Nunc Dimittis

Robert E. Fort, Jr. died on January 29 in DeLand, Florida. A native of Ocala, Florida, he was a graduate of the University of Florida, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Craighead. He earned a doctor of sacred music degree from the School of Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied with Vernon deTar. Dr. Fort taught at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and at Stetson University, and was a lifelong church musician, serving most recently as organist-choirmaster at the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand. Active in the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, he was an honorary lifetime member and had served as its president; he also served as dean of the Central Florida AGO chapter and was a member of the Hymn Society and the American Choral Directors Association. Dr. Fort wrote widely on church music topics and led workshops and hymn festivals throughout the country. Robert Fort is survived by his wife of 49 years, Patricia Mims Fort, and his children, Robert Fort III and Carolyn Fort.

Timothy J. Oliver died in Frankfort, Kentucky on January 5. He was 71. Born in Cincinnati, he earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State College and subsequently studied organ with Arnold Blackburn at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a master of music degree. Active in the Lexington, Kentucky AGO chapter, Oliver initiated and for many years maintained the chapter’s organ academy; he had also been a member of the music and liturgy commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, helping to plan and rehearse the 1995 diocesan centennial service. Timothy Oliver had served as organist at Midway Presbyterian Church, following his retirement as organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Versailles after a long tenure. He held a similar position at Versailles Presbyterian Church, establishing a children’s and a handbell choir, and leading the renovation of the church’s Pilcher organ; he also served at Church of the Ascension in Frankfort. He twice directed the Woodford Community Choir and was a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Organ Historical Society. Timothy Oliver is survived by many friends and several cousins.

French organist Michel Pinte died of a heart attack in Malaga, Spain, on October 21, 2008. Born on July 21, 1936 in Etrepagny (Eure, in Normandy), he was buried in the nearby cemetery in Doudeauville-en-Vexin. A Requiem Mass was celebrated in his memory on November 8, 2008, at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris, where he had served as organist for 29 years.
Michel Pinte began to play the organ for Masses at the parish church in his home town at the age of ten. Two years later, he began organ lessons in Rouen with Jules Lambert (substituting for him) and then with Marcel Lanquetuit. In 1956, during his military service, he served as organist at the Saint-Philippe cathedral in Algiers. When he returned to Paris in 1962, he studied piano with Irène Baume-Psichari, harmony with Yves Margat, Gregorian chant with Henri Potiron at the Institut grégorien, and organ with Jean Langlais at the Schola Cantorum, where he received his diploma in virtuosic organ interpretation and improvisation in 1964. He also studied later with Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier, Marie-Louise Girod, and Suzanne Chaisemartin.
After substituting at numerous churches (notably in Paris at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Passy and on the choir organs at Saint-Augustin and the Versailles cathedral), in 1968 Pinte was named titular of the Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin choir organ at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris. In 1973, he requested Victor Gonzalez to enlarge this organ to 32 stops with six adjustable pistons, enabling him to play the entire repertory comfortably. He later entrusted the maintenance of this organ to Bernard Dargassies. In 1979, Michel Pinte also assisted Suzanne Chaisemartin on the 1868 Barker/Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin Grand Orgue (III/53) and was appointed as her co-titular in 1990. He retired in June 1997, and spent his final years in Marbella, Spain (Malaga).
During his retirement, Michel Pinte performed even more concerts in Europe and the United States. In Spain, he performed for the organ weeks in Grenada in 1999 and in Madrid in 2000, and at the Palau de la Música in Valencia in 2007 (for more details, see <www.musimem.com&gt;). Audiences appreciated his eclectic programs that highlighted nineteenth and twentieth-century repertory (notably works by Demessieux, Vierne, and Widor as well as lesser-known works) and were captivated by his final brilliant improvisation on a well-known theme.
His solid technique and his open spirit allowed him to express himself easily and freely, to fully share his vital love of music with others. To cite one example, those who attended his concert at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C. on November 13, 1986, will never forget his stunning improvisation on America the Beautiful. This cultural ambassador will long be remembered for his vast artistic knowledge, his creative imagination, and his good sense of humor.
—Carolyn Shuster Fournier
Paris, France

Travis R. Powell, age 36, died on January 19 in Carey, Ohio. A student of Donald MacDonald, he earned a bachelor of church music degree from Westminster Choir College, and a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was a student of Robert Anderson. Powell was director of music–organist at the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio, where he directed the shrine chorale and a children’s choir and played over 650 Masses a year. He also taught general music at Our Lady of Consolation School and was artistic director of the Carey Ecumenical Choir; he had previously served at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe Cathedral in Dallas. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Organ Historical Society, American Choral Directors Association, Choristers Guild, and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

Robert Wendell Robe died on January 24 in Tampa, Florida. He was 79. Born July 8, 1929, in Zanesville, Ohio, he attended Meredith College in Zanesville and Capitol University. A church musician for 64 years, he began his musical career as organist for St. Luke’s Lutheran Church and played for “The Coffee Club,” a local radio program. He held organist positions at Webb City Presbyterian Church, New Haven Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Forest Hills Presbyterian and Wellspring United Methodist churches, both in Tampa, Florida, and until last year at the Kirk of Dunedin Community Church in Dunedin, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Robe, two daughters and three sisters.

Mary Landon Russell died November 20, 2008, in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, at age 95. She attended Dickinson Junior College and in 1936 earned a bachelor of music degree from Susquehanna University. In 1957 she earned a master of arts degree from Pennsylvania State University, and did further study at the Chautauqua Institution School of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music. She taught at Lycoming College from 1936 until her retirement in 1978, when she was named associate professor of music emerita and continued as a part-time piano teacher there for another twenty years.
Mrs. Russell was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Guild of Organists, of which she was a past dean of the Williamsport chapter, the Williamsport Music Club, and the National and Pennsylvania Federations of Music Clubs. She was also a 50-year member and honorary regent of the Lycoming Chapter, Daughters of the America Revolution, and was awarded the Martha Washington Medal from the Tiadaghton Chapter (Sons of the American Revolution) for her “History of the Music of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.” She is listed in Outstanding Educators of America; during her 50th year of teaching at Lycoming College, the school’s Alumni Association established the Mary Landon Russell Applied Music Fund, which provides financial aid to musically gifted students. Mrs. Russell frequently served as organist at Covenant-Central Presbyterian Church, and in other area churches.

The French organist and musicologist Jean Bonfils died on November 26, 2007 in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) at the age of 86. His funeral was celebrated on November 29 at the Notre-Dame Church in Vitré and a memorial mass was held in his honor at La Trinité Church in Paris on February 16, 2008.
Born in Saint-Etienne (Loire) on April 21, 1921, Jean Bonfils studied at the Paris Conservatory and received first prize in organ in 1949 in Marcel Dupré’s class, a second prize in composition in Jean Rivier’s class in 1948, and a first medal in analysis in Olivier Messiaen’s class in 1950.
Jean Bonfils substituted for Olivier Messiaen at La Trinité Church in Paris for over forty years (from 1950 to 1992), then for Naji Hakim. According to Denis Havard de la Montagne (http://www.musimem.com/BonfilsJean.htm), he also played the Merklin organ at the Grande Synagogue in Paris, rue de la Victoire, for over thirty years (succeeding Henriette Roger in 1953), and in 1964 he was also named titular of the Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin organ at Saint-Ignace (succeeding Paule Piédelièvre, remaining until 1975). After assisting Jean Langlais as organ professor at the Schola Cantorum, he taught organ there from 1973 to 1992.
He was editor of numerous liturgical journals and musical publications, including the collection he co-directed with Gaston Litaize, L’Organiste liturgique, Heinrich Schütz’s works for choir, and an organ method he wrote with Noëllie Pierront (Nouvelle méthode de Clavier, four volumes, 1960–68, and in 1962 a two-volume Nouvelle méthode d’orgue), which has formed an entire generation of organists, notably Olivier Latry. Seuil Editions published his reconstitutions of Goudimel’s psalms and motets. Jean Bonfils edited numerous 16th- and 17th-century French organ compositions, including Jacques Boyvin’s First and Second Organ Books as well as Deo Gloria, collections of liturgical organ music he prepared with Noëllie Pierront from 1962 to 1968.
A musicologist, Jean Bonfils wrote numerous articles, notably in L’Orgue: on the Christmas carols of Pierre and Jean-François Dandrieu (no. 83, pp. 48–54) and on Olivier Messiaen (1992, no. 224, pp. 12–14); in Recherches sur la musique française classique edited by Picard: on the instrumental fantasies of Eustache Du Caurroy (in 1961–62) and on Jehan Titelouze’s organ works (1965), as well as numerous biographical notices on French musicians for Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Bärenreiter) and for Corliss Arnold’s Organ Literature: A Comprehensive Survey (Scarecrow Press).
Jean Bonfils composed an organ piece, Communion on “Beata Viscera,” published in L’Organiste liturgique (Schola Cantorum). Jean Langlais dedicated to him his Trois Méditations sur la Sainte-Trinité, op. 129 (Philippo, 1962).
At La Trinité Church, I had the joy of working with him from 1989 to 1997. Like Olivier Messiaen, Jean Bonfils was very discreet, modest and cordial, and was an excellent musician. He played an eclectic repertory and carefully chose the pieces he played during the church services, strictly in keeping with their specific liturgical functions; an excellent musicologist as well, he was an immense inspiration to me and countless other musicians and students. In addition, he generously gave numerous manuscripts, musical scores and letters to the music department at the Bibliothèque nationale and to the library at the Conservatory in Boulogne-Billancourt.
—Carolyn Shuster Fournier
Titular of the A. Cavaillé-Coll Choir Organ at La Trinité Church in Paris

Robert N. Cavarra died February 8 in Denver, Colorado after complications from kidney failure. He was for many years professor of music at Colorado State University and a leading participant in the revival of the classical organ tradition in North America.
Under Cavarra’s leadership, three examples of this movement were realized in Fort Collins: the Casavant Frères organ at CSU (1969), the Lawrence Phelps opus 1 organ at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (1973), and the Danish Marcussen and Son organ at First United Methodist Church (1987). He brought together artists from throughout the world for master classes and recitals on these instruments, including E. Power Biggs, Marie-Claire Alain, Luigi Tagliavini, Gillian Weir, Lionel Rogg, Bernard Lagacé, and Anton Heiller. He taught from 1963 until 2000 on the faculty of CSU’s Department of Music, Theater and Dance. At his death, he was Professor Emeritus of Music. As a student of both philosophy and music, Cavarra also served as organist for the North American College.
Robert Nicholas Cavarra was born on February 23, 1934, in Denver. His musical training began in childhood, and by age 12 he was performing publicly. As a recitalist, Cavarra toured widely, including concerts in Denmark, Sweden, France, England, Canada, Mexico and the United States. He and his wife Barbara founded an international non-profit foundation, “Pro Organo Pleno XXI.” As a recording artist, he released CDs through the Musical Heritage Society, and he was a major figure in the “Christmas at CSU” series of recordings. He was also a published composer and solo and ensemble harpsichordist.
In addition to the classical organ, Cavarra was responsible for the installation of a Wurlitzer theatre organ at CSU, and sponsored numerous workshops on theatre organ music. He was organist at St. Joseph and St. Pius X Roman Catholic Churches and St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Denver, and St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins. He also taught music at Loretto Heights College and St. Thomas Theological Seminary in Denver, as well as at the University of Wyoming. Cavarra is survived by his wife Barbara, a daughter, three sons, and five grandchildren.

Jack Hennigan died November 11, 2007 in Pelham Manor, New York, at the age of 64. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he earned a bachelor of music degree at Juilliard, having studied organ with Vernon deTar. Further studies were in Cologne, Germany, with Michael Schneider (organ) and Gunther Ludwig (organ). He earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Yale, studying organ with Charles Krigbaum and piano with Donald Currier. He won international organ competitions in Bruges, Belgium, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Hennigan served as organist-choirmaster at St. Matthews Church, Wilton, Connecticut, and the Church of Christ the Redeemer (Episcopal) in Pelham Manor, New York. He wrote a monthly column for The American Organist dealing with fingering, hand coordination, and performance anxiety, and lectured to AGO groups on these topics. He was also known as a gourmet cook, traveling and studying food preparation in France. Jack Hennigan is survived by his partner, Martin Nash, of Pelham Manor.

Winston A. Johnson died February 4. He was 92. Born in China in 1915 to Covenant missionaries, he first studied piano with his mother. His family returned to the U.S. in 1927, eventually settling in Illinois. Johnson began organ study at age 13 and by age 16 held his first church organist position. He earned bachelor and master of music degrees from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and the master of sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. His teachers included Clarence Dickinson, Marcel Dupré, Hugh Porter, and Leo Sowerby. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942–46 as a chaplain’s assistant, playing for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish services.
Winston Johnson served as organist and choir director for over 60 years, including at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle for 32 years. Active in the American Guild of Organists, he was one of twelve organists who studied with Sowerby in Chicago for the Associate certificate; he was the only candidate who passed the two-day examination that year. Johnson held several offices with the Seattle AGO chapter, including as dean. He also played for two AGO regional conventions, and had performed with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Opera. He taught at North Park College and Trinity Bible Institute in Chicago, and at Simpson Bible Institute and Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, and taught privately. He gave his last piano lesson three days before his death. Winston Johnson is survived by Irma, his wife of nearly 50 years, his sister, two sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law, and nieces and nephews.

Robert V. McGuire died November 12, 2007, in Haines City, Florida, at the age of 79. Born and raised in Chicago, his doctoral dissertation from the University of Chicago dealt with the use of the augmented second in Bach’s Passions and other choral works. Dr. McGuire served as organist-choirmaster at churches in Illinois and in Florida; his last position was at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Haines City, retiring in 2002. He served on the boards of the Messiah Association of Polk County and the Bach Festival of Central Florida, for which he authored program notes for many years. A lifelong member of the AGO, he served as dean of the Lakeland Area (Florida) chapter. Robert McGuire is survived by many cousins, nieces, nephews, and his friend Jeanette Stokes.

Edward Lamond Nobles, age 72, died January 2 in Meridian, Mississippi. Born in Meridian, he first studied piano with an aunt; he earned a bachelor of music degree at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in 1958, and a master of music education degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1968. Nobles taught music for eight years in Mississippi and for 18 years in Michigan; he also served as organist-choir director in various churches in those two states. He returned to Mississippi in 1984 and served as organist at St. Patrick Catholic Church of Meridian for over 20 years. Nobles was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity and the AGO, and was active in the Jackson, Mississippi chapter. He is survived by several cousins and many friends.

Glenn Edward Pride, 57, died suddenly February 26 at his residence on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he graduated from Peabody Demonstration School in Nashville and from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, majoring in organ performance. His graduate degree in sacred music was completed at Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Pride had served St. Simons Presbyterian Church as director of music and organist since 2000. During his 34-year music career, he also served First Presbyterian Church of Dalton, Georgia; First Presbyterian Church of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; First Presbyterian Church of Jonesboro, Georgia; and the First Presbyterian Church of Douglasville, Georgia. He was a member of Rotary International and the American Guild of Organists. He was also artistic director of the Island Concert Association of St. Simons Island.

Elise Murray Cambon died December 30, 2007, at Touro Infirmary, New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Cambon received a B.A. from Newcomb College in 1939, a Master of Music in organ from the University of Michigan (1947), and a Ph.D. from Tulane (1975). For 62 years she served St. Louis Cathedral as organist, music minister, and director of the St. Louis Cathedral Choir and Concert Choir. She was named Director Emerita in 2002.
A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Cambon studied in Germany in 1953, attended Hochschule fur Musik in Frankfurt-am-Main, and continued her studies in organ with Helmut Walcha, harpsichord with Marie Jaeger Young, and conducting with Kurt Thomas. She also did post-graduate work at Syracuse University, Oberlin College, and Pius X School of Liturgical Music in Purchase, New York. She spent a summer at the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes, France, studying Gregorian chant.
Dr. Cambon was a professor in Loyola’s College of Music (1961 to 1982), founding their Department of Liturgical Music, and also taught music at the Louise S. McGehee School and Ursuline Academy. She was one of the founders of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. She received the Order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government for encouraging French music in New Orleans. She led the St. Louis Cathedral Concert Choir on five pilgrimages to Europe, where they sang at St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame de Paris, and other famous cathedrals and churches. In 2004, she made a gift of a new Holtkamp organ for the cathedral. Dr. Cambon was interviewed by Marijim Thoene for The Diapason (“Her Best Friends Were Archbishops—An interview with Elise Cambon, organist of New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral for 62 years,” October 2004).

Anita Jeanne Shiflett Graves died September 16, 2007, at age 86. Born September 20, 1920, in Lincoln, Illinois, she attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned a master’s degree in music at Northwestern University. She had worked as a church organist, choir director and funeral home organist, and taught at Drake University and San Jose State University. A funeral service was held at Campbell United Methodist Church in Campbell, California.

Kay Wood Haley died July 10, 2007, at age 90 in Fairhope, Alabama. Born March 26, 1917, in Sumner, Illinois, she began playing for church services in Flora, Alabama, at age 14. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and then transferred to the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Harold Gleason and graduated in 1938. From 1939–1983, Mrs. Haley was organist at Judson College in Marion, Alabama, and at First Baptist, First Presbyterian, and St. Paul’s Episcopal churches, all in Selma, Alabama. She helped found the Selma Choral Society and the Selma Civic Chorus, and helped lead the Alabama Church Music Workshop.

Gerald W. Herman Sr. died August 25, 2007 at age 81 in Gainesville, Florida. Born November 9, 1925, he began his 61-year organist career on April 28, 1946, at Rockville United Brethren Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and played for several other churches in the area. A job transfer with Nationwide Insurance in 1979 brought him to Gainesville, Florida, where he served as organist at Kanapaha Presbyterian Church and then at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Archer, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Charlotte, a daughter, and a son.

Theodore C. Herzel died September 28, 2007, in York, Pennsylvania. Born October 10, 1927, in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, he held church positions in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Detroit, Michigan, and served as organist-director of music for 28 years at First Presbyterian Church, York, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1988. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Westminster Choir College and a master’s at the Eastman School of Music. He was an active member of the York AGO chapter and the Matinee Music Club.
H. Wiley Hitchcock, musicologist, author, teacher, editor and scholar of American as well as baroque music, died December 5 at the age of 84. In 1971 he founded the Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College of the City of New York, and in 1986 he edited, with Stanley Sadie, the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. He retired from CUNY in 1993 as a Distinguished Professor, but maintained a consulting relationship with ISAM until the end.
Born on September 28, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, Hitchcock earned his B.A. in 1944 from Dartmouth College and served in the military during WW II. After the war he studied music with Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire Américan and at the University of Michigan, from which he earned his Ph.D. in 1954. His dissertation was on the sacred music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
He started teaching in 1950 at Michigan and in 1961 moved to Hunter College in New York. A decade later he went to Brooklyn College and became founding director of ISAM. In his honor, the ISAM is to be renamed the Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music. In addition to his work on Grove, Hitchcock edited numerous publications. His last book, Charles Ives: 129 Songs (Music of the United States of America), was published by A-R Editions in 2004.

Everett W. Leonard died June 9, 2007, in Katy, Texas, at age 96. Born March 4, 1911, in Franklin, New Hampshire, he began piano lessons at age nine and organ lessons in high school. He worked for 40 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, DC. In addition, he served as organist at Central Presbyterian Church and Mount Olivet Methodist Church, both in Arlington, Virginia, and at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Punta Gorda, Florida, and at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, Port Charlotte, Florida. A longtime member of the AGO, he served as dean of the District of Columbia chapter.

W. Gordon Marigold, longtime author and reviewer for The Diapason, died November 25, 2007, in Urbana, Illinois. Born May 24, 1926, in Toronto, he earned a B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and earned an M.A. from Ohio State University. He also studied in Munich, Germany. Dr. Marigold taught German at the University of Western Ontario, Trinity College Schools, the University of Virginia, and at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. At Union College, he was a department head, division chairman, and college organist, and he supervised the installation of a new organ by Randall Dyer in 1991. He retired as professor emeritus of German in 1991, and moved to Urbana, Illinois.
Dr. Marigold received his musical training in piano, organ, and voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and in Munich. He served as organist at churches in Toronto, at First Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he gave an annual series of recitals, and churches in Columbus, Ohio. He was heard in radio organ recitals broadcast by station WOSU in Columbus, and played on the annual Bach recital at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Champaign, Illinois.
Professor Marigold was an internationally known scholar of German Baroque literature and music, and author of five books, countless articles in scholarly journals (including The Diapason, Musical Opinion, and The Organ), hundreds of reviews of German literature for Germanic Notes and Reviews, and countless reviews of recordings and books for The Diapason. He was a recipient of many research grants for study and research in Germany.
Dr. Marigold is survived by his wife Constance Young Marigold, whom he married on August 22, 1953. A Requiem Eucharist was celebrated on December 1 at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Champaign, Illinois. Linda Buzard, parish organist and choirmaster, provided music by Bach, Purcell, Byrd, and Willan, along with hymns Lobe den Herren, Austria, Slane, and Darwall’s 148th.
In addition to numerous reviews of new recordings and books, Dr. Marigold’s Diapason bibliography includes:
“Max Drischner and his organ writings: a neglected modern,” Oct 1955;
“Austrian church music experiences extensive revival,” May 1956;
“The organs at the Marienkirche at Lübeck,” Dec 1969;
“A visit to Preetz, Germany,” April 1971;
“Some interesting organs in Sweden,” May 1971;
“Organs and organ music of South Germany,” Oct 1974;
“Organs in Braunschweig: some problems of organ placement,” Aug 1982;
“18th-century organs in Kloster Muri, Switzerland,” Feb 1986;
“Organ and church music activity in Munich during the European Year of Music,” Aug 1986;
“A variety of recent German organs,” April 1989;
“Dyer organ for Union College, Barbourville, KY,” Dec 1991.
(Dr. Marigold continued to write reviews to within weeks of his death. The Diapason will publish these reviews posthumously.—Ed.)

Johnette Eakin Schuller died September 21, 2007, at age 66 in Brewster, Massachusetts. She earned degrees from the College of Wooster, Ohio, and the Eastman School of Music. She and her husband, Rodney D. Schuller, served for 31 years as ministers of sacred music and organists at the Reformed Church of Bronxville, New York. Johnette Schuller also held positions at Andrew Price Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee; the Presbyterian Church in Bound Brook, New Jersey; the Post Chapel in Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; and Calvary Lutheran Church in Verona, New Jersey.

Joy Anne Moore Marsh died peacefully at her home in Plano, Texas, on July 9. She was 69. Born in Dallas on July 19, 1935, she graduated from North Dallas High School in 1953. She earned her bachelor of music degree in organ from Southern Methodist University in 1957, studying with Dora Poteet Barclay, and then completed her master’s degree in music literature in 1961 at the University of Texas, Austin. Her thesis was “Form and Style in the Organ Works of Olivier Messiaen.” Mrs. Marsh taught music in the public schools of Midland and Dallas. A 40-year resident of Plano, Texas, she also taught private piano. She is survived by one sister, Mary E. Moore Skalicky, concert organist of Big Spring, Texas, three daughters and three grandchildren, and was preceded in death by her husband Noble Earl Marsh.

Jack H. Ossewaarde died December 30, 2004 at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. He was 86. Born November 15, 1918 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Ossewaarde began his music training at age seven, and sang with the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Boys’ Choir in Kalamazoo. He became organist and director of music at North Park Reformed Church, Kalamazoo, at age 14, and also served as organist at Bethany Reformed Church while still a teenager.

After graduating from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1936, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan. He was organist and music director at First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, and an instructor at U-M before being inducted into the U.S. Army shortly before the United States entered World War II. After serving in the Army, Ossewaarde studied at Union Theological Seminary. In 1946 he was appointed organist and choirmaster of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The following year he was appointed organist at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City, where he served for six years. He then served Christ Church Cathedral in Houston for five years, before being appointed to St. Bartholomew’s Church, New York City, where he served for 25 years until his retirement. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Donna Ossewaarde, a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, a brother and sister-in-law, and a sister and brother-in-law.

Calvert Shenk died from cancer on July 9 at his home in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He was 64. Most recently Mr. Shenk served as assistant professor of music at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He also worked at Assumption Grotto Church in Detroit, where he assisted as organist, chant master and composer.

Born November 21, 1940 in Joplin, Missouri, Shenk earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance from Northwestern University, and continued studies with Theodore Marier (Gregorian chant), Gerre Hancock (improvisation) and David Willcocks (choral conducting). He held music positions at St. Henry Parish, Chicago, Illinois; Armed Forces School of Music, Norfolk, Virginia; St. Philip Parish, Battle Creek, Michigan; St. Catherine Parish, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Cathedral of St. Paul, Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, he worked as adjunct instructor at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, as music critic for the Battle Creek Enquirer and News, as choral director at St. Philip Catholic Central High School, and as associate director, accompanist and composer-in-residence for the Battle Creek Boys Choir.

He played recitals thoughout the midwest, east and southeast, and performed at the 1986 AGO national convention in Detroit. Internationally, he presented an organ recital at Eglise Notre-Dame in Douai, France, and led the St. Catherine Church Choir on a tour of Italy in March 1987. Mr. Shenk was a Fellow of the AGO and served as dean of the Southwest Michigan chapter, as well as educational concerns chairman of the Birmingham, Alabama chapter. He was a member of the Hymn Society, the Church Music Association of America and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

A prolific composer, his works are published by MacAfee Music, GIA Publications and CanticaNOVA Publications, and he was co-author of the Adoremus Hymnal (Ignatius Press). A funeral mass was held on July 13 at Assumption Grotto Church, Detroit. Mr. Shenk is survived by his wife of 37 years, Ila Marie Connors Shenk.

Margaret T. “Meg” Flowers died April 30, at the age of 71, in Houston. She earned a BA from Vassar College in 1960, and MMus and DMA degrees from Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, in 1990 and 2004. She served as organist, choirmaster, and music director at several Episcopal parishes in Houston, and at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, retiring in January 2010. She held memberships in the Association of Anglican Musicians and the AGO, and served as dean of the Houston AGO chapter and chair of the Diocesan Music Commission. Meg Flowers is survived by her husband, David C. Flowers, three daughters and their husbands, Jennifer and Lyman Paden, Rebecca and Brian Oxley, and Elizabeth and Michael Murray, stepdaughters Kay Flowers and Karen Stephen and her husband Denny, sister Frances Pearson, brothers Bill and Walker Taylor, and five grandchildren.

Yvonne Loriod died May 17 in Saint-Denis, France, at the age of 86. The French pianist was for three decades the wife of Olivier Messiaen, and the chief interpreter of his piano works, as well as a champion of the piano works of Pierre Boulez, Jean Barraqué, André Jolivet, and Arnold Schoenberg. A student at the Paris Conservatoire, Loriod had learned the major piano repertoire by the age of 14. At the Conservatoire, she studied piano with Lazare-Lévy, and harmony with André Bloch; when the Nazis deported them during the French occupation, Loriod resumed piano study with Marcel Ciampi and harmony with Messiaen, who had recently returned from a prison camp. Messiaen wrote the two-piano work Visions de l’Amen with Loriod in mind.
As a concert pianist, she was known for her performances of contemporary repertoire. After teaching at the Staat-
liche Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, she was appointed piano professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1967, where she taught for a quarter of a century. Loriod married Messiaen in 1961; she served as his proofreader, musical assistant, manager, and interpreter until his death in 1992. Yvonne Loriod is survived by her sister Jacqueline and her stepson Pascal.

Kathleen Funk Pearson, age 93, died March 22 in Fort Myers, Florida. Born in Philadelphia, she graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory, and did graduate study at the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student of Harold Gleason. She joined the music department at Vassar College and served as assistant college organist and Vassar College Choir accompanist there, and from 1957–1988 as chapel organist. She also served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church, and as organist and choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie. A visiting professor at SUNY–New Paltz, she was chapel organist for the Harvard Divinity School, and for twelve years organist for the Danforth Foundation summer conferences.
With her husband, Donald M. Pearson, she co-founded the Central Hudson Valley AGO chapter, for which she served as dean, and which recognized her in 2008 for her lifelong contribution and dedication to promoting excellence in organ performance and choral music. They moved to Florida in 1988, where she served St. John’s Episcopal Church in Naples, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers, Sanibel Congregational Church, and Chapel of the Sea on Captiva Island, and founded the 65-voice Shell Point Singers. Following Donald Pearson’s death in 2004, she created an organ recital fund in his memory, for performances at Vassar College; the fund has now been renamed the Donald and Kathleen Pearson Organ Recital Fund.

William Louis Shepard died July 15. For the last six years he held the position of organist and choirmaster at the First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. He earned his master’s degree in church music from Northwestern University and his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College. Shepard taught piano, organ, and voice in academic settings as well as privately. He held positions as organist, choral director, handbell director, and children’s choir director at numerous churches in the metropolitan Chicago area as well as the Hot Springs, Arkansas area.
Born July 9, 1949, in Geneva, Illinois, he and his two sisters formed a string trio at a young age. During their early school years in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the trio was awarded first place in several Illinois ensemble competitions. In 1984 Shepard moved to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Upon his return to Mount Prospect, Illinois, in 2002, the trio continued to perform.
Shepard was the winner of a student competition of the Chicago AGO chapter, and maintained his membership in the Chicago chapter. For eight years he was the regular organist for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, broadcast on Channel 11 (WTTW). He also operated his own antique clock repair business. William Shepard is survived by his mother, three sisters, and five nieces and nephews.
Eugene Szonntagh died May 8 in Sarasota, Florida. He was 85. Born July 31, 1924, in Budapest, he immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1956 to escape the communist occupation of Hungary. He held degrees in both the arts and sciences and worked as a research scientist, for Leeds & Northrup Co. in Philadelphia, and for Honeywell. A holder of 29 U.S. patents, he had published over 100 technical articles in the field of chemical engineering. Szonntagh served as organist at several Philadelphia churches, and as dean of the Philadelphia AGO chapter. He composed over 100 organ and choral works, and performed as a recitalist and choral director both in the United States and in Hungary.
In 1982 he and his wife moved to Florida, where he served at churches in St. Petersburg, and as dean of the St. Petersburg AGO chapter. Later, in Sarasota, he served on the board of the Sarasota-Manatee chapter, and as musician at St. Wilfred’s Episcopal Church. Eugene Szonntagh is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nora, sons Desi and Tom, granddaughters Erika and Tiffany, and grandson Andrew.

Nunc Dimittis

Wilbur R. Dodge, 83, died November 20, 2017, in Binghamton, New York, an engineer, physicist, professional photographer, English country dancer, organist, organbuilder, and organ technician. He graduated from Clarkson University and Harpur College (now Binghamton University) with degrees in electrical engineering and physics and followed in his father’s footsteps working at Ansco Film Company.  With Norman Smith, he started their company, R D & D before he moved on to Link Aviation where he worked on simulators for the Gemini and Apollo missions.

Dodge was a member of the choir and guest organist for various churches in the community including Trinity Memorial and Christ Churches. He also maintained and tuned pipe organs in churches throughout the region. He was dean of the Binghamton Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, 1999–2001. 

Wilbur R. Dodge is survived by his partner, Anneliese Heurich; children: Glenn Burch (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania), Michael and Tammy Burch (Deland, Florida), Barbara Burch (Paisley, Florida), and Laura Appleton (Binghamton); several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Binghamton on January 20.

Mark Coan Jones died December 24, 2017. Born February 25, 1957, in Asheville, North Carolina, he studied organ with Marilyn Keiser and with Donna Robertson at nearby Mars Hill College. For the past 22 years, Jones was director of music and organist for The Pink Church (First Presbyterian Church), Pompano Beach, Florida. He previously served St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, Pompano Beach; First Presbyterian Church, Newton, North Carolina; and Trinity Episcopal Church, Asheville.

Jones appeared with the Florida Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Lynn University Conservatory Orchestra, Young Artists Chamber Orchestra, Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony, and Miami Bach Society, and in collaborations with chamber groups and area choruses, including the Nova Singers, Florida Philharmonic Chorus, Master Chorale of South Florida, Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches, Fort Lauderdale Christian Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida. He arranged music for organ and brass and performed with the Dallas Brass, Avatar Brass, Empire Brass, Lynn Conservatory Brass, and Eastman Brass. He performed extensively across Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia, in collaborations and solo recitals. 

Jones’s organ compositions have been performed in venues across the United States and in Europe, and have been broadcast nationally. His Three Lenten Hymn Meditations, Trumpet Tune in D, and Lenten Hymntunes have been recorded and performed by various organists.

From 2006 through 2014, Mark was principal accompanist for the von Trapp Children, the great-grandchildren of the singing family made famous by the Rodgers & Hammerstein movie The Sound of Music. His solo appearances and concerts with the von Trapps included performances around the world.

Mark Coan Jones is survived by his parents Hubert Mack and Shirley Williams Jones of Asheville, his sister Suzanne Jones Hamel and husband Richard Anson Hamel of Covington, Kentucky, and his partner Hilarion (Kiko) Suarez Moreno of Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Yuko Hayashi died January 7 in Salem, New Hampshire, at the age of 88. She was born in Hiratsuka, Japan, on November 2, 1929. For more than 40 years she was professor of organ at the New England Conservatory and department chair for 30 years. As a performer, she concertized extensively on three continents—Asia, North America, and Europe—giving recitals and masterclasses in Japan, South Korea, the United States, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. She was the recipient of the coveted Arion Award from the Cambridge Society for Early Music as an “outstanding performer and master teacher of the historical organ.” She was also awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the New England Conservatory.

Hayashi graduated with a degree in organ performance from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1948 and for five years was organist for the symphony orchestra of NHK, the Japanese national broadcasting company. She came to the United States in 1953 on scholarship, sponsored by Philanthropic Educational Organization and studied for one year at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. She then transferred to the New England Conservatory in Boston where she was awarded three degrees in organ performance: Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Artist Diploma. In 1960 she began teaching at the conservatory and was appointed chair of the department in 1969 by then president Gunther Schuller. Her primary teachers were George Faxon, Donald Willing, Anton Heiller, and Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord).

Her frequent travels to Europe began in 1966 when she went to the Haarlem Organ Academy in the Netherlands and began life-long associations with Anton Heiller, Luigi Tagliavini, and Marie-Claire Alain. In 1971, she studied with Michel Chapuis in France and was introduced to many historic organs in North Germany and Holland by Harald Vogel and Klaas Bolt. This was the beginning of many exchanges of concerts and masterclasses across the Atlantic Ocean between Boston and Europe. It was during this time that Hayashi became organist of Old West Church in Boston, performing on a new mechanical-action organ built by Charles B. Fisk. She served as organist there for nearly 40 years and was the founder and executive director of the Old West Organ Society until her retirement in 2010.

Beginning in 1970, Hayashi crossed the Pacific Ocean yearly to give recitals and masterclasses in Japan. With Italian organist Umberto Pineschi and the assistance of Japanese organ builder Hiroshi Tsuji and his wife Toshiko Tsuji, she founded the Italian Organ Academy in Shirakawa. She was influential in persuading organ committees from universities, churches, and concert halls to commission mechanical-action organs from organbuilders from around the world. Most noteworthy are the instruments for International Christian University (Rieger), Toyota City Concert Hall (Brombaugh), Minato Mirai Concert Hall, Yokohama (C. B. Fisk, Inc.), and Ferris University, Yokohama (Taylor & Boody, Noack Organ Company, and J. F. Nordlie Pipe Organ Company organs).

In 1989, Yuko Hayashi took a leave of absence from the New England Conservatory to accept a position as professor of organ at Ferris University, Yokohama. She taught there for six years before returning to Boston. She also became titular organist at St. Luke’s International Hospital Chapel, which houses an organ built by Marc Garnier of France. She was responsible for relocating a historic 1889 organ built by Hook & Hastings to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Yokohama where her father served as priest for many years.

Yuko Hayashi is survived by two brothers, Makoto Hayashi and Satoru Hayashi, and several nieces and nephews, all residing in Japan. A memorial service for Yuko Hayashi will be held at Christ Church, Andover, Massachusetts, April 28, at 11:00 a.m. Memorial contributions may be directed to: Old West Organ Society, c/o Jeffrey Mead, Treasurer, 72 Trenton Street, Melrose, Massachusetts 02176;  St. Andrew’s Cathedral, 14-57 Mitsuzawa-shimo-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, 221-0852, Japan; or St. Luke’s International Hospital Chapel, c/o Organ Committee, 9-1 Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 140-8560, Japan.

Pierre Pincemaille, 61, died, January 12, an international concert organist, church organist, music professor, and composer. Born in Paris, France, December 8, 1956, Pincemaille was awarded five first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ interpretation, and organ improvisation) and won five international improvisation competitions: Lyon (1978), Beauvais (1987), Strasbourg (1989), Montbrison (1989), and Chartres (1990).

In 1987, Pierre Pincemaille was appointed titular organist of the prestigious 1841 Cavaillé-Coll at the Gothic Saint-Denis Cathedral-Basilica. He loved accompanying beautiful liturgy there, amidst the tombs of the Kings of France. Highly inspired by Pierre Cochereau, Pincemaille founded a concert series there, from 1989 to 1994. For his 30th anniversary there, he performed his last concert on November 5, 2017, programming choral works he cherished, conducted by Pierre Calmelet: Louis Vierne’s Messe Solennelle and three of his own recently composed vocal motets (to be published), as well as J. S.
Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue, BWV 572, symbolizing for him the three periods of life.

Pierre Pincemaille also performed with orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, Myung-Whun Chung, Riccardo Muti, Charles Dutoit, and John Nelson. His recordings include the complete organ works of Maurice Duruflé and César Franck, Charles-Marie Widor’s ten symphonies, selected pieces by Jehan Alain, Pierre Cochereau, Olivier Messiaen, and Louis Vierne, his own improvisations and transcriptions of Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Petrushka, as well as works with orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns, Hector Berlioz, Joseph Jongen, and Aaron Copland. Several of Pierre Pincemaille’s compositions were published: Prologue et Noël varié [Prologue and Variations on a Noel] (Sampzon, Delatour France, 2007), a 4-voice a cappella Ave Maria (Lyon, À Coeur Joie, 2013), and En Louisiane for trombone and piano (Delatour France, 2017).

Recently, Pierre Pincemaille taught counterpoint at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, harmony at the Conservatory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and organ improvisation at the Conservatory in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés for the past 17 years. For the past 14 years, he formed a generation of French and foreign organ improvisers, many who have won prizes in international competitions: among them, six Parisian organists: David Cassan (at the Oratoire du Louvre), Thomas Lacôte (La Trinité), Samuel Liégeon (St.-Pierre-du-Chaillot), Hampus Lindwall (St.-Esprit), Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard (St.-Eustache), and Olivier Périn (St.-Paul-St.-Louis).

Among his honors and distinctions, Pierre Pincemaille was a Knight in the following three orders: the Academic Palms, Arts and Letters, and St. Gregory the Great. 

Pierre Pincemaille is survived by his wife, Anne-France, and their three children, Claire, Marc, and Éric.

—Carolyn Shuster Fournier, Paris, France