’s University Chapel, Japan. As a collaborator, she has accompanied the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center and NOVUS NY Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and she has premiered new music for the organ. Her playing has been broadcast on Pipedreams, New York’s WQXR and WWFM stations, and is featured on two CD recordings. A pianist from age 4 and violinist from 7, Janet began organ lessons at 11 with a scholarship from the Potomac Organ Institute. She is a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and has earned the Colleague certificate of the AGO. Former teachers include Paul Jacobs, John Walker, Wayne Earnest, and Victoria Shields. Her website is www.janetyieh.com.

An interesting fact: I’m allergic to cats, avocados, and cats named Avocado!

Proudest achievement: Twice a week at Trinity Church, I teach our youngest third and fourth grade choristers, and I’m the proudest when I see how truly excited those brilliant, funny kids get about music and those lightbulb moments.

 Career aspirations and goals: I have a long wishlist of repertoire I’d like to learn, from Clavierübung III to Duruflé and transcriptions, and I hope to always continue learning, performing, and sharing the music that I love with audiences! My music teachers and church community encouraged me to pursue the organ, and I aspire to give back in those same ways by bringing the excellence of our conservatory training to service playing, choir training, and hopefully one day directing music in my own parish or cathedral!

Linda Dzuris

A native of Michigan, Linda Dzuris is professor of music and university carillonneur at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. She is also organist at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

On the last day of September in this, the University of Michigan’s bicentennial year, a conference on the music of Louis Vierne, presented by the university in partnership with the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, was dedicated to concert organist and pedagogue, Robert Glasgow. It was a unique opportunity to hear all six of Vierne’s organ symphonies, several of his character pieces and chamber music, plus works by Vierne’s mentors and students.

 

September 30

The conference began on the evening of September 30 with the final round of the university’s sixth annual Organ Improvisation Competition at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. Competitors were given two themes and required to improvise a three-movement symphonic suite on the church’s three-manual, 42-rank Schoenstein organ. 

First prize was awarded to Matt Gender, a Doctor of Musical Arts student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, where he has studied with James Higdon and Michael Bauer. Second prize and the audience prize were awarded to Joe Balestreri, director of music for the Archdiocese of Detroit and episcopal music director at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, as well as a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2015. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied with James Kibbie. Third prize was awarded to Sandor Kadar, organist at First Presbyterian Church of West Chester, Pennsylvania. In addition to studying improvisation privately with Jeffrey Brillhart, he holds degrees in organ performance, sacred music, and conducting from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.  

The judges were Ellen Rowe, professor of jazz and contemporary improvisation, University of Michigan; Edward Maki-Schramm, director of music, Christ Church, Detroit, and conductor of the Community Chorus of Detroit; and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, hymn festival leader, workshop clinician, and author of music literacy books for children, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sponsorship was provided by the American Center for Church Music, First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, and the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. 

 

October 1

“Music of Vierne for Choir, Voice, Brass, & Organ” was the title of the opening concert on Sunday, October 1, in the historic Norman Gothic stone edifice of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. Utilizing both the church’s original 1925 three-manual, 50-rank Casavant Frères organ and its 2003 two-manual, 29-rank Austin organ, the Detroit Archdiocesan Chorus and the Cathedral Singers (Cathedral Church of St. Paul) joined their voices under the direction of Jeremy David Tarrant to present Vierne’s Messe solennelle, op. 16. Trumpets, trombones, and timpani combined with Naki Sung Kripfgans at the organ for the performance of Marche triomphale du centenaire de Napoléon I, op. 46, conducted by Elliot Tackitt. Andrew Meagher accompanied soprano Kathy Meagher in the performance of Les Angélus, op. 57. Vierne’s Tantum ergo, op. 2, and Carillon de Westminster, op. 54, no. 6, were heard before the program moved to the music of other Notre Dame musicians: Ubi caritas by Maurice Duruflé and Olivier Latry’s Salve Regina with Joe Balistreri at the organ.

Later that evening, concert attendees traveled down Woodward Avenue to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul for a gala organ recital by Martin Jean, a former student of Robert Glasgow, current professor at Yale University, and highly acclaimed American organist. Employing all the nuances available from the Opus 23 organ by D. F. Pilzecker & Company of Toledo, Ohio (with several rescaled/revoiced stops from the 1923 Austin and 1951 Casavant instruments), Dr. Jean gave eloquent performances of Widor’s Symphonie Romane, op. 73, and Vierne’s Symphonie V in A Minor, op.47.

 

October 2

Monday commenced with a full morning of presentations at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor that were thoughtfully constructed, earnestly delivered, and well received. Of particular interest to any who knew or heard Robert Glasgow perform was the announcement of plans for making available extant recordings of past performances, many currently on reel-to-reel tape. Jeremy David Tarrant, former student of Professor Glasgow at the University of Michigan and later executor of his mentor and friend’s estate, would like to release a two-CD set that would include recordings made from a 1995 Organ Historical Society Convention recital in Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, among other select events. Another goal is to have concerts available for download on a Robert Glasgow website. 

Mr. Tarrant also presented a survey of Vierne’s Pièces de fantaisie, which included live performance of several of the pieces. Jeremy David Tarrant serves as organist and choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Detroit, adjunct professor of organ at Oakland University, and is an active concert organist. The University of Michigan Department of Organ especially recognized him for initiating the partnership between the cathedral and the university that brought this conference concept to realization. 

Jason Alden of Alden Organ Services served on the faculty of Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois, and Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan. His performance and commentary had us take a closer look at Vierne’s 24 pièces en style libre, while later in the day he gave us a skillful rendering of the composer’s Symphonie IV in G Minor, op. 32.

“Our Vierne” was a thought-provoking session led by Lawrence Archbold, professor of music emeritus, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, that considered Louis Vierne and his output from the viewpoint of various sub-categories of old and new musicology. History and values for “Old Musicology” covered aspects of biography, score editing, musical form, genealogy, and style analysis. “New Musicology” pushed us further as we considered how music is used and issues such as feminist critique, nationalism, personal stories, and liminal spaces. Good thesis topics.

After some midday free time, the 71 conference registrants and 20 students were invited to watch Vincent Dubois, the newest appointed titular organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, teach a masterclass at Hill Auditorium on the Ann Arbor campus. Clair de lune, op. 53, no. 5; Impromptu, op. 54, no. 2; and Lied, op. 31, no.17, were played by undergraduates Julian Goods, Jennifer Shin, and Matthew Durham, respectively. Much attention was paid to the musical shaping of phrases within all pieces, and each student responded well to the animated coaching given by Monsieur Dubois.

“Gems of the Flemish Romantic with an American Interlude” filled the air around Burton Memorial Tower as the sun began to set. The Charles Baird Carillon consists of 53 bells weighing about 43 tons and was played beautifully with tremolo galore by Jeremy Chesman, university carillonist and professor of music at Missouri State University, Springfield. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he was the first person to earn a Master of Music degree in carillon performance.  

Of course, no university conference would be complete without a faculty recital, and we were not disappointed with the evening’s musical offering on the Frieze Memorial Organ, a Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner instrument, since rebuilt, in Hill Auditorium. There are 120 ranks (12 from the 1893 organ built by Farrand & Votey Company of Detroit for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago) with four additional ranks available in the Echo division. James Kibbie, the chair of the organ department and university organist, performed Vierne’s Symphonie VI in B Minor, op. 59, with a mastery of expressiveness and precision. Associate professor of organ Kola Owolabi paired the symphony with a dynamic performance of Prélude, Adagio, et Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator, op. 4, by Maurice Duruflé and called to mind the connection between the two musicians in his program notes.  

 

October 3

The first morning session on Tuesday was an eye- and ear-opener. Michael Barone, host of Pipedreams from American Public Media, presented an illustrated talk, “Louis Vierne: His Other Music,” accompanied by recordings of much-overlooked compositions. Vierne gave us 17 opuses for organ, but there are 45 opuses of other music. We listened to works including Largo et Canzonetta for oboe and piano written early in his career, a few of his numerous pieces for piano, excerpts from an orchestral symphony and a rhapsody for harp written a few years after his second organ symphony, a piano quintet from 1917 composed for the death of his youngest son, and Vierne’s op. 61 from 1931, La ballade du déspéré, orchestrated by Maurice Duruflé. Mr. Barone certainly proved there is a trove of worthy music by Louis Vierne besides those works written for solo organ.

Sarah Simko, a master’s student at the University of Michigan and a member of The Diapason’s 20 under 30 Class of 2017, performed Symphonie III in F-sharp Minor, op.28, in a mid-morning recital at Hill Auditorium, holding the audience captivated from beginning to end. A long line of appreciative listeners waited to praise her, as it was an exhilarating performance.

Attendees and the greater Ann Arbor community experienced the unusual treat of seeing at ground level, rather than having to ascend a tower, how a carillon is played by means of a full 48-bell (26,000 lb.) carillon attached to a flatbed of a semi truck. Tiffany Ng, assistant professor and university carillonist at Michigan, secured a bicentennial celebration grant from the university to bring the Mobile Millennium Carillon in from the Chime Master Company of Lancaster, Ohio. Three of Dr. Ng’s current carillon students performed pieces for a masterclass outside Rackham Auditorium. Jeremy Chesman, who performed a solo concert the previous evening, delivered helpful instruction while maneuvering between the small cabin housing the playing console and street level via a small ladder. Kevin Yang, Rachael Park, and Michelle Lam each quickly adjusted their playing to produce more sensitive delivery of musical passages.

Students continued in the spotlight as six studying with James Kibbie and Kola Owolabi took the stage back at Hill Auditorium. Jennifer Shin, Joe Mutone, Dean Robinson, James Renfer, Sherri Brown, and Joseph Moss each played a movement of Symphonie I in D Minor, op. 14, competently representing the strength of the organ department.

The afternoon sessions reconvened at First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor where Naki Sung Kripfgans is organist.  She is also a staff collaborative pianist for the University of Michigan string department and university choir. In her presentation on “Vierne’s Harmonic Language,” Dr. Kripfgans posed questions about impressionism and how the label may or may not work in reference to the composer’s various works. 

Then we had soup—literally. A local chef demonstrated how to make the base for a classic bouillabaisse or seafood stew from the port city of Marseilles during her presentation “A Taste of France with Christine Miller.” When it was ready, sampling for all commenced.

A sweeter treat awaited us in the sanctuary. More intimate than the other venues we had been in, the space was a good choice for pianist Nicole Keller from Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio, with the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance’s Ivalas Quartet members (violinists Anita Dumar and Reuben Kebede, violist Caleb Georges, and cellist Pedro Sánchez) and award-winning Australian cellist Richard Narroway. Mr. Narroway, who is pursuing a doctoral degree with Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan, played Cello Sonata, op. 27, written when Vierne was 40 and prior to his third organ symphony. The performance was followed by String Quartet, op. 12, written some 16 years earlier. Deeply committed to sharing string quartet repertoire both new and old, the Ivalas Quartet graciously answered questions posed by Michael Barone after their spirited performance. We learned that op. 12 is the first composition by Vierne the musicians have taken on, and that they were not familiar with any of his chamber pieces beforehand. The quartet agreed they did find it an interesting composition and they would indeed continue to hone the work to include on future programs.

The penultimate conference event was a faculty recital by Tiffany Ng. Again, the Mobile Millennium Carillon was featured as she played selections in tribute to Louis Vierne including an athletic piece that referenced the Westminster chime and an arrangement of Ravel’s impressionist-style La vallée des cloches. Dr. Ng is responsible for the commissioning of several pieces, three of which were heard Tuesday evening. An advocate of new music for carillon with a social significance, she programmed Ashti by Jung Sun Kang (b. 1983) first. The composer, a Korean immigrant, was moved by the story of an artist acquaintance, an Afghan refugee.  

Handbells and mobile carillon combined during an alumni spotlight to allow Dr. Ng to relocate to Burton Tower’s instrument. Student carillonist Michelle Lam was joined by Handbell Adventure, and was directed by Wm. Jean Randall for the performance of a recent composition by Joseph D. Daniel. Mr. Daniel is an organ department graduate, composer, and member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. He was happy to be in attendance to hear his Five Miniatures (2106) for the first time while not having to direct or play. 

At the Charles Baird Carillon, Dr. Ng gave us some special collaborative, electroacoustic music composed in 2017. The first of two commissions in this portion of the recital was The Seer by Laura Steenberge (b. 1981), who describes this scene: “High in her tower, [the Seer] weaves space and time together with the vibrations of the ringing bells.” And the second commission, Euler’s Bell by John Granzow (b. 1976), seamlessly merged live performance with pre-recorded sounds created to showcase the connection between bells and history in the following way as noted by the composer: 

 

As history tells, bells are shattered in their belfries for easy transport to military furnaces. If the bell withstands the concussion, it may rebound and spin on its mouth’s edge with ratios of wobble to rotation redolent of Euler’s Disk, a physics toy used to investigate this type of oscillation. Euler’s Bell integrates the sound of such a bell wobbling on the hard ground, a sound that might forestall, just briefly (and yet longer than you might expect) the perennial recycling of metals and history.

Dr. Granzow is an assistant professor in the University of Michigan Department of Performing Arts Technology. His resulting eerie sonance with Dr. Ng was stunning.

Recently appointed continuing guest artist at the University of Michigan, Vincent Dubois regaled us with a closing concert that completed our journey through the organ symphonies of Vierne as he expertly performed Symphony II in E Minor, op. 20, followed by Dupré’s Symphonie-Passion, op. 23. With a rousing, grand finale send-off in the form of an improvisation on the name of Louis VIERNE, it was farewell until the next annual organ conference.

André Lash

André Lash earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music and earlier degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Pittsburg (Kansas) State University. He is currently lecturer in organ at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists.

The presence of two American organists as recitalists and lecturers at the Beijing Baroque Music Festival in November 2017 can be seen as significant, not only in extending to the organ the ongoing musical interchange between China and the United States but also in demonstrating the ascendant importance of the organ in the People’s Republic of China. The history of the organ in China is a checkered one: the pan pipe and the sheng (mouth organ), predecessors to the modern organ, are known to have existed during the Yin dynasty (1401–1121 B.C.), and modern organs were first introduced in China during the 1600s.¹ During years of relative isolation in the twentieth century Chinese organ culture waned almost completely.

From the 1980s onward, however, organs (mainly from European builders) began to reappear in the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai, and today a revival of interest in organs for concert halls can be noticed. The emergence of some exceptionally fine instruments, growing audience curiosity about them, and increased knowledge about Baroque music exist especially in China’s capital city Beijing. In Beijing, a leading spokesperson for the organ and a proponent of stylistic Baroque music performance is Professor Fanxiu Shen of the Central Conservatory of Music.

Born in Beijing, Professor Shen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Capital Normal University there, studying piano with Meiying Huang, Pingguo Zhao, Aifang Li, and Guangren Zhou. Immediately following her undergraduate studies she entered the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, where she studied harpsichord with Gordon Murray and organ with Rudolf Scholz, eventually earning a Master of Arts degree.

During her harpsichord studies she had become impressed with the power and variety of sounds available on the organ, leading her to spend increased time with that instrument. Following the completion of the master’s degree she spent several years touring Austria and central Europe as the cembalist for various Baroque ensembles and became firmly committed to the promotion of Baroque music. In more recent years she has played organ and harpsichord concerts in Russia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Poland.

Upon her return to Beijing in the early 1990s and her appointment to the faculty of the Central Conservatory of Music, Shen began to oversee the acquisition of harpsichords and to introduce Chinese students to some of the basic tenets of Baroque interpretation. Little by little she also began to make known the riches of the organ repertoire, particularly the Germanic literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through the conservatory, she has been able to offer for the first time in China a group of courses in Baroque chamber music topics: Performance of Organ, Performance of Harpsichord, and Harpsichord with Orchestra. 

For many years Beijing has had an extensive series of music festivals and competitions involving Western musical traditions, both all-inclusive and for specific instruments. The unprecedented presentation in Beijing of Baroque masterclasses by the eminent British conductor Christopher Hogwood in 2010 as part of that year’s Beijing Music Festival signaled a major breakthrough for Baroque music in the city.

Because of the interest generated at that time and the increasing demand for her courses at the conservatory, the Beijing International Baroque Music Festival was established in 2011, with Professor Shen as founder and artistic director. This festival, held every two years, has brought together an increasing number of persons from both the conservatory and the wider Beijing musical community. A triumph for the “King of Instruments” came with the fourth such festival, held November 16–26, 2017, in which the organ was featured for the first time. In this festival appeared not only performances of Baroque music for both organ and harpsichord but also organ-oriented chamber music of all style periods—featuring composers such as Mozart, Telemann, and Handel, as well as Rheinberger, Mollicone, and Michael Baker—and lectures on various topics pertinent to Baroque organ literature, such as the relationship of string and keyboard articulation in the Baroque period (presented to string students by the visiting organists), the history of American organ music, and Iberian Baroque organ music. For the first time at one of the Baroque festivals, the major organ concerts were held not at the conservatory but at the Concert Hall in Beijing’s dazzling National Center for the Performing Arts, which features a Johannes Klais instrument of four manuals, 113 ranks, with twin consoles—one with mechanical action embedded in the case high above the stage and a duplicate console with electric action stored beneath the stage and completely moveable when raised by mechanized lift.

Ticket sales and audience sizes were stunning—the concert hall seats just over 2,000 persons, and each of the organ concerts was almost completely sold out! Besides Professor Shen, these concerts featured three foreign artists: Dariusz Bakowski-Kois from Poland, and Douglas Cleveland and André Lash of the United States. In addition to concerts in the major venue, Douglas Cleveland also performed at the conservatory’s middle school branch, which boasts its own three-manual mechanical action instrument by Kenneth Jones of Ireland. A highlight of the festival was the performance at the conservatory of all six of the Brandenburg concerti of J. S. Bach by a combined student-faculty orchestra with Fanxiu Shen leading from the harpsichord.

§

The following information is a summary of materials combined from an interview with Professor Shen during breaks in the festival and answers from a questionnaire submitted after the close of the festival.

 

How did your interest in Baroque music begin?

During my youth and early piano studies little was known in China concerning Baroque performance practice. During my time in Europe I was able to hear and experience excellent performances of Baroque works different from anything I had heard before. It was only natural that upon my return to China I would bring this expertise with me.

 

What about the presence of the organ in China?

When I was young there were no organs in China—at least no working organs. My first experience with the organ was during my studies in Austria. Although I was already becoming well trained as a harpsichordist, I was fascinated by the variety of sound and the sheer power of the organ. As with Baroque music in general, I wanted to introduce Chinese people to this fascinating instrument.

 

Concerning the Beijing International Baroque Music Festival, how did you become involved and how have you seen it grow?

The presence of the harpsichord and the courses that I started teaching at Central Conservatory of Music acted as a catalyst for greater interest in Baroque music, and my training in Europe gave me the tools to equip interested musicians with some needed interpretive skills. But this year [2017] has been exceptionally exciting because although I had given almost one hundred recitals myself in the National Center for the Performing Arts, this year is the very first time that the organ has been used for any of our music festivals here in Beijing, marking a significant turning point for the organ not only in Beijing but for all of China. Some organs also exist in Shanghai, but the National Center for the Performing Arts is a magnet for Chinese musical activity, and the use of the organ in that venue heralds the entry of organ into the mainstream of music within China. In addition, because the organ is still new to most Chinese people they are very curious about it: they are fascinated by all of the unusual and varied sounds and the organ’s power, and the appreciation for this can be seen from their attendance at our concerts during the festival.

 

What are your hopes and dreams for the future of the Beijing International Baroque Music Festival?

That it will grow! Now that the organ has become a part of the festival I hope that we will be able to include more artists from Europe and the United States and that we will attract even more attendees from within China. I also hope that we will continue to maintain our connection with the NCPA; the strong ticket sales in our first cooperative venture are quite encouraging.

§

Based on Professor Shen’s observations and her enormous enthusiasm and energy, the great success of the Fourth Beijing International Baroque Music Festival bodes well for the future of the organ in China. It will be interesting for all of us in the West to follow the growth of organ performance, organ pedagogy, and organ composition in this country during the years to come.

Notes

1. Clacklinevalleyolives.com.au, accessed March 26, 2018.

Joyce Johnson Robinson

When meeting Kimberly Marshall, one’s first impression is that of great energy. That impression lingers as one encounters her presence in written publications and recordings—she seems to turn up everywhere and indeed, she has performed and presented at American and European conventions and conferences, has written entries for Grove and other music dictionaries, recorded organ music from the 15th to the 21st centuries, and even made videos to illustrate exercises for organists (Marshall kindly produced one for The Diapason).

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Kimberly Marshall began organ studies in 1974 with John Mueller at North Carolina School of the Arts. After studies in France with Louis Robilliard (1978–79) and Xavier Darasse (1980–81), she returned to North Carolina and completed her undergraduate studies with Fenner Douglass in 1982.

With a full scholarship from the British government, she pursued graduate studies at the University of Oxford (1982–86), earning a D.Phil. in Music for her thesis, Iconographical Evidence for the Late-Medieval Organ. During her time in England, she won first prize at the St. Albans Organ Interpretation Competition in 1985, leading to a contract with the BBC and a recital on the Royal Festival Hall series.

In 1986, Marshall was appointed assistant professor of music and university organist at Stanford, where she presided over organs by Fisk (dual-temperament, 1984) and Murray Harris (1901). Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991, she continued her research and teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia. From 1993–96 she served as dean of postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, developing a new master’s degree in advanced performance studies, awarded in conjunction with King’s College London. 

From 1996–2000, Marshall was a project leader for the Organ Research Center in Göteborg, Sweden, where she taught and performed. Under the aegis of GOArt, she organized the first conference ever devoted to organ recordings, “The Organ in Recorded Sound,” and has edited its proceedings.¹ Appointed to Arizona State University in 1998, Marshall (now Goldman Professor of Organ) oversees the graduate organ studio and presides over the instrument by Paul Fritts (1992). 

Kimberly Marshall has performed and done research worldwide, from a sabbatical in Pistoia, Italy, researching early Italian organ music, to performing on many historic organs, including those in Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark), St. Laurenskerk, Alkmaar (Netherlands), the Jacobikirche in Hamburg, and the Hildebrandt instrument in Naumburg, Germany, which Bach examined in 1746. She has also presented concerts and workshops on early music in Sweden, in Israel, at the 2007 Early English Organ Project in Oxford, and at the Festival for Historical Organs in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Marshall’s publications reflect her eclectic interests. Examples include Rediscovering the Muses (Northeastern University Press, 1993), her edition of articles on female traditions of music making; entries for the Cambridge Companion to the Organ (1998), the Grove Dictionary of Music 2000, and the Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (2012); and her anthologies of late-medieval and Renaissance organ music (Wayne Leupold Editions, 2000 and 2004). 

Marshall’s recordings (over a dozen, at this writing) cover a wide spectrum, including music of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance, French Classical and Romantic periods, and works by J. S. Bach. Her most recent CD, The First Printed Organ Music: Arnolt Schlick, celebrates the music of Arnolt Schlick on the 500th anniversary of its publication (2012). A CD/DVD set, A Fantasy through Time (Loft, 2009), featured the organ fantasy genre across five centuries, from Ferrabosco and Sweelinck through Jehan Alain. Marshall has collaborated as organist for a recording of Chen Yi’s organ concerto with the Singapore Symphony (BIS, 2003). Her recording of works for organ by female composers, Divine Euterpe, includes music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Elfrida Andrée, and Ethyl Smyth.

While at Stanford and the Royal Academy of Music, Marshall gave performances of organ works by Ligeti in the presence of the composer, and she has been an advocate for music by Margaret Sandresky, Dan Locklair, and Ofer Ben-Amots. In a recent article, she described the new Gerald Woehl organ in Piteå, Sweden (“The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist, February 2013, pp. 62–65). Her publications and recordings can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Marshall. 

Marshall also maintains a vibrant website (www.kimberlymarshall.com) and a Facebook page, and she can be found on YouTube performing everything from Christmas favorites to Widor. Marshall also has created exercise videos tailored to the organist, in which she demonstrates moves and stretches that work on muscles most used by organists. In person and even via the telephone Marshall communicates a passion both personal and professional, and we wished to explore the life and work that has ensued from such energy and enthusiasm.

Joyce Johnson Robinson: Do you come from a musical family? 

Kimberly Marshall: My mother is very musical and had a beautiful singing voice, but she had very little formal training. Her mother had played the piano, so when I was seven, she asked if I’d like to study the piano. We didn’t have an instrument in my home until my parents bought an upright piano for my practice.

 

What ignited your love of organ music? 

I had the great luck to be born in the town where John and Margaret Mueller were teaching. Margaret is a legendary organist, and she became my piano instructor when I was thirteen. She is a master teacher for young musicians, and she opened my ears to the expressive possibilities of the piano. John attended one of my piano recitals and invited me to study organ with him. What an honor! I began my studies with him on the beautiful Flentrop organ at Salem College, and the next year continued my work as a high school student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Dr. Mueller’s enthusiasm and the range of timbres available on the Flentrop organ sparked my passion for the organ.

 

What works were some of your first favorites?

I was very enamored of French music from the start, Alain’s Litanies and Franck’s Choral III being two of my early favorites.

 

You received a full scholarship from the British government for your graduate work at Oxford. Is that unusual for an American?

Each year, the British government awards up to 40 “Marshall” Scholarships to Americans to pursue graduate degrees at British universities. The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission was set up in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the United States for the Marshall Plan. Scholars in many fields have studied on Marshall Scholarships—Thomas Friedman, William Burns, and Nannerl Keohane, to name three—but there have been very few musicians in the 60-year history of the awards. Perhaps the common family name helped me, although I’m not aware of any direct link to George C. Marshall.

 

You had a contract with the BBC. What did that entail?

This was part of my St. Albans prize, and it started with a recording of my prizewinner’s recital that was later broadcast on BBC. The first contract meant that I was on the books, so to speak, and I was later asked to do other projects, such as recordings at Birmingham Town Hall and London’s St. John’s Smith Square.

 

You’ve done a great deal of work in the areas of medieval and Renaissance organ music. What are the elements of early music that appeal to you?

My interest in early music was sparked by my experience with historical organs while an undergraduate in French conservatories. As a high school student working with John Mueller at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I had focused mainly on Bach and French romantic music, which led me to continue studies with Louis Robilliard at the Lyon Conservatoire. Every day, I practiced Franck, Liszt, and Messiaen on the beautiful Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. François-de-Sales—it was a marvelous time in my life! After gaining the Médaille d’Or in Lyon, I decided that I should spend some time in Paris working on early music. I was planning to study privately with André Isoir, whom I had met during one of the Salem College summer organ academies, and whom several of my fellow French students had recommended warmly. 

I remember arriving early for the Sunday morning Mass at St. Germain-des-Prés, hoping to go up to the tribune with him, when who should appear but Isoir’s colleague, Odile Bailleux, who hurriedly invited me up the stairs so that she could start the prelude. During the course of the Mass, she played a number of French and English baroque pieces. I loved her playing and her personality and impulsively asked if I might study with her. She agreed, and so I began having lessons in early music with Bailleux at St. Germain. I also went to hear Chapuis play at St. Sévérin in the Latin Quarter whenever possible, and I attended Saturday workshops with him and Jean Saint-Arroman at Pierrefonds, near Compiègne, on an organ built in historical style by Jean-Georges Koenig in 1979. This was a terrific initiation into the performance practice of French Classical organ music, which, with Buxtehude and Pachelbel, was the first pre-Bach repertoire I learned.

 

So you began with French Romantic repertoire and then started playing the tape backwards, so to speak, moving back into French Classical. What specifically appealed to you about medieval and Renaissance works? 

Again, I was inspired to learn about Renaissance music because of my experiences with historic organs. I remember visiting the gorgeous Piffaro organ (1519) in Siena’s Santa Maria della Scala with Umberto Pineschi and Joan Lippincott in the late 1980s. We were enchanted by the gravitas of the 12′ Principale, by the shimmering beauty of the ripieno, and by the delicacy of the Flauto. But Joan and I didn’t know what type of music would have been composed for this instrument—the four-octave compass began at F (without low F# or G#) and was not conducive to baroque music. So we improvised and relished the sounds. Then I started doing some research, uncovering a treasure trove of 16th-century Italian music, including the first “St. Anne” Fugue, composed before 1570! (I published this in my Renaissance anthology for Wayne Leupold Editions, 2004.) 

The desire to demonstrate a historical organ with corresponding repertoire also motivated my research into Arnold Schlick. Years ago, I had the opportunity to perform on the 16th-century Genarp organ in the Malmö Museum, for which Schlick’s music is well suited. I’ll never forget that pedalboard because the sharps were so high that it made playing Schlick’s Ascendo ad patrem meum (with four parts in the pedal) easier than usual, although I had to take my shoes off to do it!

My interest in medieval music obviously did not come from playing historic organs, but rather from my study with John Caldwell at Oxford. As part of my course, I researched the early history of the organ, and I was naturally curious about the sort of instrument that would have accommodated the first surviving keyboard music—the Robertsbridge Codex, circa 1360. Caldwell is an expert on medieval music and English keyboard music, and he encouraged my efforts, giving me insightful suggestions about possible sources and the meaning of obscure Latin references. Another formative influence was my thesis advisor, Christopher Page, who founded Gothic Voices just a year before I began my studies at Oxford. Listening to Margaret Philpot and Rogers Covey-Crump recreating the music of Machaut and Dufay in New College Chapel transported me to new musical horizons. I was taken by the strange beauty of the music, and I wanted to reclaim the organ repertoire from this time. Page was the perfect mentor for me, a scholar/performer of the first order who was able to sell out major concert halls with a program of medieval motets and Renaissance chansons. I was inspired to include 14th- and 15th-century keyboard pieces on my own concert programs. 

Although I have had the chance to perform concerts at Sion and Rysum, I usually play late-medieval music on modern organs, trying to evoke something of its original creation through my articulation and registration. As I tell my audiences, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to medieval replica organs to bring this music to life in the 21st century. What if we hadn’t played Bach’s organ music until we had the perfect Bach organ?

 

You put a great emphasis on recital program design. Tell us how you approach programming.

I am fascinated by the many different types of organs that have been created and try to share this fascination with my audiences through interesting programming. My concerts often have a theme, such as A Fantasy through Time, a CD/DVD of organ fantasies from the 16th to the 20th century, or Bach Encounters Buxtehude, exploring through organ music the ways in which the Lübeck master might have influenced the young Bach.

I very much enjoy finding ways to link disparate types of music or to help the audience understand the development of a genre or organ type. Organ music preserved from the early 16th century shows the emergence of national styles, as German, Italian, French, and English musicians began exploring the organs they knew. So it’s a great way to demonstrate the distinguishing characteristics of organs in different European countries, many of which also correspond to some national stereotypes of the people in those countries!

Of course, the organ that I am playing must always be the starting point for any program to be successful. I try to show as much of each instrument as I can, sometimes finding unusual combinations that highlight the geographic or chronological variety of the music. If there’s a beautiful Quintadena or Regal, I need to determine how best to feature it. Because the compass required for 14th–17th century music is usually much less than that of contemporary instruments, it is often possible to play pieces up or down an octave, thereby employing different registers of the stop(s) than are normally heard. Building fine programs is like managing a restaurant, determining from day to day the best menus to take advantage of fresh, seasonal foods while also creating a special atmosphere for the establishment. Registering organ music is like being the chef, knowing the intrinsic tastes of each ingredient and finding inspired (and delicious!) ways to combine them.

 

Has your methodology of programming changed over the years?

Yes, definitely. My changing approaches to programming relate to changing expectations of audiences during the past 30 years. When I started concertizing, I would try to include standards of the organ repertoire, always a major Bach work, another German work (perhaps Buxtehude or Pachelbel), something French (some Couperin, Grigny, Franck, Dupré, Alain, or Messiaen) and at least one “outlier,” some Spanish or Italian music, or a contemporary piece (Albright, Heiller, Sandresky, Ligeti). Organ music was more mainstream then, and audiences knew many of the major works. I would try to give them a sampling of music they would recognize and then add some rarer gems to spice up the program. 

As audiences for organ concerts became less familiar with the instrument and its repertoire, I decided that I needed to introduce verbally the music I was playing. This was difficult for me at first, but I forced myself to do it because I felt that it was important to make a connection with the audience and to tell them what excited me about a particular work. I got a lot of good feedback after concerts, when listeners would say, “I especially appreciated your comments,” or “You really helped me to hear things in the music that I otherwise would have missed.” So I persevered, always planning my comments meticulously and memorizing them. (I later discovered that Winston Churchill had similarly written out his speeches, even including indications concerning their delivery, and memorized them, so that it appeared to audiences that he had a natural gift for public speaking.) 

I found that it helped the flow of my comments to have an overriding theme for the concert, so I began to craft programs that related to a type of music (say, dances or organ fantasias) or that showed influence from one composer or national school to another (such as Bach and the Italian influence or organ music by female composers). With time, the speaking between pieces became easier and more natural, so that now, instead of dreading my time off the bench, I can enjoy looking out at the audience and communicating my ideas to them with words as well as through music. And my themes have become more imaginative, such as “War and Peace” (from early battle pieces through Messiaen’s Combat de la Mort et de la Vie), “Number Symbolism in Organ Music,” and “Bottoms Up!” (a program with my fabulous tuba colleague, Sam Pilafian). Sometimes I am asked to prepare a specific type of program for an event. This happened when I was invited to perform an organ recital for the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music in London two weeks before the 2012 Olympics. The festival organizers were using the theme of competition, so they asked me to recreate the competition between J. S. Bach and Louis Marchand that was planned but never took place. I believe that such a programmatic approach can help bring in new listeners for the organ as well as add new dimensions to the experience of organ enthusiasts.

 

Let’s discuss your teaching. How do you present historical contexts to your students? 

I have a three-pronged approach to this. We study surviving treatises and instruments to learn from them about playing styles. We then develop interpretations of pieces from different national schools and time periods at a specific organ, determining ways to adapt the historical material to real-life performance situations. Finally, I draw links between what is happening in a specific organ school and what was happening in the broader musical, political, and social contexts in which the music was composed. It is vital for my students to listen to great performances of vocal and instrumental music from each of the traditions we study, so that they have a sound ideal in their minds before they try to achieve it at the organ.

 

How do you integrate web-based information with traditional bibliographic research methods?

The most important web-based information in my teaching is the availability of fine recordings through the Internet. Our university subscribes to the Naxos Music Library, and my students are constantly finding new sources of recorded music (and not only organ recordings!) to inform their interpretations. I also investigate historical recordings as part of my research (as seen in my article in The Organ in Recorded Sound), so I use the International Historic Organ Recording Collection (www.ihorc.com) and the Centre for History and Analysis of Recorded Music at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/music/research/proj/charm/) whenever relevant to a student’s interests. 

I think my students teach me more about what’s out on the Internet than I teach them, although I certainly add a critical element that can be lacking for the generation that grew up on Google. Just because there’s a video on YouTube doesn’t mean that it’s an authoritative performance! Of course, my students and I benefit daily from music editions available through the Internet, especially public domain scores through IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project: imslp.org). Again, one must exercise critical judgment about the context of the original edition, since many reflect the scholarship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is why they are in the public domain. In some cases the scholarship was very sound, but new sources and approaches during the second half of the 20th century may make old editions obsolete, so one must be cautious and not just latch onto the first edition that pops up in the browser.

 

Given the ubiquity of electronic devices and technologies, do you find that students have more trouble maintaining focus and patience? 

Since my teaching is specialized, I haven’t encountered this problem directly, but colleagues who teach more general courses often complain of the need to present material in “sound bytes.” Organists have great powers of concentration, so I’m not sure that my students are a barometer of what may be happening more generally with regard to attention spans in our culture. 

 

Do your students embrace early music as much as you do? 

Some of them do; others don’t. And that’s just fine, because each student is unique and has individual passions that I try to develop through my teaching.

 

You not only work to stay in shape yourself, but you have created short videos to educate others on ways of preventing pain and injury. What led you to promote exercises for organists? 

I am very committed to helping organists stay fit and able to play the organ without pain. To this end, I have been developing some simple exercises to combat the typical problems encountered by organists spending prolonged periods of time in bad positions.² By working to open the chest and strengthen the rhomboids—upper back muscles— it is possible to correct for the kyphosis (humped upper back) that often plagues organists. It is also necessary to make the hips more flexible and to strengthen the abdominal wall in order to have a stable core that grounds the body. [Kimberly Marshall has created a video for The Diapason demonstrating warmup exercises. Visit TheDiapason.com and look for Diapason TV.] With a strong core and good position at the organ, the arms and legs can move freely, enabling one to play for hours without repetitive strain.

 

How did you decide on the muscle groups to work on, and which exercises to do? Did you work with an exercise physiologist?

I have practiced yoga for about 15 years, and this has helped my flexibility and mindfulness. Breathing deeply is the key to so many aspects of our mental and physical performance, so opening wind passages and the diaphragm is top priority! I tend to gravitate towards restorative, yin poses in my yoga practice, so I try to balance that with strength training, especially for the core, shoulders, and arms. For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a fabulous trainer, Larry Arnold. Larry has his own gym in Phoenix and a unique approach to fitness that is rooted in his understanding of the body (his website is www.labodycraft.com). He trains athletes at a very high level, but he’s amenable to improving body function in other activities. I am definitely the first organist he’s worked with, and I’ve taken students to see him as well. We all have the same issues!

 

Since you have a heightened awareness of physical issues, do you assess any weaknesses with your students?

Yes, my students are often kyphotic (hunched upper back), and they usually have tight lower backs from the strength required to support themselves on the bench during hours of practice. These are problems affecting almost all organists, which is why I developed simple exercises to help offset them. Usually, organists need to strengthen the upper back (so that it holds the shoulders down and back, creating a long, free neck) and to strengthen the abdominal muscles (so that the opposing muscles in the lower back can loosen). Individual students sometimes have other physical issues, so I try to create ways to help them with alignment, strength, and/or flexibility. 

 

How do you maintain your own fitness when you’re traveling and concertizing?

This can be a challenge, but mainly because of time constraints. Preparing concerts takes a lot of time and energy, so I focus on flexibility rather than strength training when I am touring. I maintain good flexibility through stretches and poses that don’t require lots of space or special equipment, and I’ve even become rather adept at exercising on the plane. You can do small abdominal crunches in your seat to help stretch out the lower back. Neck, shoulder, wrist and ankle rolls help to keep the circulation going and to prevent muscle strains, especially on long flights.

 

You heartily embrace new technology.

Although I’m of an older generation that actually did research in libraries looking at manuscripts and books, I have learned to embrace several aspects made possible by technological advances in the last 30 years. Scanning projects have made immediately accessible many of the musical sources that used to require air travel and long library stays. Manuscripts, music prints, and recordings are now accessible at the click of a mouse, and this facilitates aspects of my work. Nevertheless, one must be careful to verify information retrieved on the web and to develop a critical sense about the integrity of certain sites. 

I am currently collaborating with David Rumsey on a 4,000-article Encyclopedia of the Organ that provides articles on the history of the instrument in specific countries, with cross-referenced articles giving composers’ biographies, technical information, and organ specifications. We are investigating different online platforms for this in order to make it more user-friendly and to keep it updated. With the speed made possible by new technology, today’s readers are too impatient to look up articles in a book, so we hope to provide links that will pop up almost as quickly as the brain initiates the curiosity to investigate.

Of course, I am delighted to be able to share my own work through online articles, recordings, and videos. The facility of communication makes it easy to get feedback and to carry on stimulating discussions with colleagues. Very importantly, I can now give lessons via Skype with organists who want some tips on playing specific pieces or types of repertoire. This is a great boon to disseminating ideas and to giving instant feedback to those who are experimenting with new techniques.

 

How have the Skype lessons worked out? 

Remarkably well! I was a bit skeptical at first about whether I would be able to have a good idea of someone’s playing through Skype, and then to convey my ideas back to them. But I have found that Skyped lessons can provide an effective way for me to hear someone playing a specific repertoire and to give them input on aspects of performance practice, such as articulation, ornamentation, and rhythmic alterations. I would not recommend Skype sessions for feedback on registration when preparing a recital or as a substitute for an ongoing relationship with a teacher. There is nothing better than being in the same acoustical environment when working together. But Skype enables me to introduce someone to a new style of playing or to help him/her prepare a specific piece without having to make the trip to Arizona. (In some cases, it inspires them to make the trip later!) 

 

You have worked all over the world. Are you multi-lingual? If so, do you find it helps your work (or if not, does that hinder you in any way)? 

I am a firm believer that organists should know several languages, and as my students will attest, I make linguistic study a priority. Reading is of course the most important aspect for research, and I help prepare my students for reading exams at ASU. When we travel together to see organs in Mexico and Europe, they see how important it is to be able to speak the local language when I am setting up meetings with colleagues, working out travel details, teaching and introducing my concert programs in Spanish, French, Italian, or German. I haven’t yet mastered Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, but know enough to read about organs in them. I think Mandarin is going to become an important language for the future, as we work to foster an organ culture in China. I’ve been there twice, and I am optimistic about the potential for developing Chinese organists and an enthusiastic following for them.

 

Is there any other area or type of music that you would like to tackle next? 

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been relishing the opportunity to play a wide repertoire on many different types of organs. I’ve become known for my work in early music, which is very gratifying, but I don’t want to be confined to that, unless, of course, the organ I am playing dictates a specific style of music. I’ve always played romantic and contemporary music, so I’m coming back to some of the 19th- and 20th-century works that dominated my student days as an organist. Hopefully I’m playing them now with greater insight resulting from the intervening musical experience! What excites me about playing the organ is the amazing variety of sound possibilities available. What other instrumentalist can play 14th- and 15th-century music in Sion, Switzerland, and a month later (and 3,000 kilometers north) perform music from a seven-century spectrum on a futuristic organ with over 100 stops?³ 

Perhaps the most extreme example of this “stylistic schizophrenia” occurred this past summer. At the end of June 2014, I performed during the Boston AGO Convention on the Fisk organ at Wellesley College, in ¼-comma meantone tuning with short octave and split keys. Six weeks later, after a wonderful stay in southern France, I appeared on the Spreckels Organ in San Diego’s Balboa Park, complete with tibias and percussion, playing a program of music by Parisian composers. And that, in a nutshell, is why I love the organ. Vive la différence! ν

 

Notes

1. The Organ in Recorded Sound: An Exploration of Timbre and Tempo. Göteborg: Göteborg Organ Art Center, 2012. Available from the author or from www.ohscatalog.org.

2. Some of these may be found at https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyMarshall.
organist. 

3. “The ‘Organ of the Future’ in Sweden’s Studio Acusticum,” The American Organist (February 2013): 62–65. 

 

Kimberly Marshall’s forthcoming recording, A Recital in Handel’s Parish Church, features concerti and passacaglias performed on the new Richard-Fowkes organ in St. George’s, Hanover Square, London. All tracks will be available online in September.

Nunc Dimittis

Patricia Goodman Booth, 86, died April 17 in Vero Beach, Florida. Born in Yonkers, New York, she showed musical talent as an organist early on, starting her church career at age 14. She studied organ under Arthur Poister at Syracuse University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1951.

At Syracuse, she met her future husband, George Lawrence Booth. They were married in 1951 and settled in Fulton, New York. Booth continued her musical career, primarily at the State Street United Methodist Church. After further education at SUNY Oswego she became an elementary school teacher, serving in the Phoenix Central School District, the Nicholasville, Kentucky, schools, and the American School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1979 she and George returned to New York, where she continued teaching and also served as organist and music director at the First Methodist Church in Syracuse.

Pat was active in Rotary, the American Guild of Organists (as Syracuse chapter dean), the Philanthropic Educational Organization, and in the Vero Beach Community Church. She was still serving as an organist up until the time of her death. Her proudest accomplishment there was serving on the committee that selected the new Lively-Fulcher organ for the church, which she played just three and a half weeks before her death.

Patricia Goodman Booth was preceded in death by her parents and her husband of 61 years, George. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Dr. Laura Booth Chan (Raymond), Celia Booth (Thomas McCaffery), Eric Thomas Booth (Kathy), Stephen Roger Booth (Kathy), Dr. Michael Booth (Sue), 18 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and her companion Ramsey Ludington.

 

Bruce Prince-Joseph, 89, died April 25, in Kansas City, Missouri. During his childhood in Kansas City he began singing in the choir of St. Paul Episcopal Church, where he was first introduced to the pipe organ. In 1943, he moved to New York City and began organ studies with Pietro Yon at St. Patrick Cathedral, where he spent a brief period as chancel organist. He pursued his undergraduate studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he studied organ with Frank Bozyan and composition with Paul Hindemith. Upon graduation, Prince-Joseph moved to Los Angeles where he completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California and served as organist for St. John the Evangelist Church. He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study organ in Europe. He returned to New York City to teach at Hunter College in Manhattan, eventually serving as chair of the music department. In 1953, he became organist and harpsichordist for the New York Philharmonic. He made numerous recordings of organ and harpsichord music.

In 1978, Prince-Joseph moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he pursued work restoring old keyboard instruments, particularly pianos. In 1986, he returned to Kansas City, where he began service at St. Mary Episcopal Church. In 2009, he became organist and music director at St. Therese of the Little Flower Catholic Church, and also served as music director for the John Wornall House Museum and the Alexander Majors House Museum, restoring the 19th-century square pianos of the collection. He also served on the committee for the installation of the Casavant organ at Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

 

McNeil Robinson II died May 9 in New York City. He was 72. Robinson served as organist and music director in New York City for Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Park Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, the Church of the Holy Family at the United Nations, and the Trinity Institute of Trinity Church (Wall Street). His tenure at Park Avenue Synagogue spanned five decades. He also had long associations with St. Thomas Church (Fifth Avenue) and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.  

Robinson, known for his improvisations, performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan, and recorded for the l’Oiseau Lyre, Decca, LIRS, and Musical Heritage Society labels. A proponent for historical performance practice for music from all eras, he conducted the first twentieth-century performances of selected works by Cavalli, Carissimi, Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Zelenka, as well as early works of Mozart and Méhul. He premiered works by such composers as Jacob Druckman, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Robert Starer, David Diamond, Charles Morrow, and Jack Gottlieb. 

As a composer, Robinson received commissions from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the American Guild of Organists, Group for Contemporary Composers, Meet the Composer, and numerous churches throughout the United States. Of his compositions for the organ, he was most proud of his Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, commissioned by the American Guild of Organists and the San Francisco Symphony for the 1984 AGO national convention, and Dismas Variations, which found its way into the required repertoire for the AGO National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. His works are published by Theodore Presser, C.F. Peters, and Oxford University Press. 

Robinson joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in 1984 and chaired the organ department there between 1991 and 2015. He also chaired the organ department at the Mannes College of Music and taught at the Hartt School of Music, Queens College, and Yale University. His students included Jason Roberts, Justin Bischof, and Aaron David Miller.

McNeil Robinson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and at age 14 entered the Birmingham Conservatory as a piano student of Hugh Thomas. By age 17, he had performed as soloist with the Birmingham Symphony (now the Alabama Symphony Orchestra). Robinson attended Birmingham Southern College as a full-scholarship student, and moved to New York City in 1962 to continue his piano studies as a full-scholarship student of Leonard Shure at the Mannes College of Music. He also studied privately with Rosina Lhévinne and Beveridge Webster. In 1966 he entered the Juilliard School and studied organ with Vernon de Tar and Anthony Newman, and composition with Vincent Persichetti. He graduated in 1970, receiving the Juilliard Faculty Award.

Following his study at Juilliard, Robinson continued organ study with George Faxon, Russell Saunders, and Catharine Crozier, and with Guy Bovet and Monserrat Torrent at the University of Salamanca (Spain), and composition with Yehudi Wyner and Jacob Druckman. A significant influence in Robinson’s life was Marcel Dupré, several of whose works became signature pieces for Robinson. 

McNeil Robinson is survived by his wife, Maria Cristina Robinson, a brother, Robert Michael (Janice) Robinson, and many nieces and nephews. His life and career will be celebrated in New York City at a date, time, and location to be announced (see Agohq.org).

 

Robert Tucker, 60, died May 10 in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied organ performance at the University of South Carolina, and after holding a number of church positions in South Carolina moved to Atlanta, where he was well known as a substitute and long-term interim organist, and continued to concertize. Tucker held the American Guild of Organists’ Service Playing Certificate and was active with the local chapter, serving as transportation information chair for the regional convention. He was the creator and caretaker for the Georgia Pipe Organ information link found on the chapter website and assisted in the posting of job opportunities. At the time of his death, Tucker was the office manager at Parkey OrganBuilders in Norcross, Georgia, where his quick wit and cool efficiency earned the profound respect of staff and clients. Robert Tucker is survived by his partner, Jay Ellis. ν