Karen McFarlane Retirement

Herman Berlinski
died at the age of 91 on September 27 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in
Washington, after suffering a heart attack and a stroke. His considerable
output included symphonic and chamber works, concertos, song cycles, liturgical
works, as well as music for the organ, which he learned to play at age 40.
Religiously inspired works, such as the oratorios Job and The Trumpets of
Freedom and the organ work The Burning Bush, were among his best known works.
Dr. Berlinski, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933, settled in Washington 30 years
later to become music director at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, a post he
held until 1977. He began his musical career as a pianist, but performed and
recorded on the organ throughout the world well into advanced age. He was
represented by Lilian Murtagh and then Murtagh-McFarlane artist management from
1976-78. Berlinski was a piano graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory of
Music. He moved to Paris in 1933 and composed music for the ballet and the
Yiddish theatre, and studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and Alfred
Cortot. He left Europe in 1941 to live in New York. There he earned the MMus at
Columbia University and a doctorate in composition at the Jewish Theological
Seminary, and served as organist at Temple Emanuel for eight years. His
collection of scores, recordings, correspondence and photographs was given to
the Library of Congress last summer.

Robert Hunter died
on September 10 in Los Angeles at the age of 72. He was accompanist for the
Roger Wagner Chorale and for the Paul Salamunovich choral groups, as well as a
pianist with various groups. Hunter began his career with Wagner in 1946 and
worked with the chorale for a decade. In 1955 he began performing with popular
music groups, including the Freddy Martin Orchestra at the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove, and was Carol Channing's musical director from 1958 to 1971. Hunter later joined Salamunovich to tour with his choruses from Loyola Marymount University and became organist for the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Choir. In 1991 he became accompanist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and remained with the chorale until his retirement in 1996.

Howard B. Kelsey,
professor emeritus from Washington University, died September 18 of heart
failure at the age of 90. Following his wife's death in 1997, Mr. Kelsey
had returned to St. Louis where he lived for the past four years. Born in 1911
and raised in Brighton, Illinois, Howard Kelsey began playing the organ at age
5 and took his first church position at age 14. He graduated from Illinois
Wesleyan University in 1933, and went to New York for graduate study at Union
Theological Seminary under Clarence Dickinson. Upon receiving a Master of
Sacred Music degree, he returned to St. Louis where he taught at Eden Seminary
for six years. In 1937 he married Berenice Strobeck, his wife of sixty years.
Howard Kelsey's association with Washington University began in 1945 when
he became the university organist. He was primarily responsible for the
establishment of the Department of Music in 1947, having secured an endowment
for the department from Avis Blewett. During his time at Washington University,
he brought in internationally known artists to conduct classes and work with
the many organists who came to the University. Students had the opportunity to
work with Anton Heiller, Roslyn Turek, Gillian Weir, Geraint Jones, Suzie
Jeans, Michael Schneider, and the Gregorian chant expert Dom Ermin Virty, OSB.
Many of his students found positions in colleges, universities, and large
churches after completing their degrees under Mr. Kelsey's guidance. In
addition to his work at Washington University, Kelsey also served a number of
St. Louis churches and temples from 1936 to 1973, including First
Congregational Church, Second Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Temple
B'Nai El and Temple Israel. He was also very active in the American Guild
of Organists on the local, regional, and national levels, and served as
consultant for many churches for the purchase and installation of new organs. A
memorial service was held for Howard Kelsey on October 21 at Christ Church
Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. He is survived by his three children and four
grandchildren.

-Kathleen Bolduan

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Music

Washington University

 

Roland Münch
died on September 27 in Berlin, Germany. He was born in Leipzig on February 10,
1936, and studied organ with Diethard Hellmann and Robert Köbler. His
first professional position was at St. Wenzel's Church in Naumburg where
he played the historic organ built by Hildebrandt. From 1975 on, he made many
recordings and radio broadcasts. From 1969 until his retirement in March of
this year, Mr. Münch was organist and music director at the Church of Glad
Tidings (Kirche zur frohen Botschaft) in Berlin-Karlshorst where he presided
over the organ built by Peter Migendt in 1756 for Princess Amalia, sister of
Frederick the Great for whom C.P.E. Bach served as court musician from
1738-67. Münch is survived by his wife Ursula and two sons. His most
recent recording, Münch spielt Bach auf Migendt, is on the Ursus label.

 

Robert Murphy died
on September 22 in Traverse City, Michigan. Born on April 30, 1936, in Benton
Harbor, Michigan, Murphy earned bachelor's and master's degrees
from Western Michigan University. In 1962 he became a member of the Interlochen
Arts Academy Charter Faculty and was chairperson of the keyboard department for
many years prior to his recent retirement. At Western Michigan University, he
had served as director of the chapel choir, graduate assistant and instructor
of music. During his 39 years at Interlochen, he was chairperson of the
building committee for Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall, founder and organizer
of the ICA Chapel Organ Recital Series, and chairperson of the music building
committee for ICA. For nearly four decades he was organist and music director
for Central United Methodist Church in Traverse City. A service celebrating Mr.
Murphy's life took place on October 14 at Central United Methodist Church
in Traverse City. Memorial contributions may be made to the Interlochen Center
for the Arts Organ Scholarship Fund in memory of Robert Henderson Murphy.

by Marcia Van Oyen

"English concert organist John Scott is recognized not only as one of his country's finest organists and musical leaders, but also as one of the most gifted of his generation of concert organists in the performance world today." So begins John Scott's biographical sketch in his management's brochure. Scott's stellar career includes serving as Director of Music at St. Paul's Cathedral and (formerly) Professor of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music, many tours and recordings with the St. Paul's choir and as organ soloist, and a dizzying array of other appearances and awards. In addition to an already demanding schedule, this year he served as a judge at the Dallas International Organ Competition, arranged an exchange with the choir of St. Thomas Church New York City in June, and is performing the complete works of Bach at St. Paul's in twenty-five recitals.

 

On his most recent recital tour to the United States, John Scott visited Glenview Community Church in Glenview, Illinois to play the inaugural recital for a concert series featuring the new Buzard pipe organ and to give a masterclass, "Accompanying the English Anthem." During the visit, he demonstrated a genuine love of his work and approached his tasks with the carefully-paced energy of a veteran performer. He is a most delightful person--confident but soft-spoken, business-like yet very polite, sincere and possessed of a slightly mischievous sense of humor. Following his electrifying recital performance, Scott was asked if constantly being praised for his work becomes commonplace. He responded simply with a smile, "I don't get tired of hearing compliments."

During one of our conversations, Scott began to reminisce about a childhood experience with organ music. That recollection became the stepping stone for a formal interview, an exchange during which he shared some of the details of his experience as a musician in a great English cathedral and how he got there.

 

MVO: During lunch on Saturday, you mentioned a recording that made a great impression on you when you were young--G.D. Cunningham playing the Bach D-minor Toccata and Fugue at Birmingham Town Hall. Was that one of your earliest experiences hearing organ music?

JS: Yes, I'm sure it was. It was a scratchy old 78 record that we had at home. When I was growing up the 78's were already out of fashion, but we had an old player at home that I was fascinated by--the wind-up sort of gramophone. I discovered this recording of G.D Cunningham and I was amazed that there could be such music. I had never heard anything like it. It was something entirely new to me and I couldn't stop listening to it. I think I wore the record out in the end.

 

MVO: How old were you at the time?

JS: I must have been about eight.

 

MVO: Were you already a chorister by then?

 JS: Yes, I became a chorister when I was seven. I had heard organ music, of course, but it was at about the same time that I discovered this recording.

 

MVO: At that time, you were singing in the choir at Wakefield?

JS: Yes. It was what we call a parish church cathedral--a church that had become a cathedral in the late nineteenth century. We had a very good choir of men and boys. All the boys were educated at the local grammar school where we had choral scholarships to help pay for our education. From an early age, I was exposed to a wide variety of good music.

 

MVO: When did you begin playing the organ?

JS: When I finished singing in the choir, I had already been learning the organ for a couple of years--first with Percy Saunders, who very much put me on the right lines and then with the new organist, Jonathan Bielby. He was a great influence on my playing. I studied with him from the age of fourteen to eighteen. He did more than anybody else to develop my technique and my stylistic awareness. He was a very fastidious and demanding teacher, and also a great inspiration. He had been organ scholar himself at St. John's College Cambridge under George Guest. It was he who encouraged me to go for that particular scholarship. I went to Cambridge at the age of eighteen and studied for two music degrees, leaving at the age of 21.

 

MVO: What were you studying in your lessons with Jonathan Bielby? Repertoire or accompaniment?

JS: A mixture of both. To begin with, the main emphasis was on accompanying. I was in the extraordinary situation of finishing in the choir one week, and the following Sunday I was drafted in to play for the services. I guess my organ playing had become suitably proficient. I went literally from being in the choir one week to accompanying it the next week. After a period of some months, during which I was being tried out, it became a regular process. I was eventually appointed assistant organist at the cathedral. I can remember that first Sunday because we sang an anthem by Basil Harwood called "O How Glorious Is the Kingdom," which has quite a difficult organ part. I dread to think now what it sounded like, but I must have been able to cope with it.

 

MVO: In the United States, organ study tends to be very repertoire-based, although the vast majority of organists are going to play in churches and need to accompany, not be solely concert artists. I have the impression that your training had an emphasis on accompanying.

JS: That's right. I was a pupil-assistant to Jonathan Bielby. His main job was to direct the choir; I would do most of the service playing. That meant it was in his interest for the success of the choir that the accompaniment be really well-rehearsed and moulded. We spent a lot of time in my lessons working on the cathedral music. That's not to say that we didn't do repertoire. I remember doing a lot of pieces during the four years that I studied with him. When I went to Cambridge, although I was expected to play for services and accompany the choir on a daily basis, I didn't have any specific instruction in that. My music degree was purely academic. I was working on harmony, counterpoint, history, orchestration--that sort of thing. For the first two years, my studies included no practical part whatsoever other than keyboard harmony. Only in my third year was the practical part significant. During that year I had to play a half-hour recital, but it only counted for ten percent of my final marks. During this time at Cambridge, I began studying with Gillian Weir. It was a profound and remarkable experience to study with someone of her eminence and inspirational quality. But it was very much left up to me whether I wanted to study with anybody and indeed, who that person should be. It wasn't a requirement for my university course at all. The same at Oxford. You could be an organ scholar for three years and never have an organ lesson. It's crazy.

 

MVO: That's incredible! Is that the way it is today?

JS: I'm not sure. I think things must have changed quite a bit since I was there. I think the whole syllabus is not quite so academically based. Practical musicianship has rather more emphasis now. It does seem strange, looking back.

 

MVO: Based on your experience as a cathedral musician, if you could design the curriculum, what would it include for those aspiring to do what you do?

JS: When I was at St. John's Cambridge, my main duties as Organ Scholar were accompanying and conducting when George Guest was away. As I say, there was no formal training as such, you were thrown into it in a way, and you either sank or you swam. With that in mind, it would be sensible for people who want to focus on church music to have courses in choral direction, service accompaniment, realization of orchestral scores on the organ, and of course guidance in repertoire.

You have to realize the distinction between the English university system and the conservatoire system. If you go to university, you would expect to take a music degree in which the greatest emphasis is on academic study, whereas in a conservatoire it's the other way around. You're basically being trained to be a practical musician, though a certain amount of theoretical study is necessary, of course. I chose consciously to go to university rather than conservatoire because I wanted the broader base that that experience could offer--the chance to meet with people from other disciplines and backgrounds. I found that to be more attractive.

Looking back again, in my first week at St. John's--I was overwhelmed by having this world-famous choir to accompany--I had the scary experience of playing for evensong on the first day of term with basically a new choir and Dr. Guest conducting. On the next day and the day after, he was away and I found myself standing in front of a choir, something I'd never done in my life. Nobody had told me what to do, I just simply had to get on with it. To some degree it's a very English mentality--a very dilettante approach. You make of it what you can and learn by your mistakes. If you're trying to conduct a choir and nobody can follow what you're doing, you have to refine your technique so they can. Of course, I had watched other people conduct. That's the great learning process--observing other people who are  experts. You take a lot of that with you. To this day, I've never had a conducting lesson in my life. It may seem very strange indeed, yet that's the way one functions. And I have the privilege of working with a fully professional choir and many times in the year with professional orchestras.

 

MVO: Would you say that your experience is fairly typical? Do you have other colleagues who have been similarly plunged into service?

JS: Yes, I think it is pretty typical. A lot of people do come through the cathedral tradition so they're immersed in it. They know the repertoire. Many of my colleagues who are cathedral organists were cathedral choristers. A lot of them have been to university and had very good organ tuition. The other practical skills are acquired rather than instilled. That has its own merits. In this day and age, we're much more concerned with building courses and curricula based on what people wish to do later. All of these things are being examined. In London at the Royal Academy of Music there's a church music course that's been running for ten years which does give people these basic skills which are required for the profession. It's by no means unique now, though it was unique at the time. There are many other establishments which are providing church music degrees which encompass not only the historical background but practical skills and knowledge as well.

 

MVO: Tell me about your transition from St. John's to St. Paul's.

JS: After four years in Cambridge, I went straight to St. Paul's. I moved to London. I had never lived in London and I was very excited by that prospect. London seemed to be the right place to go. I was invited to take the place of third organist at St. Paul's and assistant organist at Southwark Cathedral, just over the river. Southwark is the cathedral for the diocese of south London, only about a mile away from St. Paul's.  So I was number two at Southwark and number three at St. Paul's, basically playing three days of the week in each Cathedral, usually at Southwark on Sunday. That was a great experience. I did that for seven years--running back and forth over London Bridge. It was a great learning experience, I must say, being involved on the one hand with the professional choir at St. Paul's and the volunteer choir at Southwark cathedral. However two very different liturgical bases as well. St. Paul's at that stage represented all that was very "correct and proper," if that's the right expression--a very traditional form of Anglicanism, whereas Southwark was a more progressive and, dare one say, slightly livelier style of worship.

 

MVO: Were you working under Christopher Dearnley at St. Paul's when you began?

JS: I was working both with Christopher Dearnley and with Barry Rose who at that stage was in charge of the choir. Looking back, I did most of my accompanying for Barry because I tended to play on the days when Christopher was not there. I worked closely with Barry and learned a great deal. He's a phenomenal and inspirational choir trainer. That was a terrific experience at a time when the St. Paul's choir had made a great impact under Barry's leadership through recordings, developing a more public profile than they had previously had.

 

MVO: At that time Christopher Dearnley was mainly playing the organ?

JS: He was really. He was the Director of Music, having the overall say in the music program, but after the organ was rebuilt in 1973-1977, he very much wanted to concentrate on playing the organ, to develop its role in the life of the cathedral and beyond. He concentrated on playing the organ for the services and Barry did most of the choir work. I was gradually brought into that. After a while, I took the choir for one day a week.

 

MVO: So you moved more into Barry Rose's position eventually?

JS: For a year, Christopher took the choir again when Barry left. There's a very nice recording from that time on the Decca label, with Christopher conducting and me accompanying. After about a year, he wished to go back to playing the organ rather more. I think that's where he felt the most comfortable. I was keen to have the opportunity to take the choir on a more regular basis. Although I was sub-organist I found myself directing the choir more and more. I gradually stepped into that position.

 

MVO: Being in a high-profile position, you're probably under scrutiny a lot of the time. How do you handle that?

JS: To be honest, I don't worry about it too much now. I used to worry about it rather more. You're right, it's a bit of a goldfish bowl. There's never a day, even in the depths of winter, when there are fewer than a hundred people at evensong. You're always conscious that the daily choral office is something that is very visible. Certainly, in the summer months, many more people attend. In July we have visitors from all over the world when we do the orchestral masses. It is a very visible position in that sense. One struggles to maintain standards, but I'm very fortunate in the support and set-up that I have from my assistants, my colleagues and from the choir. We all strive to do the best. In recent years we've reached a pretty consistent standard which is there from day to day. Obviously, every choir has its off days, but they seem to be less frequent than they were when I first started doing the choir work. I'm more established in the position. I don't feel so much the weight of what went on before. I've been there long enough, made recordings and feel more comfortable about what I'm doing in the job.  Of course, I'm always concerned to see who's there from day to day and if they're people I recognize. There might be a day when you suddenly see George Guest or David Willcocks sitting in the congregation! If you worried about that too much, you wouldn't be able to get anything done. Just put your head down and get on with it.

 

MVO: Do you find the pressure to be a motivating force?

JS: Undoubtedly. The moment you began to relax, to rest on your laurels, is the moment to move on to something else. Every day has its challenge. There's no such thing as a routine week at St. Paul's. There's always something extra. Whether that's ceremonial services, memorial services or whatever, there's never a chance to settle back into a routine. A daily sung evensong is a challenge in itself because for the most part, you pick up the music with the boys first thing in the morning. You've got an hour in which to mould it in the morning, and half an hour with them in the afternoon before the men arrive. The men rehearse at 4:30 with the service at 5:00. As a full choir, we've really only got about twenty-five minutes to practice forty minutes of music. It's a lot to do. There isn't the oppportunity to work much more than a day at a time. On Monday, I try to look at some of the mass for Sunday, but generally we're living from day to day. There's a lot of pressure in that, just to get things done. We have to work quickly, efficiently, and professionally.

 

MVO: What is the rehearsal schedule?

JS: We rehearse every day except Thursday morning. The choristers are educated in the choir school, which is directly behind the cathedral. They're all boarders--they live there during the term. I see them from 7:50-8:50 every morning except Thursday, which is our day off.  Evensong is sung by the men on Thursday, and the boys sing evensong on Monday. Otherwise, it's full choir on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and three services on Sunday. That's nine choral services each week on a regular basis.

 

MVO: What do you enjoy the most about your work?

JS: Many things, really. I'm very fortunate being based where I am, having this wonderful building in which to work. It's always an amazing experience just to go into St. Paul's. Every morning I go in and think "wow." It's a building that completely overwhelms you. The sound of music in the building is very special as well. With nine seconds of reverberation, it's a unique acoustical environment in which to work. I'm very fortunate with the choir that I have--30 boys and 18 men--fully professional singers. It's a very dramatic and exciting group of singers with which to work. Of course, the organ  itself is tremendously thrilling. It's a fine instrument in every sense. The Willis part of the organ has great quality and refinement. The part built by Mander in 1973-77 added other dimensions that fit the building very well, further developing the potential of the instrument in a way unforeseen previously. It's a very exciting, versatile instrument. This year I'm playing all the organ works of Bach in twenty-five recitals on Sundays and I'm just amazed at how well it copes with that repertoire. It's been remarkably successful. Obviously, one has to register things in a very judicious manner, but many people have been amazed at how well it does work.

 

MVO: During your masterclass on  Saturday, I noticed that while you were playing you had a smile on your face. It seemed obvious that you simply love that music and love what you do. What is it all about for you? 

JS: It's very hard to define! I couldn't put my hand on my heart and say that I like this piece of music more than any other. I enjoy all the different styles of music that we sing. It's basically the English cathedral repertoire, of course, and a lot of eighteenth and nineteenth century music. But in the time that I've been responsible for the choir, I've moved the repertoire backwards quite a lot to encompass more polyphony and early music, music which I very much enjoy. The versatility of the group that I have is very great indeed. The men are not particularly challenged by anything you put in front of them as far as notes are concerned. They can basically read anything! There is little need for note-bashing. It's so much been a part of my musical life to be involved with this particular sort of music--Psalms, hymns, canticles, anthems--it's hard to imagine life without it, really. I've often considered whether at some stage in my life I'd like to be a free-lance organist. I'm not sure. That would have its compensations in many ways because I'm really not playing the organ so much at St. Paul's. But I can't imagine life without pieces like the Balfour Gardiner "Evening Hymn" or the Byrd Great Service. I enjoy them so much. Each time I come back to them I try and find something new and keep myself fresh in that way. I don't feel that I'm remotely tired of this music yet. I hope that in ten years time I can still say that. It's the sort of music that does really inspire me still.

 

MVO: What keeps that musical tradition alive? It's very easy for traditions to become frozen. 

JS: Yes, I know what you mean. Traditions can become fossilized. I think the tradition is continuously being enriched by music from other sources.    The fact is that we're discovering ne repertoire all the time. More and more music is being printed, most notably early music by some very good publishers in England who specialize entirely in Renaissance polyphony--pieces which have not been available before outside of collected editions. The market is being flooded by good quality material. On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned, it's wonderful to encourage our best contemporary composers to write for the church. I'm glad to say that the Dean and Chapter support this endeavor. Part of our annual music budget is given over to commissions. For the millenium, we've pushed the boat out a bit. We had a big service on January 2nd which was televised nationally, attended by the Queen and the Government. We commissioned a setting of "Jubilate" from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for choir, organ and brass. It was a good commission and will work well on its own with organ accompaniment, so we can do it liturgically. We commissioned some brass fanfares from another of our most eminent composers Sir Harrison Birtwistle. They were stunningly well conceived for the building with four different groups of brass playing around the building. It was really fantastic. Later this year, in July, we'll be doing a premiere of a work that we've commissioned from Luciano Berio, the great Italian composer. Our commissions in the past have been from English composers. I felt it was a time to bring in somebody else, so we commissioned Berio who seems keen to write for us. This is an important part of our life at St. Paul's--the church in its traditional role as patron of the arts must be seen to be lively and energetic. Over the years, we've commissioned pieces from John Tavener, Jonathan Harvey, Francis Grier, and William Mathias, among others. Most years we've had a commissioned piece. I've been very pleased and proud of that tradition.

 

MVO: You seem to view that as a responsibility.

JS: I do. It's all to do with keeping the tradition alive. On the one hand, I like to think that what we're doing is very much in the monastic spirit, as the monks of yesteryear. Our daily office of Evensong has evolved from that tradition. But it has to be renewed of course. We have to be always pushing the boundaries either forwards or, indeed, backwards. That's vital.

 

Steven Egler

*Moniker assigned to Fred Swann in the printed program for the AGO 2008 Distinguished Performer Award.

 

Frederick Swann is one of the most well-known organists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. In this conversation, which is really a mini-biography, he reveals much behind-the-scenes information about his numerous high-profile positions, his relationship with the Murtagh/McFarlane Artist Management, and his early musical experiences, along with observations about the organ and church music today. He is an extremely humble man who has met his many challenges and professional opportunities with modesty and dignity. 

Swann’s honors and achievements in recent years include: 2002, International Performer of the Year by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists; 2004, inaugural recital on the organ in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles; 2008, AGO Endowment Fund Distinguished Performer Award; 2009, Paul Creston Award by St. Malachy’s Chapel, New York City. In November 2014, he will be honored by the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

He has performed inaugural recitals on symphony-hall organs at Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Davies Hall (San Francisco), and Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (Costa Mesa).

Frederick Swann is currently the consultant for the Ruffatti organ restoration project at the renamed Christ Cathedral, formerly the Crystal Cathedral, where he was director of music and organist (1982–1998). Christ Cathedral is scheduled to reopen in 2016. (See The Diapason, June 2014, pp. 26–28.)

This interview was conducted on May 8, 2014, in Saginaw, Michigan, as Swann was preparing for his May 9 inaugural recital on Scott Smith and Company Opus 3, a project renovating Skinner Organ Company Opus 751. Thanks go to Kenneth Wuepper of Saginaw, Michigan, the recording technician for the interview; the First Congregational Church, Saginaw, Michigan; and to Fred Swann himself for allowing us to interview him, for his assistance with editing, and for providing the photos that accompany this piece.

 

Steven Egler: Please tell us about your early years and your family. 

Frederick Swann: I am the son of a minister, and there were six children—three boys and three girls. I was number five, and there was a big space between me and the four older ones. 

From the very beginning, I was fascinated by the piano, and I would frequently bang on it at age 3 or 4. My parents were not particularly happy about that, so they locked the piano. Of course, any three-year-old can figure out how to get into a piano if he really wants to, and I did! 

When I was five, they decided that I could have piano lessons from May Carper, the organist of a church near my father’s church in Winchester, Virginia. One day I arrived early for a lesson and couldn’t find her. But I heard the organ going, and finally I found her at the organ console. I was hypnotized watching things popping in and out, lights were flashing, her hands and feet were flying, and I thought, “Oh my! That looks like fun. I’ve got to do that!” 

I asked her if I could play, but my legs were so short they wouldn’t reach the pedals. I kept after her, so she bribed me: if I had a good piano lesson, she would let me “bang” on the organ for five minutes before I went home. Then when my legs got longer—when I was about eight—she started showing me things about the organ and that you had to play it differently—not like a piano. They were really not organ lessons, because I just was continuing on the piano, but she still told me a lot about the organ. It was very good that she did because the organist in my father’s church, Braddock Street Methodist Church, suddenly died, and I became the organist of the church—there was no one else to play. It must have been simply awful, but that’s how I got started at age ten, and I’ve just kept on. I was a lucky kid since I didn’t have to decide what I was going to do when I grew up: I just started playing and kept doing it. 

 

Can you recall what those early church services were like and being thrust onto the bench?

Mostly I just played the hymns. The choir director, Madeline Riley, was somewhat of an organist herself, but the console was not located where she could play and direct. I would play the hymns, and she would show me how to play simple accompaniments.

I would practice during the week, and then my Saturday routine was that I always went to the horse opera theater—cowboy Western—for ten cents. On my way home, I’d go by the church and make sure that I had everything ready for the next morning.

I don’t remember too much about the services, except that it was an old Möller organ and setting the pistons made a lot of noise. I would love to “play with” setting the pistons, and the choir director would always come around to slap my hands because they could hear the noise out in the church. 

My biggest excitement came one Easter morning. There were certain stops that I was not allowed to use, and one was a great big Open Diapason in the Great. The church, however, was full and they were really singing, so she came by and pulled out the Open Diapason. I was just thrilled to death! I thought, “This is heaven,” since I had not been allowed to make that much noise before. 

That went on for a couple years, and then we moved down valley to Staunton in 1943. There I started studying with the organist of Trinity Episcopal Church, Dr. Carl Broman, singing in the choir, and getting a lot of very good musical education at the same time. He was a very fine musician.

 

You mentioned moving as a PK (preacher’s kid). Was that frequent as a child?

Not so much. I left home to go to school when I wasn’t quite 16, and we had only lived in three places. I was born in Lewisburg, West Virginia, but only lived there six weeks. We then moved to Clifton Forge, Virginia, where my father, Theodore M. Swann, pastored the Methodist church. Six years later, we moved to Winchester and the Braddock Street Methodist Church for six years (1937–1943). Then we moved down the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton, where my father became a district superintendent and later a bishop. We didn’t have a home church as such because he was always traveling to other churches. This is the main reason I was allowed to attend Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton where I was confirmed at age 13. I just loved it—the liturgy and the great music.

 

What attracted you to Northwestern University?

To tell you the truth, my childhood was not the happiest, and at that point in my life, the farthest place away that I had heard of was Chicago. With my Methodist background and it being a Methodist school, I won a scholarship and went there.

 

You studied with Thomas Matthews (1915–1999) who is known particularly for his choral anthems. How was he as a teacher? 

He was a fine teacher, and a very quiet but very fun man. He was inspiring as a teacher and was willing to let me try anything. He gave me very good ideas.

Most of my lessons were at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Evanston, on the fantastic E.M. Skinner organ. By my senior year, I’d started to do a lot of accompanying. Matthews was also the director of the Chicago Bach Choir that, for some reason, met in Evanston at St. Luke’s Church.

In 1952, we did the second United States performance of the Duruflé Requiem. The first had been performed slightly earlier at Calvary Church in New York City. At last count, I’ve played that marvelous work 91 times during my career. I played it many years later at Riverside Church with Duruflé himself conducting. 

Tom [Matthews] was a great improviser, so I learned a lot about improvisation and colorful use of the organ, both in organ literature and in adapting piano/orchestral scores to the organ.

I also studied with John Christensen, who was the organist at the First Methodist Church in Evanston, and was his assistant organist during my four years in college. During my senior year, I also became organist and choir director at First Baptist Church upon the retirement of William Harrison Barnes (1892–1980). Dr. Barnes was the author of The Contemporary American Organ (1930) and well known as an organ consultant.

 

You said that the Barnes family “adopted” you?

When I arrived on the scene at Northwestern University, they heard me play and thought that I was advanced for my age. They also had recently lost a son, and for some reason, I reminded them of him and they decided to take me into the family. They were also responsible for my introduction to Virgil Fox (1912–1980) and took me on my first trip to New York City. On Sunday, they took me to the choir loft of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to meet the organist, their close friend Charles Courboin (1884–1973). During the sermon at the Mass, Dr. Courboin said to me, “Why don’t you play the postlude?” Of course, I had never played in a room like that or on an organ of that size, but I knew the Langlais Te Deum from memory, so I managed to get through it with the crescendo pedal and a general piston or two. Later, I became very good friends with Dr. Courboin, and, in fact, I studied the complete organ works of Franck with him. This was a great privilege, for he was widely regarded as an expert on the works of Franck. He was a very fun-loving and wonderful man. He and his wife were both so good to me, and he never charged me a penny for all of those lessons!

 

You attended Union Theological Seminary. With whom did you study?

My primary teacher was Hugh Porter (1897–1960), who was the director of the School of Sacred Music at the seminary. The best thing, however, particularly at that time, was just being in New York. Those days were often referred to as the “glory days” because of the great names in church music who were at the other churches in town. On Sunday afternoons, you could hear Evensong at St. Thomas or St. Bartholomew’s. Plus, there were many choral programs and other concerts all of the time, so you learned as much being exposed to music itself in New York as you did with actual classroom or lesson study. 

 

What advice do you have for young people these days who see themselves being organists as their primary calling, attend university, and expect to be prepared for the big, wide world?

I usually remind my students that they really have to love playing the organ and really have to love what they are doing. 

As far as becoming a concert organist, one has to realize that the field is very full. There are dozens and dozens of organists under management, many of whom play very few recitals because there are so many organists available. 

If you think that you want to be a church organist, if this is something you feel you just have to do, go ahead and do it. But realize that there are not that many full-time church jobs where you are going to be able to make a living. So, learn the organ, play it as well as you can, find a church to play in, but be aware that you may also need other sources of income, maybe teaching or perhaps even something in the business world.

One of my current university students at Redlands is also studying to become a dentist, and he is one of the most talented students I’ve ever had. I believe that he could have a career in the concert field and in church work, but he’s preparing to have some other source of income. 

It’s not that there aren’t jobs available: they’re just not jobs at which you can make a living.

 

I’d like to discuss the sizes of the various organs you have played. One source cites First Congregational Church, Christ Cathedral (formerly Crystal Cathedral), and Riverside Church respectively as the third, fifth, and fifteenth largest organs in the world. You have presided over each one of these instruments. 

Theoretically, the First Congregational Church in Los Angeles, where I was for three years after I retired from the Crystal Cathedral, contains the world’s largest church organ. There’s very little difference in the size of First Congregational and the organ at the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Passau, Germany, but interestingly, in a book that I picked up the last time I played there, it lists the largest organs in the world; they even put First Congregational’s organ before theirs! 

Actually, the Wanamaker organ (now Macy’s) in Philadelphia is the world’s largest operating organ. (The Atlantic City, New Jersey, Boardwalk Hall—formerly the Atlantic City Convention Center—organ is bigger, but most of it doesn’t play at this point.) 

Many people are obsessed with size, yet size is not everything. I have played many small and modest-sized instruments that were extremely beautiful and satisfying.

 

Please tell us about New York and the various pre-Riverside positions that you held. 

When I was in school at Union, I had a fieldwork position, the West Center Church in Bronxville, New York, but at that time I had already agreed to substitute for Virgil Fox whenever he was away, which was quite a bit.

My job in Bronxville was with the understanding that I had to be at Riverside when necessary. I was the official substitute organist (at Riverside) for a couple of years. When I graduated, Clarence Dickinson (1873–1969), whom I knew very well, had a heart attack—he was the organist and choirmaster at the Brick Church—and they asked me if I would fill in for him for nearly two years. At the same time, I became Harold Friedell’s (1905–1958) assistant at St. Bartholomew’s Church. I’d play in the morning at the Brick Church at 92nd Street and run down Park Avenue to play 4 o’clock Evensong at St. Bartholomew’s. There was a church in between called Park Avenue Christian Church, and they performed their oratorios at 2 o’clock on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I would stop there and accompany an oratorio between playing services at Brick Church and St. Bart’s. 

Some Sundays, I also played Riverside! I would finish at St. Bart’s, jump off the bench (Harold [Friedell] would finish the service), run downstairs and out the door where there was a car waiting to whisk me to Riverside. Somebody else would have played the opening hymn, and I’d jump on the bench and play the oratorio. It was crazy and I don’t how I did it, except that when you’re young, you do all kinds of foolish things and don’t think anything about it.

 

Of course, I assume that you knew the organs and had rehearsed with the choirs.

Yes, plus the enormous amount of preparation for all the other music involved. 

 

And those were with just organ accompaniments and no orchestra?

Yes. Fortunately, the organs were all big, beautiful instruments with every color in the world, and it was a wonderful experience. After a while, I played almost every oratorio in the standard repertory. At Riverside we even did the United States premieres of a couple of works—Stabat Mater (1925–1926) of Szymanowsky (1882–1937) and the Hodie (1954) of Vaughan Williams (1872–1958). It was a wonderful experience, both to learn the music and also to learn how to adapt the scores quickly to the organ.

 

Were you ever overwhelmed playing those large instruments?

No, but there were many challenges and satisfaction in being able to find solutions. 

I can remember Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Chevalier-Duruflé, who were very good friends, when they played their first recital in America at the Riverside Church. They had come for the 1964 AGO national convention in Philadelphia the week before, but Maurice had hurt his back and couldn’t perform, so Marie-Madeleine played the recital. 

I’m telling you this because I’m thinking about big organs and how they affect people. When the Duruflés entered the Riverside chancel and saw the console, Maurice put his hand on his head and said, “Oh, mon Dieu!” Marie-Madeleine said, “Ooooooo,” rubbing her hands. She just couldn’t wait to get at it. I don’t think that I ever said “Ooooo” and rubbed my hands, but I was always so thrilled by the color possibilities of an organ such as the Riverside organ.

When I first played at Riverside in 1952, the organ was not the Aeolian-Skinner. It was the original 1931 Hook & Hastings controlled by the Aeolian-Skinner console that had been recently installed. When they began putting in the new organ in 1953, they had to keep the organ going every Sunday for services, oratorios, and everything else. I can remember one time when there were two Greats—the old Great was on one side of the chancel, and the new Great was on the other. I had to flip a switch depending on which Great I was using. It was a real headache and I didn’t get that much time at the organ, but here again when you’re young, you think, “Oh well. I’ll work it out.” It was a challenge.

 

You mention color and large instruments. I’ve heard you play many times, both in person and on recordings, and I can say that you are an organ symphonist in how you approach your music-making. Obviously, all of these instruments that you have experienced have been an incredible influence upon you.

Absolutely. On any instrument, I explore every stop in the organ, and of course, with a large organ, it is important to find orchestral colors for the oratorio accompaniments. I always feel that if there’s a stop there, it’s supposed be used and you can usually find a way to do it. 

 

Please tell us about your time at Riverside Church in New York City. 

In the fall of 1952, I started substituting for Virgil Fox, and in 1957 the staff at the church changed quite a bit. Virgil’s career began to blossom, and thus, he was there very rarely, so they decided they would hire an organist. I was hired as organist, not as assistant organist, at the church. From then until his association with the church dissolved completely in 1965, he very rarely played—probably a handful of times a year, but his name was kept because he was famous. 

I was actually in the Army when I was appointed organist. I was not going to be released for another six months, so Richard Peek, who was studying in New York at the time, filled in for me as organist for the next several months. Then in January 1958, I started playing full-time.

 

Did you ever work directly with Virgil Fox? 

Maybe a few times, but very rarely. He was a real character in addition, of course, to being an incredible musician and technician. Amazing! 

 

So William H. Barnes introduced you to Virgil Fox. Was he responsible for getting you in the door at Riverside? 

Absolutely. Virgil was born in Illinois and got his career start in Illinois—that’s where he met the Barneses. As a result, I knew Virgil before that first trip to New York. 

 

Please tell us about the choir program at Riverside, which was well known and directed by Richard Weagley (1909–1989). 

He was a great musician and wonderful to work with. He retired in 1967, when the program had been reduced from an oratorio every Sunday to just eight or nine a season. There was less work, so they asked me if I would be director of music and organist, which meant that I was the primary organist but was responsible mainly for the choir. Then I was given an assistant organist, and I had some great ones: Marilyn Keiser, John Walker, and Robert MacDonald, to name a few. They were wonderful people, and we’ve remained lifelong friends. I had the whole show, basically, until I left January 1, 1983, to move to California.

 

One of the first recordings I heard of you was with the marvelous soprano Louise Natale (1918–1992). 

Louise was a fabulous soprano. She had sung with Robert Shaw and was one of his main soloists for many years, and we were so fortunate to have her at Riverside. I encouraged her to sing [Jaromir] Weinberger’s (1896–1967) cantata, The Way to Emmaus (1940), and she did it magnificently with that organ to accompany her. 

We started doing it on Easter afternoon, and we did it for 25 consecutive Easters! After all of the loud music and the “Alleluias” all morning and then to come at 5 o’clock with the sun streaming across the Hudson through the beautiful windows and to end the Easter Day quietly was a very moving experience for a lot of people, and eventually the church was filled. 

 

Did you position the console so that you were able to conduct the choir from the console? 

The console was not movable and worked just fine as far as services were concerned, but for the oratorios I would have to go out front and conduct while one of my assistants played. I think the only time I played and had somebody else conduct was when we performed Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. The accompaniment was so complicated and so wonderful that I wanted to hear it using all of that organ. So we engaged as conductor Dr. Harvey Smith from Arizona (now deceased). Of course, I had trained the choir before he arrived.

 

Could you explain why there was overlapping time before you left Riverside and when you began your position at the Crystal Cathedral? 

When the Crystal Cathedral had just been built and the organ installed, there were many festivities to open the organ. Pierre Cochereau came to play with orchestra, and a week later I played the first solo recital on the organ. Additionally, they asked me, as long I was there, to play the Sunday morning service. I played the morning service, and afterwards, Dr. and Mrs. Schuller wanted to meet with me. They asked me if I would become the organist of the church. I told them that they had a very fine organist, Richard Unfried, who was a friend of mine, and that the job did not exist. I said that I knew they were without a director of music and asked them if they’d like to discuss that. They said, “No,” that they only wanted me to play the organ. I indicated that I was not interested, since they already had a fine organist. 

So I went home to New York, and four days later, there at my office door at Riverside Church stood Robert Schuller. He said, “I just want you to know that Arvella and I have come light years since our discussion last Sunday, and we’d like to offer you the position of director of music and organist. Would you please fly out to meet with us next Monday to make arrangements.” He then turned around and left! 

I flew out to California with no intention whatsoever of moving, but I had already fallen under the magic spell of that fantastic cathedral and the organ, and as is sometimes said, “They made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.” 

The arrangement that we finally made was that I would spend one week a month in California—working with the choir, etc.—and the other three weeks a month in New York. That’s what I did the first six months and then moved full-time to California in January 1983. 

I played the last service at Riverside at midnight, December 31, 1982, and then January 2, 1983, I flew to Toronto to play a recital in Roy Thomson Hall, and then flew immediately to California to meet the moving van, set up housekeeping, and get started with the new position. 

People would always ask me if I missed New York, and I’d tell them that I didn’t have time to miss New York! The music program was very large (at the Crystal Cathedral) with several hundred people in the program. I had to learn the organ and get the choir going, so I didn’t have time to think—to miss New York.

 

What was it like working with Robert Schuller (b. 1926)? 

It was wonderful. What you see on television with him is what you get. Both he and Mrs. Schuller, Arvella de Haan (1929–2014), treated me beautifully all the years that I was there, and we became very good friends. 

Dr. Schuller wasn’t around that much since he was always out speaking and raising money. Mrs. Schuller was in charge of worship and the music.

It took us a while to learn which buttons to push with each other, but we eventually became very good friends. She was an organist herself and told me I could do Palestrina and Hubert Parry’s I was glad anytime that I wanted, but I would have to do “the other things that we do,” too. But they wanted me specifically to bring that type of music—the “big Eastern church music.” They wanted me to provide music they felt would be commensurate with the new cathedral building, a great organ, and a fine choir. Thus, I was able to stretch them in doing a lot of that music, but they also stretched me into various other forms of music. 

There was an enormous variety of music. We could have a country-Western singer, a Metropolitan Opera star, an English cathedral anthem, and a Bach prelude and fugue, all of these and more in one service, but the best thing was that whatever we did was done with the best taste, and to the best of everyone’s ability.

Johnnie Carl, a fantastic musician, was in charge of the instrumental program and contemporary music. It was a learning experience for all of us, and I thoroughly enjoyed my 16-plus years there. The people made it: the choir especially. 

 

And you just happened to be on television every week, too!

Yes, eventually I got over being nervous about cameras peering over my shoulder, and occasionally I’d look up and see a cameraman standing on top of the organ console getting ready to shoot something! It was all very enjoyable, and many stories can be told about that!

 

That’s almost a book.

Oh, easily! One of those stories is about Alicia the tiger that was born at the cathedral. Her mother was one of the 60 animals used in the “Glory of Easter” production. I knew her mother, and her mother’s trainer. After Alicia was about a week old I went to the animal compound and played with her mother a bit, and the trainer gradually moved Alicia closer. Her mother didn’t object, so I picked up Alicia (she weighed only 35 pounds) and scratched her stomach and played with her every day for two weeks after that. Tigers (tame ones, anyway) are somewhat like elephants—they can bond with you, remember you, and when you see them after being away for months they’ll come right over and nuzzle you like a kitten—with the trainer nearby, of course.

It used to scare my staff to death when she’d come to my office and come right over and want to play. She was from an animal training facility that provided animals for movies, and had a reputation for being the most-tame “cat” in the business. She’s retired now. Organists all over the world were fascinated, and wherever I traveled—Jean Guillou’s apartment in Paris, or one in Berlin—there was one of the photos framed.

 

After the Crystal Cathedral, you went to the First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, for three years (1998–2001).

Right. When the Crystal Cathedral organ went in, their nose went out of joint at First Congregational Church because, up to that point, they had the largest organ in the area, so they set about to make it bigger and better than the Crystal Cathedral organ. About the time that the organ was finished, their organist Lloyd Holtzgraf retired, and they said, “Okay, we’ve got the bigger organ. Now we want the big organist from the other place.”

As Rev. Schuller had done earlier, the Congregationalists made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. At the heart of it was simply the fact that I was really worn out from all that I’d had to do at the Crystal Cathedral. I was playing the organ less and less and doing administrative work and conducting more. So I thought it would be rewarding to play the organ for awhile. I went to First Congregational Church with the understanding that I would only stay three years and retire on my 70th birthday, which I did right to the day in 2001.

That was a wonderful time there, too. Thomas Somerville, a great Bach scholar, was the director of music, and we did wonderful music. The congregation just loved that organ and would remain motionless and utterly quiet during preludes and postludes. It was a great place to make music—a smart move, and I’m so glad that I did it.

 

And since 2001, you have been organ artist in residence at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, California. 

When it came time to retire, I decided not to move back east—I’d already shoveled enough snow! I had many friends in Palm Springs and had visited there a lot and decided to retire there. I’d even purchased a home three years earlier and was able to rent it out until I needed it.

When I moved to Palm Springs, John Wright had come from Memphis to St. Margaret’s Church as organist and choirmaster. I had opened a new organ in his church in San Antonio, Texas, years before. He invited me to practice at St. Margaret’s whenever I wanted, as long as I played a recital during the year. I said, “Okay.” I was still out on the road finishing up several recitals that I had on the books. This went on for a couple years, and he said, “Why don’t you play for church once in a while.” I said, “Oh no. I’ve done that and I’m tired.” But he kept after me and I finally agreed. In recent years, I have been playing at least two Sundays a month and sometimes more often than that, plus all of the festival services. John is then able to concentrate on conducting the choir—a very good choir—and the organ is a large four-manual Quimby. Friends who visit are always amazed to find, out in the middle of the desert, a big choir, big church, big organ. I think they thought that we beat on bamboo! But, it’s been very enjoyable, and it is a wonderful congregation. I can walk in and play and walk out, and I don’t have to attend staff meetings. After a lifetime of doing that, I’m happy just to be able to play the organ.

 

That takes us to another leg of your journey: your performing career and association with the Murtagh and now Karen McFarlane artist management. As far back as I can I remember, I can see your smiling face on the back page of magazines (The Diapason and The American Organist). When did you start with the management?

Soon after I went to Riverside—I can’t remember the exact date. I was with the management for over 40 years.

Lilian Murtagh was the assistant to Bernard LaBerge, the famous manager of organists and other musicians in this country. After LaBerge’s death in 1952, she continued as head of the organ division (under what had become Colbert-LaBerge). She then purchased the organ division in 1962 and continued until her death in 1976 when Karen McFarlane became president. Murtagh was a dear, dear lady and so very good as a manager. 

It was great to get to know all of the famous organists who were with the management: it was a wonderful relationship. 

Lilian had gotten to know my secretary at Riverside, Karen McFarlane, and after Lilian became ill and realized that she didn’t have long to live, she asked Karen to consider taking over the management. Thus Karen McFarlane became the manager from 1976–2000.

 

So you and Karen McFarlane go way back.

We go way, way back! She had done some playing for me and was my secretary at Riverside. Then she became my concert manager. She’s like a sister and is a very dear friend.

When I retired I intended to finish recitals that I already had on the books, but I really didn’t intend to play anymore, so I asked them to please take my picture off the back page. I’ve curtailed my performing to maybe two or three concerts a year, mainly because the travel is becoming more difficult.

 

Do you have any more recordings in the works? 

No, I did my last one in 2010 (Gothic Records) on the magnificent Casavant organ, Opus 1230, in the Memorial Chapel at the University of Redlands. Recording is very nerve-wracking at my age. I can still play adequately as long as a microphone has not been turned on. When that happens, I become the Florence Foster Jenkins of the organ!

Going back to the LP days, I think that there’s a total of about 30 recordings. A lot are from Mirrosonic, Vista, Decca, and, of course, Gothic. It’s not an enormous number—many people record a lot more—and some of those are organ and some are with choir.

Some things I’ve recorded more than once, and I don’t really apologize for that. Marie-Claire Alain was once asked why she recorded three sets of the complete Bach works; she answered, “Because my ideas change or I learn.” It’s the same with all of us, and I would hate to think that we were not constantly changing.

 

Please tell us about your varied teaching experiences, the positions you’ve held, and your students. 

I’ve had a whole bunch. The first formal teaching that I did was at the Guilmant Organ School (1899–ca. 1970) in New York. It was established in the early 20th century by William Carl, who was the organist at First Presbyterian Church, New York City. He had been a student of Guilmant. I came to it late, actually just the last three years of its life, and I had about eight to ten students. Then I began teaching organ and accompanying the choir at Teachers College, Columbia University. I also did some private teaching at Union Seminary where I was also the fieldwork supervisor; I would go out to students’ churches, take notes, and make suggestions. 

In 1973, I became head of the organ department at the Manhattan School of Music. At that time, it was housed in the old Juilliard School buildings across the street from the Riverside Church, which was very convenient. I held that position for eight years during the 1970s until I left New York for California. 

When I first went to California, there was absolutely no time for teaching. But after I finally “retired,” playing almost no recitals and just playing at St. Margaret’s, in 2007 I became the university organist and artist teacher of organ for the University of Redlands, just an hour west toward Los Angeles. 

The Casavant organ there, originally installed in 1927, was completely restored in 2002 at the same time that the building was being retrofitted for earthquakes. It’s a marvelous organ, totally enclosed—even the three 32-foot stops. It’s a thrilling sound, even with the orchestra and choir and soloists. Just a short while ago, we were able to fill up all of the blank knobs on the console and add another 20 ranks.

I have very good students there. 

 

What about the composer in you?

Oh, I’m not a composer! 

 

You wrote a wonderful Trumpet Tune.

I don’t know how wonderful it is, but people seem to enjoy it. One man has even made a handbell arrangement of it that is published. There are a few other organ pieces, too.

The other compositions are mainly anthems, and they were all written when I was at the Crystal Cathedral, because I couldn’t find what I wanted to fit with the service of the day or they were not the right length. They all had to be written in major keys, had to be loud, and had to end with the sopranos on high C, so there isn’t a great deal of variety. But the publishers wanted them: because I was the organist at the Crystal Cathedral, and they thought they would sell! I don’t know if they ever did or not—a few of them did, I guess—but I make no claims to being a composer, whatsoever. 

There are several hymn arrangements and preludes that are also published. In particular, Toccata on “O God, Our Help, In Ages Past” is fun to watch— it made good television. It has lots of work jumping manuals, which idea I got from Petr Eben’s Moto Ostinato. I played it for him once and he burst out laughing. I said, “Well, it was your idea!”

 

Please reflect upon your time as President of the American Guild of Organists (2002–2008), which is when I first got to know you. 

I was amazed that I got elected, and I’m sure the only reason was because of television and concerts. A lot of people don’t know most of the people who are ever nominated for office, so they usually vote for the ones who are best known. I enjoyed it very much. We had a wonderful group of people on the National Council—you were there—everybody worked well together and with the administration of the Guild. It was a very happy time and I feel that we accomplished a lot of things. In addition to the POEs (Pipe Organ Encounters), there were many highlights of my years there. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to serve the Guild in that way.

 

What do you see as the function, the purpose, and even the future of the AGO?

I think that the Guild is very much alive. It is still very influential—it’s the largest and oldest organization (founded in 1896) of its kind for musicians and for instruments in this country. 

The only other musical organization that is older is the Royal College of Organists in London, which in 2014 is celebrating its 150th anniversary. They used to wield an enormous amount of power, and even had a big office building. The organ and organist had been well thought of in halls and cathedrals, but a recent article in the New York Times said that they have fallen on bad times and there are not as many jobs. They are now focusing on reinventing themselves by reaching out more to the general public. I don’t how they will do it, but they are determined. 

Generally speaking, I believe that the Guild is on firmer ground now than it’s ever been. I’m very optimistic about the future of the AGO and about the organ in general. There are many naysayers who think that the organ is dying and that there are too few people interested in becoming organists. This is simply not true.

Some of the major organ builders no longer exist, but there still are organs being built—some of them very large and expensive—as well as smaller organs. Along with all of the recordings that exist, I feel very optimistic about future of the organ, and I don’t believe it’s going to die anytime soon.

 

What do you like to do in your free time?

I don’t have a lot of free time, although I try to walk one to two miles daily—I am not in shape to do any great physical activity, but I do enjoy walking. I live in a two-story condominium, just so I can have the exercise of going up and down steps many times a day. I like reading, going out to eat, and I love being with friends.

There are many retired organists where I live in Palm Springs, many of whom I have known for years. It’s fun having a very nice social life, too. 

 

Very little grass grows under your feet. 

No. I learned several years ago—and I practice it religiously—that when you get into your ninth decade, you do not want to sit and stare at the wall. The day may come when I have to do that, but until it does, I’ll keep as physically and mentally active as I possibly can. I do crossword puzzles and everything I can to stay active. 

 

Do you practice everyday? 

I’m embarrassed to say that I do not. I should, but I practiced a lot in recent weeks to prepare for the recital here. 

 

Here is where humility must be brushed aside for the sake of honesty. You have everything on your résumé: you are without a doubt the most well-known and most visible organist of our day . . . 

. . . fading fast, as there are some real barn-burners coming along nowadays who are really going to go right to the top and who are creating a lot of stir in the organ world. I’m thankful for them because we need to keep the organ world alive . . . 

 

What do you see being your important contribution(s) to our profession? 

Regardless of what some people might think, I’m really modest and somewhat shy. I have been given wonderful opportunities in my career, such as having been blessed to serve in church positions most organists can only dream about. I’ve played close to 3,000 recitals in various places around the world, including a lot of daily recitals in churches, as well as being on television for over 16 years.

With the combination of things like that and teaching, I feel that I’ve helped to contribute to keeping the organ alive. I don’t believe that I’ve done any one thing in particular that I could cite as being outstanding. Rather, I’m grateful to have been given so many opportunities. I’ve tried to make the most of those opportunities for the advancement of the organ and its music. I’m more embarrassed than pleased when people compliment me.

 

At this point in your life and career what occurs to you as the most pleasurable reward resulting from your more than 70-year career?

That’s easy! In addition to being grateful for all the music making I’ve been fortunate to do, it’s the satisfaction of knowing that I’ve been able to bring joy and encouragement to others. One thing that has surprised me in recent years, and keeps happening more and more, is hearing from colleagues in the profession that my service playing or a recital or teaching, often on a very specific occasion, was a life-changing event for them in their career path. I am so very grateful for these expressions! More important, it makes me aware that all of us should take time to consider the influence we may unconsciously be having on others. 

 

Good advice for all. Thank you, Fred. You are the gem of our ocean! 

by Larry Palmer

Status Report on London's Handel House Museum

Director Jacqueline Riding reports in the latest Museum Newsletter that the interiors of both numbers 25 and 23 Brook Street have been transformed. Ceilings have been plastered on both the first and second floors of number 25. Panelling, based on profiles from the adjoining houses, is almost complete in the bedroom and parlor. Floorboards have been laid on the first floor.

Meanwhile, fabric has been ordered for the bed, curtains and window cushions in the Handel rooms. The design has been completed for the upholstery of a full tester bed, 8 feet 7 inches high, dressed in crimson harrateen with silk trimmings. A paint analysis has yielded some surprising results, bringing the project ever closer to recreating interiors that Handel might recognize.

£1.5 million are still needed. This sum will fund completion of the refurbishment of the two adjoined properties, help in the development of education and access programs, the acquisition of furnishings, artifacts, prints and drawings, the providing of live music, the design of exhibitions, and the ongoing maintenance and preservation of the Museum. American supporters may contribute through The Handel House Foundation of America, c/o Coudert Brothers, Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-7703.

Clavichord Day in Boston

At the Boston Early Music Festival, a concurrent event on Thursday June 14 will be devoted to the clavichord. The Boston Clavichord Society and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Festival, present speakers and performers, including Mikko Korhonen (Finland), Darcy Kuronen (Curator, Department of Musical Instruments at the Museum), Howard Schott, Peter Sykes, and Richard Troeger. Instruments to be heard include antique clavichords from the Museum collection and modern instruments by Andrew Lagerquist and Allan Winkler. Events are scheduled from 10:30 till noon and from 1 until 3:30 in Remis Auditorium. Admission is free.

Harpsichord-associated events at BEMF: Byron Schenkman (1999 winner of the Bodky award) will play a harpsichord recital (In the Shadow of the Sun King: French Harpsichord Music from the Time of Thésée) and give a masterclass; Alexander Weimann plays Couperin's Les Folies françaises in a concert titled Tragicomedia in France; and, of course, harpsichords (played by Peter Sykes and Alexander Weimann) will be prominent as the keyboard continuo for the Festival's featured event: the staged performances of Lully's tragedie en musique, Thésée. For information or tickets,

e-mail:

website: .

Here & There

* Jazz harpsichordist Stan Freeman was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on January 13. He was 80 years old. As Time magazine headlined it in 1960, "Come-On-A-Stan's House, He Give You Harpsichord," referring to Freeman's 1951 chart-topping record with Rosemary Clooney, "Come On-A My House" (Columbia Records). Freeman followed Clooney's hit with his own jazz version scored for harpsichord, guitar, bass, and drums (1960).

 

* Writing in Early Music News (UK) for January 2000, author Robert White made a case for dubbing the 20th century The Harpsichord Century! Harpsichordists Maggie Cole, Malcolm Proud, and Alastair Ross gave a Wigmore Hall (London) concert under that title on December 14, 1999, emulating the special event which had taken place exactly a century earlier when Violet Gordon Woodhouse gave what must have been the earliest "modern" performance of Bach's Concerto in C for three harpsichords in a house concert at 6 Upper Brook Street.

 

* The very useful one-volume Guide to the Harpsichord by Ann Bond is now available in a paperback edition (Amadeus Press, $17.95; ISBN 1-57467-063-8). There are no changes from the orginial 1997 edition, save for the soft cover (and lower price).

 

* Harpsichordist and organist Nancy Metzger has a new web site dedicated to promoting historically informed performances of Baroque keyboard literature. Through this site, located at , the viewer may access performance tips under the title "The 7 Wonders of the World of Baroque Music." Also on view are a full description and a sample page from Metzger's book, Harpsichord Technique: A Guide to Expressivity, as well as her current recital calendar. The online order form lists bargain prices for the book, companion cassette, and her compact disc Suites & Treats, packaged with the monograph "What to Listen for in Baroque Music."

 

* Richard Kingston Harpsichords has a new address: P.O. Box 27, Mooresboro, NC 28114; ph 704/434-0104; emails and

 

Features and news items are always welcome for these columns.       Please send them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275.

Email: [email protected]

by Larry Palmer

A Bach year roundup

Miscellaneous items received (and collected) by the
Harpsichord Editor during the Bach anniversary year 2000:

 

* Advertisement for the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque
Music (London, 5 June'14 July): "For 74 years Lufthansa has been
moving people around the world. Now we'd like to commemorate a fellow
German who's been doing it for slightly longer. Bach's music has
been moving people for over 250 years. . ." [found in the publication
Early Music from the Early Music Network UK].

 

* Harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire presented
Bach's Art of Fugue at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City on the last
day of 2000. Unusual was the simultaneous projection of a computer-generated,
digitally projected score scrolled across a large screen at the rear of the
stage, above the harpsichordist. Supertitles (!) explained the contrapuntal
devices utilized by the composer ("Theme in Tenor in Inversion,"
etc.). These addenda to Bach's plan were conceived and executed by
computer specialist James McElwaine.

 

* A spate of Goldbergs: in England, Gary Cooper played
Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Mar 4) at Tudeley Church, Kent, site
of twelve magnificent stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, and home to an
extensive early music concert series. At Oberlin (Ohio) Lisa Goode Crawford
presented the set in Kulas Recital Hall, Oberlin College (Feb 8). Larry Palmer
played half of them (Aria, 1-7, 14, 21-22, 25, 27-30, Aria) in Marvin Chapel,
Tyler (Texas) on Sept 21, a repeat from his 31st annual faculty recital at Southern
Methodist University, Dallas (Sept 11): music BY and ABOUT J. S. Bach,
including Schumann's Fugue III on BACH (played on the harpsichord),
Hindemith's Sonate II for Organ, March of the Night Watchman (from
Bach's Memento) of Widor, Ricercar on the Name BACH by Waldemar Bloch,
and Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 547.

 

* In Savannah (Georgia) the exact 250th anniversary of
Bach's death (July 28) was commemorated at the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of the Ascension with this program played by Gene Jarvis: Italian
Concerto, BWV 971, Partita in B-flat, BWV 825 (harpsichord); Toccata and Fugue
in D minor, BWV 565, Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582 (organ). Dr. Irene Feddern
played three organ chorales (By the Waters of Babylon, 653; Rejoice Now,
Beloved Christians, 734; O Lamb of God, 618), and Quoniam tu solus sanctus from
the Mass in B minor was sung by baritone Christopher Roper, with Pam Titus,
horn.

 

* LARGELY BACH, three concerts of music by Bach, his
friends and family, played on 18th-century period-style instruments, took place
in Beloit (Wisconsin) at Beloit College (Sept 27, Oct 23, and Nov 8) featuring
the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, the Roosevelt-Fuerst Duo (violin and
harpsichord) from Freiburg, Germany, and harpsichordist Max Yount, professor of
music and music department chair at Beloit.

 

* Hundreds of compact discs celebrated Bach during
2000: among the finest, the continuing series of Bach cantatas in stellar
performances on period instruments, led by Masaaki Suzuki, with his Bach
Collegium Japan (available on BIS Records). Suzuki's performances are
consistently among the most satisfying to be heard on recordings, for they are
both intensely involved and historically-informed, presented without extremes
or dogmatism, yet securely based on scholarly foundations.

* Richard Troeger continued his engrossing and
rewarding traversal of Bach's keyboard works played on the clavichord
(Lyrichord) with volume 2 (the Seven Toccatas, LEMS 8041) and volume 3
(Inventions, Sinfonias, Little Preludes, LEMS 8047).

 

* Memphis organist and choral conductor John Ayer has
recorded The Art of the Chorale, An Organ Anthology (Pro Organo CD 7064, CD
7119), on which his superb choirs sing chorale settings (many by Bach) followed
by organ settings from various composers (Buxtehude, Hanff and Walther to
Mendelssohn, Reger, Langlais, Manz, Near, and William Lloyd Webber). Bach organ
works included are Komm, heiliger Geist (BWV 651), Aus tiefer Not' (686),
Vom Himmel hoch (606), Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (659), and Vor deinen Thron
(668).

 

* If transcriptions are your delight, Shawn Leopard
and John Paul have recorded the complete Bach Keyboard Trio Sonatas played on
two Lautenwerke (gut-strung harpsichords) built by Anden Houben (Lyrichord LEMS
8045).

 

* From his archives, Baltimore harpsichordist Joseph
Stephens has issued two compact discs of recital performances: Live from the
Cathedral Joseph Stephens, harpsichordist, Plays Bach (AMR 19971003) and Music
for Two Harpsichords (Stephens with Lloyd Bowers), available from Dr. Stephens
[email: [email protected]].

 

* Do not neglect to read Christoph Wolff's
up-to-the-year, state-of-the-art view of the composer in THE 250th anniversary
biography Johann Sebastian Bach, The Learned Musician (Norton; ISBN
0-393-04825-X).

 

News items and features are welcome for these columns.
Please address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, TX 75275. Email:
HYPERLINK<mailto:[email protected]&gt; <[email protected]>.

Articles, Reports, and Reviews

Acoustics. See Bethards.

 

Apple, Warren. New Organ Music. Jan 12-13, Sept 13-14, Oct 14, Nov 10

__________. New Recordings. July 12, Aug 10, Oct 12-13, Dec 10, 12

Art of the Fugue. See Kellner.

 

Bach. See Kellner.

Baggia, Aldo J. New Recordings. Apr 8, 10, May 12, Oct 12, Nov 8-9, Dec 8, 10

__________. Monumental Organs in Monumental Churches: The Brick Gothic Phenomenon in Northern Germany. Aug. 18-21*

Bernthal, John. Teaching Organ Students on the Renovated Reddel Memorial   Organ. Feb 19

Bethards, Jack M. Reverberation: serving sound or serving music? An heretical view of acoustics.# Nov 14-15

Bohnert, David. New Organ Music. Aug. 10-12

Book Reviews. See Dean, Hartman, Marigold, Simmons.

Brugh, Lorraine S. The Reddel Memorial Organ. Jan 18

Buxtehude. See Couch.

 

Calhoun. See Huestis.

Carillon News. See Swager.

Church Music. See West.

Clark, J. Bunker. Creative Continuo: or Examples of Enlivening a Figured Bass on the Harpsichord. Apr 15-17+

Coleberd, R. E. August Gern and the Origins of the Pitman Action. Jun 16-18#

__________. Three Kimball Pipe Organs in Missouri. *† Sept 16-21

Cornils, Ray. Summer Institute for French Organ Studies. Jun 14-15

Couch, Leon W. III. Musical Rhetoric in Three Praeludia of Dietrich Buxte-   hude. Mar 14-18+#

__________. Book Review. Oct 8-12

 

Dean, Ronald E. Book Reviews. Sept. 10-11.

deTar, Vernon. See Wechsler.

Durman, Bernard. New Recordings. Mar 8-9, Apr 8, May 12-14, June 11-12, Sept 12-13, Nov 6, 8

Dzeda, Joseph. See Webster.

 

Editorial. Jan 2

Eifrig, William F. (Reddel Memorial Organ) The Process of Restoration and   Enlargement. Feb 18-19

Ellis, Laura. New Organ Music. Jan 13-14, Mar 10-11, May 14

 

Faulkner, Quentin. Deceptive Pivot Points in J.S. Bach's Orgelbüchlein: similar passages that lead in different directions. Dec 16+

French Organ Music Seminar. See McAfee.

Friesen, Michael. (Reddel Memorial Organ) A Brief History of the Organ. Jan 19-20

 

Gehring, Philip. The Reddel Memorial Organ at Valparaiso University: The   First 30 Years. Feb 18

German Organs. See Baggia.

 

Harpsichord News. See Palmer.

Hardwick, Peter. The Organ Works of Basil Harwood. May 18-21*+

__________. New Organ Music. Aug 12, Sept 13-14, Oct 13-14, Nov 10-12, Dec 12-14

__________. New Recordings. Nov 9-10, Dec 10

Hartman, James. Book Reviews. Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 8, 10, May 8-12, Jun 8-10, Nov 6, Dec 7-8

__________. Prodigy Organists of the Past. Dec 20-21

Harwood, Basil. See Hardwick.

Hohman, Frederick. A student reviews his mentor: David Craighead inaugural recital. Apr 18-19

Holland, Jon. New Organ Music. Mar 9-10,

Huestis, Herbert. Project 2000: The Diapason Index enters Y2K. Jan 14, Feb 12, Apr 10.

__________. How to flip reeds to check for tuning stability. May 22*

__________. OrganNet Report. Sept 15

__________. Repair of reed resonators. Jun 13*

__________, and Calhoun, David. Twin Perspectives on AGO Seattle 2000, Part 1. Oct 15-17*

__________. AGO Seattle 2000: Part 2. Nov 16-18*

Hughes, Sarah Mahler. New Recordings Jun 10-11.

 

Jean, Martin. (Reddel Memorial Organ) Behind the Scenes of the Organ Renovation. Feb 18

__________. Göteborg International Organ Academy 2000. Apr 12-14*

Jones, Peter. Residence Organ: The Isle of Man. Oct 18-21 *†#

 

Keck, Ray M. Playing for Apollo. The Technical and Aesthetic Legacy of Carl

  Weinrich. Feb 13-17

Kellner, Herbert Anton. Johann Sebastian Bach and Die Kunst der Fuga.                           Mar 13*+#

__________. Die Kunst der Fuga: J. S. Bach's Prefatory Message and Implications. May 15-17 *+#

Kimball. See Coleberd.

 

Leppert-Largent, Anna M. Robert Rayfield: In Memoriam. Mar 12*

Letters to the Editor. Jan 2, Mar 2, Apr 2, May 2, Jun 2, Aug 2, Oct 6, Nov 2-3, Dec 4

 

Marigold, W. G. New Recordings. May 14, June 11, Jul 10-12, Aug 8-10, Sept 11-12, Oct 12, Nov 8, Dec 8

__________. Book review. Aug 8, 10

McAfee, Kay. French Organ Music Seminar July 5-17, 1999. Jan 15-17*

__________. New Organ Music. Jun 12, Jul 12

McCray, James. Music for Voices & Organ. Jan 11-12, Feb 10, Mar 11, Apr 6, May 6, 8, Jun 8, Jul 8, 10, Aug 8, Sept 8, Oct 6-8, Dec 14

McFarlane, Karen.* Retirement. Dec 15

Morton, Jerry D. OHS Convention 2000. Jul 14-15*

Music for Voices & Organ. See McCray.

 

Neighbarger, Randy. New Recordings. Jan 12, Feb 10

Nelson, Leon. New Handbell Music. Aug 12, Sept 14, Oct 14, Nov 12, Dec 14

New Handbell Music. See Nelson

New Organ Music. See Apple, Bohnert, Ellis, Hardwick, Holland, McAfee, Rigler, Schou.

New Recordings. See Apple, Baggia, Durman, Hardwick, Hughes, Marigold, Neighbarger.

 

Organ Recitals. Jan 26-27, Feb 24-25, Mar 24-25, Apr 24-25, May 27-29, Jun 24, Jul 27-28, Aug 27-28, Sept 28, Oct 27-28, Nov 23-24, Dec 27-28

OrganNet. See Huestis.

Orgelbüchlein. See Faulkner.

 

Palmer, Larry. Harpsichord News. Mar 6, May 6, Jun 6-7,  Jul 8,* Aug 7-8,* Sept 8, Dec 8

Panning, John A. (Reddel Memorial Organ) The Organ Builder's Perspective.   Jan 18-19

Pitman action. See Coleberd.

Prodigy. See Hartman.

Project 2000. See Huestis.

 

Rayfield, Robert. See Leppert-Largent.

Reeds. See Huestis.

Residence organ. See Jones.

Rigler, Ann Marie. New Organ Music. May 14, June 12, Aug 10, 12

 

Schmidt, Dennis. University of Michigan Historic Organ Tour XL. Apr 11*

Schou, Larry. New Organ Music. Jan 13, Oct 13, Nov 12

Scott, John. See Van Oyen.

Simmons, Morgan. Book Review. Apr 6-7

Skinner. See Webster.

Spicer, David. Esma Beth Anderson Clark—What a Teacher! Nov 13*

Swager, Brian. Carillon News. Jan 8, 10,11* Feb 6-8,* Jun 6, Jul 6, 8, Dec 6*

 

(Valparaiso University) The Fred and Ella Reddel Memorial Organ at Valparaiso   

  University. Part 1, Jan 18-20.*† Part 2, Feb 18-19.* See also Bernthal, Brugh, Eifrig, Friesen, Gehring, Jean, Panning

Van Oyen, Marcia. An Interview with John Scott. Jul 16-18*

 

Webster, Richard, and Joseph Dzeda. Ernest M. Skinner Opus 327: St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Evanston, Illinois. Jul 19-21*

Wechsler, Malcolm. Vernon deTar Memorial Service, November 14, 1999. Feb                   

  12

Weinrich, Carl. See Keck.

West, Martin. 20th Century Church Music in Germany: An Overview. Aug. 14-17.*

Williams, Carol. Concert Tour: Europe 2000. *† Dec 17-19

Appointments

Allen, Patrick,* to Grace Church, New York, NY. Mar 3

Andrews, Colin,* to East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. Jul 3

Bates, Carol Henry, to Editor, Early Keyboard Journal. Dec 3

Brown, James Russell,* to Vice President of Administration, Music Institute of Chicago, IL. Jun 3

Bush, John Emory,* to St. Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral, Dallas, TX. Dec 3

Butera, Jerome,* to St. Mary's Episcopal, Park Ridge, IL. Sept 3

Cockburn, Neil,* to the Mount Royal College Conservatory Calgary Organ Academy, Calgary, Canada. Sept 3

Davidsson, Hans,* to the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. Sept 3

Fiore, George Halverson, to Associate Conductor for Choral Activities, Seattle Symphony, Seattle, WA. Oct 3

Gandre, James, to Dean of the College of the Performing Arts, Roosevelt University, Chicago. Dec 3

Gooding, David,* to Old Stone Church, Cleveland, OH. Sept 3

Hargraves, Ian,* to design and engineering team, Retuer Organ Company. Oct 3

Hokans, Henry, to St. George's Episcopal, Durham, NH. Apr 3

Jackson, Roger, to Chairman of the Board, Calgary International Organ     Foundation. Jan 3

Janzer, Dennis,* to Coral Gables Congregational, Coral Gables, FL. Dec 3

Johnson, Erica, to Organ Scholar at The Memorial Church, Harvard Univ. Jan 4

Johnson, Jeffrey C., to Grace Church, New York, NY. Oct 3

Johnson, Kyle,* to Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO. Aug 3

Jones, Robert, to St Luke's Anglican, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Mar 3

Kaltenbach, Janet, to General Manager, the American Boychoir. Aug 3

Kinnaugh, Norm, to drafting/engineering department, Reuter Organ Company. Mar 3

Lindley, Simon, to President-elect, RCO, England. Jan 2

Lowry, Douglas, to the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. Sept 3

Miller, Aaron David,* to Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago, IL. Jan 3

Mills, Ralph, to First United Meth-odist, Charlottesville, VA. Aug 3.

Oberlin, Marta, to Sales Manager, Shawnee Press. Apr 3

Pape, Uwe, to principal consultant, St. Mary's Church, Berlin, Germany. Mar 4

Rakich, Christa,* to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Boston, MA. Aug 3

Richerby, Neil,* to Managing Director, J.W. Walker, Suffolk, England. Jun 3

Roberts, Stephen,* to St Peter RC,   Danbury, CT. Jan 3

Sambach, Cj,* to Holmdel Community United Church of Christ, Holmdel, NJ. Jun 3

Schroeder, Carl E.,* to Zion Lutheran, Harrisburg, PA. May 3

Stinson, Russell,* to Lyon College,   Batesville, AR. Jan 3

Tarrant, Jeremy David,* to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, MI. Jul 3

thor-Straten-Mohr, Patricia, to Director of Publications, Shawnee Press. Apr 3

Trapp, Lynn Michael, to Principal Artistic Director, The Marianne Webb & David N. Bateman Distinguished Organ Recital Series. Apr 3

Wilkinson, Cathryn, to Concordia University, River Forest, IL. Nov 3

Williams, Keith,* to Director of Organ Service & Tuning, Buzard Pipe Organ   Builders. Feb 3

Zager, Daniel,* to librarian, Eastman School of Music's Sibley Music Library. Oct 4

Zwilling, Mark,* to Cathedral of Hope, Dallas, TX. Jan 3

Honors and Competitions

Arcus, David,* awarded Holtkamp-AGO Award in Organ Composition. Apr 3

Biggers, Jonathan,* received Alumni Arts Award. Apr 3

Bischof, Justin,* awarded first prize in National Competition in Organ Improvisation. Oct 3

Boerema, Hayo,* awarded first prize, improvisation. Mar 3

Bringle, Mary Louise, named winner of Hymn Writing Contest. May 3

Burks, Charles,* wins Gruenstein Memorial Organ Competition. Aug 6

Chenault, Elizabeth and Raymond, * honored for 25 years as Organists and Choirmasters. Jul 3

Cho, Jin Sun,* wins Arthur Poister Competition. Jul 2

Choi, Ji-Yoen, awarded first prize in National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. Oct 3

Deák, Lázló,* awarded second prize, improvisation, and concerto prize. Mar 3

Farmer, Kristin Gronning, receives OHS Distinguished Service Award. Feb 3

Foss, Lukas, received Gold Medal for Music from American Academy of Arts and Letters. Oct 4

Glasgow, Robert,* honored with 75th birthday recital. May 2

Heaton, Charles Huddleston, included in 18th edition of Who's Who in the World. Nov 4

Holmes, Brian, receives award in Plymouth Music Series Christmas Carol Contest. Dec 2

Jarnot, Camilla, receives Margaret Power Biggs Research Grant. Aug 3-4

Kim, Sung Joo,* wins second prize in Gruenstein Memorial Organ Competition. Aug 6

Lane, Christian, wins organ performance competition at Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival. Dec 3

Lovett School Chamber Choir, Raymond Chenault,* director, wins National Grand Championship in MusicFest Orlando 2000 Choral Competition. Sept. 3

Lindner, Tobias, wins first prize, Bruges Organ Competition. Dec 2

McFarlane, Karen,* honored upon retirement. Dec 15

McManis, Charles W., honored with 87th birthday recital. Aug 4.

Myers, Scott,* wins Vernon deTar Scholarship Competition. Oct. 3

Noehren, Robert,* celebrates 90th birthday. Dec 3

Parker, Alice, receives AGO Distinguished Composer Award. Oct 4

Peek, Betty & Richard,* honored at retirement. Feb 4

Porter, Emily Maxon, receives award in Plymouth Music Series Christmas Carol Contest. Dec 2

Roth, Daniel,* awarded the Prix Florent Schmitt. Jan 4

Schreiber, Lawrence P.,* named minister of music emeritus, National City Christian Church, Washington, DC. Aug 4

Stein, Yoav, receives MTNA Collegiate Artist Organ Award. Jul 3

Toth, Keith S.,* received Golden Ear Award. Mar 4

Wetzler, Robert P., granted A.S.C.A.P. composer award. Aug 4

Yoon, Sujin,* wins third prize and audience prize at Gruenstein Memorial Organ Competition. Aug 6

Obituaries

Chevalier-Duruflé, Marie-Madeleine. Jan 8

Childs, Barney. Apr 4

Davis, Dwight J. May 4

Fauquet, Vivien Johnson. Jan 8

Ferris, William.* Jul 6

Groom, Lester H.* Jul 6

Hovhaness, Alan.* Sept 6

Pennells, Andrew.* Mar 4

Pettinga, Paul. Oct 6

Spelman, Leslie*. Aug 6.

Wheeler, Scott E. May 4

Whitehead, William. Dec 4

Organ Stoplists

Andover

University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. 3/47,* May 1, 23

(Hook) Cheney Hall, Manchester, CT. 2/16,* Dec 23

 

Bedient

Sharon United Methodist, Charlotte, NC. 2/28, tracker,* Jul 24

 

Buzard

Our Savior's Lutheran, Rockford, IL. 2/30,* Dec 1, 22

 

Cook

Our Saviour's Lutheran, Bremerton, WA. 2/21,* Nov 1, 19

 

Dobson

Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN. 4/102,* Jan 1, 18-20

 

Fabry (Wicks)

St John's Episcopal, Sturgis, MI. 3/31,* Jan 22

First Presbyterian, Harvard, IL. 2/15,* Feb 20

United Methodist , Hinckley, IL. 2/13,* Oct 23

(Moller rebuild) Evangelical United Methodist, Racine, WI. 3/37,* Nov 20

 

Farmer (Pilcher restoration)

Galloway Memorial Episcopal, Elkin, NC. 1/7 tracker,* Jan 22

 

Glatter-Götz/Rosales

Claremont United Church of Christ, Claremont, CA. 3/77 tracker,* Mar 20

 

Goulding & Wood

St. Paul's Episcopal, Wilmington, NC. 9-rank antiphonal division added,* Sept 24.

 

Jaeckel

Redeemer Lutheran, Rice Lake, WI. 1/4 tracker,* Aug 24

Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church, Sturgeon Bay, WI. 2/23 tracker,* Sept 24

First Congregational United Church of Christ, Sarasota, FL. 2/28 tracker,* Oct 23

 

Kegg

St. Paul's Episcopal, Canton, OH. 4/49,* Sept 23

 

Kney

Residence of Dr. Andrew John, Oklahoma City, OK. 2/18 tracker,* Jul 24

 

Lauck

Pillar Christian Reformed Church, Holland, MI. 3/31, electric. Dec 24

 

Lewis & Hitchcock

Residence of Dr. Carl Schwartz, Silver Spring, MD. 2/3 tracker,* Jul 23

 

Murphy (Hook restoration)

Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Agora, CA. 2/20 tracker,* Sept 1, 22.

 

Nichols & Simpson

Pulaski Heights United Methodist, Little Rock, AR. 4/73,* May 24

Hendrix College, Conway, AR. 2/34,* Mar 20

 

Ott

Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict, OR. 2/15 tracker* and 3/44 tracker,* Jul 1, 22-23

Trinity Lutheran, Lansdale, PA. 3/70,* Dec 24

 

Parkey

Milford Hills United Methodist, Salisbury, NC. 2/17,* Jan 21

 

Pasi

St. Augustine Catholic Church, Spokane, WA. 2/33 tracker,* Feb 1, 20

 

Rench

Trinity United Methodist, Racine, WI. 2/19,* Mar 1, 19

 

Reuter

Second Congregational, Grand Rapids, MI. 3/49,* Apr 1, 18

University Presbyterian, Seattle, WA. 4/93,* Oct 1, 22

 

Reynolds (Kimball/Casavant restoration)

Zion Evangelical UCC, Indianapolis, IN. 4/63,* Jun 20

 

Ruggles

Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA. 2/6 tracker,* Apr 20

Randolph Church, Randolph, NH. 2/13 tracker,* Aug 24

 

Rule (Hook & Hastings rebuild)

Covenant Baptist, Houston, TX. 2/9,* Aug 24

 

Swanson

Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, MI. 2/20,* Nov 20

 

Wicks

Aspen Community United Methodist, Aspen, CO. 2/30,* Oct 24

First Baptist, Ocala, FL. 4/74,* Aug. 1, 22-23

 

Wolff

University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA. 2/37 tracker,* Jun 1, 19