The University of Michigan 46th Conference on Organ Music

Marcia Van Oyen earned master’s and doctoral degrees in organ and church music at the University of Michigan, where she studied organ with Robert Glasgow. She is associate director of music/organist at Plymouth First United Methodist Church in Plymouth, Michigan. She is on the steering committee for the 2006 national AGO convention and serves on two national AGO committees. More information is available online at .

Organ conferences centered on repertoire, performance practice, and history rather than purely practical matters are few and far between. Outside of the American Guild of Organists conventions and pedagogy conferences, or single-topic workshops given by other entities, the annual University of Michigan Organ Conference stands out for its breadth and depth. The conference’s three days, packed with presentations by local, national and international experts, offer a terrific opportunity to delve into academic topics and re-engage with the details of the organ and its history. In addition, the conference is a bonus for Michigan students, exposing them to topics, lecturers and performances beyond the tutelage of the excellent Michigan faculty.
The annual organ conference is the brainchild of Dr. Marilyn Mason. When asked how long she has been involved with the conference, she replied:
Yes, I have been responsible for all of them!! I began the first conference in 1961 because my manager, Lillian Murtagh, had written that Anton Heiller would be coming to the USA. Right then I said we wanted him in October, and we signed him for the first Conference on Organ Music. Through the years I have had assistance from both James Kibbie and Michele Johns, but I have been responsible (with a conference committee) for the program and presenters.
All of the conference events this year, except for one lecture and one concert, were held at Hill Auditorium, home of the Frieze Memorial Organ. Having survived several tonal re-workings, water damage two decades ago, and gloriously emerging following an extensive renovation of the auditorium completed in late 2004, the organ is in fine shape. In expert hands and played with clarity, this instrument is quite versatile. The deepened color scheme of the auditorium and the organ’s newly gold front pipes lend an aura of warmth and ambiance previously lacking, and in this environment the organ’s smoky-sounding strings, full-bodied principals, and high-pressure reeds shine. Conference lectures took place in a pleasant, light-filled meeting room on the mezzanine level of the facility, allowing easy access to the auditorium downstairs and the array of colorful restaurants in Ann Arbor’s downtown area. Anticipation was in the air as the first lecturer, Christoph Wolff, the world’s foremost Bach scholar, took the podium.
Christoph Wolff, born and educated in Germany, is Adams University Professor at Harvard University. He has published widely on the history of music from the 15th to the 20th centuries; recent books include Bach: Essays on His Life and Music, The New Bach Reader, and Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. Wolff is simultaneously erudite and engaging, bringing the listener into his research process, sharing how he has arrived at connections and conclusions. He is an articulate speaker, and conference attendees were privileged to hear him present four lectures on J. S. Bach and his music.

Bach lectures by Christoph Wolff

Wolff’s first lecture, “J. S. Bach and His Circle,” offered insight into the societal and musical influences surrounding the great master. The circle, as defined by Wolff, consisted of musicians of the Bach family, influential musicians outside the family, students of Bach, and patrons of Bach. The historical depth of his musical family is unique to Bach. The combination of profundity and expressivity in the music his relatives composed is fundamental to understanding Bach’s work. The young Bach was immersed in this music, full of innovative practices.
One of the prominent musicians influencing the young J. S. Bach was family friend Johann Pachelbel, who trained keyboardists with a mixed repertoire of Italian, French and German music. Central Germany was a colorful cultural scene, with many small political entities, and this was reflected in its music. German composers took the best of what existed from eclectic sources and combined it in a new way, creating a cosmopolitan style. Pachelbel was an important transmitter of this mixed style.
As a teacher, Bach allowed his students to develop along their own path, according to their own tastes and pace, and nurtured their best individual qualities. His students worked with him all day every day, and those with professional ambitions became his assistants.
The query “Did Bach write concertos for organ and orchestra?” provided the motivation for Wolff’s second lecture. His conclusion is that the bulk of Bach’s harpsichord concertos originated as organ concertos that were later reworked into cantata movements. He guided listeners along the trail that led to this thesis. Some of the signposts along the trail included these facts: The bulk of the orchestral repertoire is from the Leipzig period. The Brandenburg Concerti, though dedicated in 1721, are actually pre-Cöthen and have a relationship to the Weimar cantatas; these works could not have been written in Cöthen for political reasons. Idiomatic writing in the E-major harpsichord concerto and its keys, range, and style point to organ performance. Wolff plans to present an edition of concertos using the right hand parts Bach typically wrote out (he improvised the left hand) and the full harpsichord part.
Wolff’s third lecture was “Bach and the Silbermann Connection.” Johann Sebastian Bach and organbuilder Gottfried Silbermann met in 1724 when Bach played a concert in Dresden on the new organ at the church of St. Sofia. Bach was a technical expert, able to converse at Silbermann’s level, and frequently examined the structure, mechanics, and acoustics of new organs. Another important meeting occurred in 1736 when Bach played the dedication of a new Silbermann organ at the Frauenkirche. When Silbermann was experimenting with building a fortepiano, he called on Bach to examine the prototype. The two were also known to have examined a new organ in Naumburg in 1746, the largest instrument built by Hildebrandt.
Wolff’s final lecture was on the Clavierübung Part III. Both Kuhnau and Lübeck had published volumes titled “Clavierübung” to train performers and composers, and Bach selected this title in order to accommodate several volumes of his work. At the St. Thomas School and Leipzig University, Bach was surrounded by colleagues who were publishing. Bach was at a disadvantage because he had no academic degree, but needed to establish that he had the credentials to teach. He wanted to publish a series that would show he was a very experienced, innovative, scholarly musician, highly qualified to serve as music director and cantor at St. Thomas. In 1723, Bach added a title page to the Orgelbüchlein (composed in Weimar), doing the same for the Inventions and Sinfonias and the Well-Tempered Clavier in order to document his teaching method.
While Part IV of the Clavierübung, the Goldberg Variations, portrayed Bach as a keyboard master, it was Part III that identified him as an organist, confirming his public reputation. Such a collection of organ music was unprecedented, including works at the upper limits of organ technique, testing Bach’s ability as a composer as well. At the time, there were probably only twelve organists with the ability to play the large chorales in the collection, so as a marketing strategy, Bach added the smaller chorales and duets, which could be played on the harpsichord or clavichord. In addition, the pieces are a musical catechism to be studied daily, using teachings of the Lutheran faith and hymns of the Mass. The title page of the Part III includes the phrase “for the recreation and education of the soul,” and is the only volume of the four that refers to education. In addition, it is the most comprehensively thought out and profound of all Bach’s collections, standing at the threshold of Bach’s late works.
The Clavierübung was a systematically developed project, composed in the second half of the 1730s, and published in 1739. Part III is an ideal organ concert as Bach would have conceived it, beginning with a prelude, ending with a fugue, with chorales in between; he may have played the large pieces for the dedication of the Silbermann organ in the Frauenkirche in Dresden in 1736. On the heels of Wolff’s lecture on Part III, doctoral students of Marilyn Mason (David Saunders, Andrew Meagher, Marcia Heirman, Kirsten Hellman, Monica Sparzak, and Kim Manz) played the complete work on the Fisk organ in Blanche Anderson Moore Hall at the School of Music. Wolff gave a brief description and guide for listening to each piece.
Typically, the chorales or the prelude and fugue are excerpted for concert use, but hearing the collection as a whole brings to light Bach’s carefully planned compositional architecture and enhances the beauty of the works. By the time the final fugue is played, no introduction or explanatory note is necessary—the work is heard as a natural conclusion to what has come before. Hearing the pieces in one sitting is demanding for the listener, weighty stuff even for the organ crowd, but it is a very satisfying experience.
Dr. Mason’s students played the demanding pieces very ably, handling the sensitive action of the Fisk organ well. This organ is an important historical teaching tool, and its tonal palette and unequal temperament provided the requisite colors to elucidate Bach’s works.

The Global Bach Community

Following the Bach concert, conference attendees were invited to join a lunch-time discussion with leaders of the Global Bach Community: president Samuel Swansen, vice president Marilyn Mason, secretary Toni Vogel Carey, and advisory board member Christoph Wolff. The community was founded in 2000 with the following mission: to recognize and foster the common spirit that exists universally among lovers of Bach’s music, to facilitate Bach-centered projects worldwide—artistic, educational, social and spiritual, to help the Bach community flourish, in part through the ability to raise funds not normally available to individual Bach organizations. In cooperation with The Bach Festival of Philadelphia’s website, the Global Bach Community has emerged as the central resource for Bach organizations worldwide (www.bach-net.org).

Lectures—Innig, Hamilton, and Barone

Rudolf Innig has concertized throughout the world and made numerous recordings for radio broadcast as well as commercial sale, including the complete works of Messiaen. His organ teachers include Gaston Litaize and Michael Schneider. He won the competition of the Conservatories of the Federal Republic of Germany in the organ category in 1975. His current project is recording the complete organ works of Rheinberger on 12 CDs, and he lectured on this music. The soft-spoken Innig confessed his initial skepticism about recording Rheinberger, but having become fond of Rheinberger’s music, then told the audience, “I want not only to inform, but to convince.” Compared to his contemporaries Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Liszt, Rheinberger’s life and education at the Munich conservatory were unremarkable. He wrote music simply to express joy, his style was provincial rather than cosmopolitan, and his music is not innovative. Innig asserted that Rheinberger’s music has receded into history due to these factors. By the time he began to write organ sonatas late in life, Rheinberger had already composed numerous symphonies, operas and songs. It is in the organ sonatas that he truly developed his personal style, composing at least one large organ work per year 1875–1894. Innig hopes to garner attention for these works with his recording series.
Stephen Hamilton is minister of music at the historic Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal) in New York City and has recorded Marcel Dupré’s La Chemin de la Croix to great acclaim. He studied with Marie-Claire Alain, had the opportunity to play L’Ascension for Messiaen, and has an extensive collection of correspondence between Marcel Dupré and both Arthur Poister and Robert Shepfer. During his lecture, “The French Connection,” he shared anecdotes, recounting his experiences with various teachers, including Russell Saunders (who taught the fourth-grade Hamilton), as well as personal reflections. The bulk of his presentation dealt with the life of Marcel Dupré and his value as a pedagogue. He distributed a complete listing of Dupré’s organ works, encouraging the performance of the extensive oeuvre beyond the six or seven typically played works.
Michael Barone, host of the radio program “Pipedreams,” and self-proclaimed master of playing CDs rather than playing the organ, is clearly more comfortable when fiddling with the knobs and controls of hi-fi equipment rather than giving a formal lecture. He has the self-confidence and sense to let the music speak for itself, rather than interrupting or pre-empting it with unnecessary chatter. He reminded the audience that the art of recording the pipe organ is relatively new, coming into its own after the invention of electricity in the 1920s. His presentation was an enjoyable musical survey of playing styles entitled, “They Did It That Way?!”
Drawing from his vast library of recordings, Barone made his point by juxtaposing Widor’s performance of his Toccata at age 80 with a lightning-fast rendition played by G. D. Cunningham, Dupré’s whirlwind take on his own G-minor Prelude and Fugue in his youth and a much older Dupré playing one of the Preludes and Fugues from Opus 36. He offered a “kaleidoscope of interpretive possibilities” by playing several contrasting renditions of Bach’s first Trio Sonata and injected some levity with an outlandish performance of Bach’s D-minor Toccata. Most interesting was a performance of Franck’s B-minor Choral played on the piano by Vladimir Viardo of the University of North Texas. (If you play or are fond of this piece, this is a must-have recording, available from .)
Every so often, Barone would punctuate the music with a subtly humorous facial expression and a cryptic comment—vintage Barone. At the end of the session, he offered this thought, demonstrating his own openness to and fascination with the variety present in the pipe organ world: “There is never any one way any more than there is any one player.” He closed with one more recording: the Toccata from Boëllmann’s Suite Gothique played by an accordion band. “It’s the ultimate in flexible wind,” Barone quipped.

Organ concerts—Hamilton, Disselhorst and Innig

Three artists presented evening concerts in Hill Auditorium: Stephen Hamilton, Delbert Disselhorst, and Rudolph Innig. Hamilton’s selection of repertoire, labeled “Alain and His Circle,” included L’Ascension by Messiaen, the Te Deum by Langlais, Trois Mouvements pour orgue et flute by Jehan Alain, and Prelude and Fugue in B major by Dupré. Hamilton’s playing is fluid and virtuosic, and he knows how to coax the loveliest sounds from the Hill organ. He is expressive with his physical movement at the console, even “conducting” with a free arm at times. His performance of the sustained prayer in L’Ascension didn’t seem static, but felt alive, moving forward. He attributes this feeling of forward motion to a year spent accompanying for Robert Shaw: subdivide always. Flautist Donald Fischel joined Hamilton for Alain’s Trois Mouvements for organ and flute, a work that deserves to be heard far more often. Particularly in the second and third movements, the organ and flute blend seamlessly with beautiful effect. The Dupré B-major began brilliantly, but spun out of control due to a glitch with the piston sequencer. Despite an accelerated tempo, Hamilton held the piece together to finish with success. Hamilton returned for an encore—Alain’s Litanies—played with a frantic, exciting, if blurry, rush of virtuosity.
Delbert Disselhorst, professor of organ at the University of Iowa and graduate of Michigan, is an organ conference regular, performing every few years. His memorized program was ambitious, opening with the Prelude and Fugue in G minor by Brahms, negotiated with seamless manual changes, perfectly under control. Following the chorale prelude and fugue on Meine Seele by Bach, he launched into another tour de force, a Passacaglia by Swiss composer Otto Barblan. This Brahmsian work includes rhythms reminiscent of the Bach C-minor Passacaglia dressed in weighty, dense harmonic clothing. After intermission, Disselhorst offered a solid rendition of Mendelssohn’s Sonata III, followed by Bach’s Sonata III, played with an unfussy neutral touch. The Theme with Variations by Johann Friedrich Ludwig Thiele, a virtuosic torrent of notes, closed the program with moto perpetuo pedal and a cadenza for the manuals. Disselhorst delivered an heroic performance with a pleasing variety of texture and drama in the repertoire selected.
Rudolph Innig has clearly developed a passion for Rheinberger’s organ music. He approached the console and took command immediately with expressive, dramatic playing. His program consisted of three sonatas, including the F major, op. 20, the last sonata Rheinberger composed (1899). This sonata is subtitled “Zur Friedensfeier”—for the ceremony of peace, and celebrates the confidence in Germany at the time that a world war in the near future would be avoided. Rheinberger’s sonata forms are irregular, but the movements are often related to one another with common themes and intervals. Sequential writing, as in the D-minor Sonata, op. 148, often lends shape to the movements. The works are rhythmically energetic, akin to Mendelssohn but with denser writing, although they are not dissonant or highly chromatic. Innig’s registration consisted of foundation stops with reeds at various volume levels for the most part.
Following Innig’s concert, university carilloneur Stephen Ball and his students hosted a candlelit reception in Burton Tower, home of the Baird memorial carillon. Guests had the opportunity to view the massive bells and try out the carillon’s keyboards. Recently, Michigan has recently become home to a second carillon, located in a modernistic tower on the north campus.

Student recitals

Three doctoral recitals by students of Marilyn Mason afforded the performers a larger audience than they otherwise would have had and a nice opportunity to play for professional colleagues. Seth Nelson played the complete Widor First Symphony, whose fifth movement is the famous “Marche Pontificale.” Performing gargantuan works such as this from memory happens only in the rarefied atmosphere of intense study and focus, a feat always eliciting admiration from an audience. Doctoral candidates Shin-Ae Chun and Alan Knight also performed dissertation recitals, Ms. Chun particularly shining in her rendition of the Liszt Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H. Joseph Balistreri, Michael Stefanek, Elizabeth Claar, Matthew Bogart, students of James Kibbie, played a concert at Hill Auditorium on Tuesday afternoon, each giving a commendable performance.

Church music at the conference

For a number of years, the conference has opened with a worship service or hymn festival, and has included a lecture or two on a worship-related topic. The inclusion of church music elements in an otherwise scholarly conference acknowledges the importance of service-playing skills for organists, gives a good opportunity for the local AGO chapter to participate, and provides another event to which the public can be invited. This year, the Ann Arbor AGO chapter organized a choral festival, dedicated to the late Donald Williams, and Herman Taylor gave a lecture entitled “The Joys and Sorrows of Contemporary Church Music.”
At the choral festival, Ann Arbor AGO Dean Edward Maki-Schramm gave opening remarks, pointing out that this effort relies upon the copious hours of dedication and practice of many volunteers. He illustrated his point by attempting to tabulate the cumulative number of practice hours for all involved in the service, which featured a choir comprising volunteer singers from the AGO board members’ churches. The choir sang two anthems by Vaughan Williams and Mendelssohn tentatively, but seemed to relax and enjoy singing Moses Hogan’s Music Down in My Soul. Dr. Schramm confidently accompanied the choir, and David Hufford played the prelude, a solo within the service, and a solid performance of the Toccata from Duruflé’s Suite for the postlude.
The festival service included the singing of several hymns as well, capably led by Dr. Schramm at the console, among them Sing a New Song to God, with its athletic but very singable tune composed by Kevin Bylsma. Unfortunately, for all its charms, Hill Auditorium is not conducive to worship, and is deadly for congregational singing, especially when the “congregation” is spread out among the padded seats. Future planners of the conference’s worship event would do well to choose one of the nearby churches as the venue rather than the 4000-seat auditorium.
One highlight of the choral festival was the homily given by the Reverend JoAnn Kennedy Slater, J.D., Ann Arbor AGO chaplain. “Music,” she said, “is one of the more visceral, organic thresholds to God. Because of God’s incredible trust and vulnerability we each then have a share in that divinity and that joy and wonder; and music is one way to create and sustain such a sacred space in our bodies, mind, and souls, in the sacred spaces of our places of worship as well as in the secular world of music as entertainment.” Her remarks were heartfelt and sincere, descriptive rather than didactic, displaying an understanding of the ephemeral art of music.
On a more practical note, Herman Taylor presented a lecture/demonstration he dubbed “The Joys and Sorrows of Contemporary Church Music.” Having retired from teaching at Eastern Illinois University, he now serves as organist at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Charleston, Illinois. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Michigan, and is a presenter or performer at the conference every few years.
For Taylor, the sorrow is that contemporary (read: pop style) church music in its raw state is overly simplistic, devoid of through-composition, modified strophic forms, or creative harmonization. Recognizing quality in many of the “contemporary” melodies and texts, however, Taylor finds joy in enhancing the songs with more sophisticated harmony. He realizes that many composers of contemporary songs simply lack the musical training to harmonize their melodies with any complexity. He has contacted them about modifying and elaborating on the harmony of their songs, receiving positive responses. Taylor’s harmonic alterations are subtle but do add richness to the songs, which he invited the audience to sing while he demonstrated his techniques. His wife, Vivian Hicks Taylor, served as cantor. Dr. Taylor also addressed “gospelizing” hymns, a practice that includes adding rhythm and passing tones to create a Gospel feel.

A tribute to Robert Glasgow

Professor Robert Glasgow has formally retired from teaching, and as a tribute, nine of his former students played a concert at Hill Auditorium. Thomas Bara, Monte Thomas, Charles Kennedy, Christopher Lees, Ronald Krebs, Joel Hastings, Deborah Friauff, Douglas Reed, and Jeremy David Tarrant demonstrated the Glasgow legacy with excellent performances of a wide variety of repertoire. Tom Bara’s taut, compelling rendition of Mendelssohn’s Allegro, Chorale and Fugue was particularly noteworthy, and Charles Kennedy played the Brahms Chorale and Fugue on “O Traurigkeit” with understated elegance. Joel Hastings played Vierne’s Naïades to perfection, the fountain of notes bubbling effortlessly and unaffectedly, and Jeremy David Tarrant negotiated the mammoth Prelude, Andante and Toccata by Fleury with ease. Douglas Reed lent a touch of humor to the program by choosing to play two movements from De Spiritum by William Albright, a work requiring two assistants. Following the program, guests mingled at a reception on the stage, offering their greetings and congratulations to Dr. Glasgow. One was struck by the legacy Glasgow leaves in the form of his many fine students. He taught as much by the example of his own playing as he ever did with words. Observing his quiet and elegant technique, coupled with masterful and expressive interpretations, was a year’s worth of lessons in itself.
Marilyn Mason’s considerable energy, enthusiasm, and extensive connections in the organ world make the Michigan organ conference a high quality event, serving both current Michigan students and dozens of attendees from out of town. She has done yeoman service by offering a conference brimming with serious academic content over a wide a range of topics, sustaining her efforts for nearly half a century to present a valuable, educational opportunity each autumn. Kudos to you, Dr. Mason.
 

125 years of music at Michigan
1880–2005

Organists loom large in the establishment of the School of Music, perhaps none more prominently than classics scholar Henry Simmons Frieze. Music, though his avocation, was his passion. Known for his deep religious faith and keyboard skill, Frieze had supported himself as a church organist and music director prior to launching his academic career. It was Frieze, then professor and acting university president, who instigated the formation of a Messiah Club involving four Ann Arbor churches in 1879, formalizing a collaboration that had been active since 1860. The Club was soon reorganized as the Choral Union.
The following year, the University Musical Society was founded, bringing together the Choral Union and the student orchestra, with Leipzig-trained Calvin B. Cady as director. At Frieze’s suggestion, Cady was also hired as instructor of music in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Cady started the Ann Arbor School of Music, precursor of the Michigan School of Music, in 1880 with four teachers. Cady taught piano, organ, harmony and composition.
Following half a century of European artists holding sway in the realm of serious music-making in the United States, after about 1850 Americans began to establish their own institutions for musical training. In 1862, Harvard University appointed an instructor of music, and within the next two decades a number of colleges and universities had followed suit, including Michigan. Conservatories also began to be established in the East, Peabody in Baltimore the first of these.
Cady’s successor, Albert A. Stanley, a composer and organist from Providence, Rhode Island, also had studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and gave frequent organ recitals to establish his authority as a performer. In 1888, he was hired as professor in the university as well as director of the Ann Arbor School of Music, with 248 students enrolled. By 1889 the Ann Arbor School of Music was floundering, and Stanley resigned as director.
In 1892, the Ann Arbor School of Music was reorganized as the University School of Music, with Albert Stanley as director. Lacking a decent instrument, the University Musical Society acquired the Columbian Exposition organ in 1893, an instrument built by Farrand & Votey of Detroit for the occasion. This organ had been heard by thousands in Chicago during 1893, and its installation in University Hall in Ann Arbor sparked interest in organ playing. Stanley played the dedication concert before a packed house, including the governor of Michigan. The organ was designated the Frieze Memorial Organ in tribute to Henry Simmons Frieze, who had died in 1889. In 1913, the organ was moved to the newly constructed Hill Auditorium, which has been its home ever since.
When the time came to appoint a new director for the School of Music, Archibald T. Davison of Harvard and Gustav Holst were considered, but it was organist Earl V. Moore who was appointed professor of music in the University, director of the Choral Union, and musical director of the School of Music in 1923. Moore had come to the university in 1908, completing his B.A. in 1912. He was appointed head of the organ department in 1913, and became university organist in 1914. Moore was made Dean of the School of Music in 1946, a post he held for thirty-seven years. The present School of Music building, designed by Eero Saarinen and built in 1964, was named the Earl V. Moore building in 1975. Palmer Christian had succeeded Moore as university organist in 1924, holding the position until 1947, and he in turn has been succeeded by only two others: Robert Noehren (1949–1976) and Marilyn Mason (1976–).
Several noteworthy facts offer insight into the development of the Michigan School of Music. In 1929, the School of Music was accepted into the University of Michigan, giving faculty members academic rank in the university. The master’s degree was also created at this time. In 1940, the School of Music was made an autonomous unit of the University of Michigan, with professors on salary rather than relying on student fees, and in 1941 the School of Music began to provide summer programs at Interlochen. In 1945, the school offered a Ph.D. in musicology and music education, and less than a decade later in 1953 the D.M.A. in composition and performance was created to certify teachers for new college positions.
The Michigan School of Music, one of the oldest and largest such schools in the country, celebrates its 125th anniversary this academic year. Musicology professor Mark Clague cites the following hallmarks of the music school’s history: excellence in performance and scholarship, entrepreneurial spirit, service to the university and community, balance of openness and tradition, and sensitivity to race and gender. A fine example of these hallmarks is William Bolcom’s epic Songs of Innocence and Experience, which has received three Grammy awards, including Best Classical Album. In the vein of entrepreneurial spirit, the School of Music has recently launched Block M Records, giving Michigan students and faculty the opportunity to record, produce and distribute original material without having to go through an outside company. This venture affords students hands-on experience with recording and production, and allows University-based musicians to receive greater benefit from recording sales. All recordings are distributed via the Internet at , which is a particular boon for avant-garde artists seeking an audience.

Marijim Thoene received a D.M.A. in Organ Performance/Church Music from the University of Michigan in 1984. She is an active recitalist and director of music at St. John Lutheran Church in Dundee, Michigan. Her two CDs, Mystics and Spirits and Wind Song are available through Raven Recordings. She is a frequent presenter at medieval conferences on the topic of the image of the pipe organ in medieval manuscripts. Lisa Byers received master’s degrees in music education and organ performance from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from the University of Toledo, Ohio. She is retired from teaching music in the Jefferson Public Schools in Monroe, Michigan, as well as from her position as organist/choir director at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Tecumseh, Michigan. She currently subs as organist in the Monroe area.

This year’s gathering marked the fiftieth anniversary of the University of Michigan Conference on Organ Music, directed by its creator, Marilyn Mason. Organists from France, Germany, Poland, and the U.S. performed on the Aeolian-Skinner on the stage of Hill Auditorium. The shimmering golden pipes of this organ made this year’s theme especially appropriate: “Pure Gold: Music of Poland, France and Germany.” The conference was dedicated to the memories of Erven Thoma, a Michigan DMA graduate in church music, and William Steinhoff, Professor Emeritus of English at U-M and husband of Marilyn Mason.

Sunday, October 3
Frédéric Blanc, 43-year-old native of Angoulême, opened the conference with a program of all-French music. He introduced his program by saying that Fauré, Ravel, and Debussy are never far away in nineteenth and twentieth-century French organ music. Their influence was undeniable in the works Blanc performed, a mix of well-known and loved repertoire—Franck, Choral in A Minor and Cantabile; Vierne, Carillon de Westminster and Méditation Improvisée (reconstructed by Duruflé), repertoire that is occasionally heard—Prelude in E-flat Minor (from Suite, op. 5) by Duruflé and Allegro (from Symphony VI) by Widor, and repertoire that is rarely heard—Introduction et Aria by Jean-Jacques Gruenwald, Toccata (from Le Tombeau de Titelouze, on Placare Christe Servulis) by Dupré, and Prelude (from the suite Pélleas et Mélisande) by Debussy, transcribed by Duruflé.
Blanc’s technique is formidable and his choice of registration was both poetic and daring; however, his playing became more impassioned and inspired in his improvisation—a Triptych Symphony based on three submitted themes: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Hail to the Chief, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. His imagination and creativity were dazzling as he altered rhythms and keys of the submitted themes, seamlessly moved from dark and somber to warm and brilliant colors, from pensive to ebullient moods, and ending with a bombastic pedal toccata. He delighted in making the instrument hum, growl, and break forth in glorious trumpeting.

Monday, October 4
On Monday afternoon Frederic Blanc gave a lecture entitled “A Mind’s Eye.” He spoke informally of how his life as a musician has been shaped and influenced by unique circumstances, his teachers, and his views on improvisation. While he was a student at the Bordeaux Conservatory, Xavier Durasse heard him play and persuaded him to come to Toulouse, where he was then asked to be organist at St. Sernin. There he had all his nights to play the organ, and there he met Jean-Louis Florentz, André Fleury, and Madame Duruflé. When she heard him improvise, she said, “I will take you to Paris and I will make you work very hard.” He told how he was not prepared to play Dupré’s Variations on a Noël, one of the required pieces for the Chartres competition, and she told him he had to be able to play it from memory in fifteen days or she would never see him again. She was delighted when he came back in fifteen days and played it from memory. Blanc said that the most important thing he learned from her was that “each piece has its own way to be played, you must express yourself, your sensitivity must flow through the music.”
Blanc’s candid answers to questions about his own improvisation left me feeling that here is a man whose life is charmed, who is fully conscious of the rare gift he has been given, and is fully committed to nurturing it. When asked who taught him how to improvise, he answered: “I wasn’t. I listened to Madame Duruflé, Pierre Cochereau, Jean Langlais, and to recordings of Tournemire. Nobody can give you the gift. If you are not given the gift you will never be able to improvise a symphony . . . I heard Cochereau at Notre Dame and it was like magic, like being pierced by a sword, raised to heaven. He was at one with the organ.”
When asked about the state of organ building in France today, Blanc lamented that there are no organs in concert halls, and the organist cannot be seen in the lofts in churches. He commented that Cavaillé-Coll was a builder who turned toward the future and restored his own organs for new music, especially those organs in Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur.
Blanc’s final dictum concerning how to play French organ music: “After historicism, it must be the music and what you have inside.”
Charles Echols, Professor Emeritus of St. Cloud State University, lectured on “Observations on American Organ Music 1900–1950,” covering a large variety of topics: the movement of American composers to create “American” music; changes in musical style and organ building between 1930–1950; approaches to researching organ music by American composers; and an introduction to the organ music of René Louis Becker, whose scores have been given to the University of Michigan by his family, who were present at the lecture.
On Monday evening Martin Bambauer, 40-year-old organist and choirmaster at the Konstantin Basilika in Trier, played Dupré’s Poème héroïque, op. 33; Tournemire’s Triple Choral, op. 41; Liszt’s Eglogue (from Années de Pèlerinage), transcribed for organ by Bambauer; Karg-Elert’s Partita Retrospettiva, op. 151; Iain Farrington’s Fiesta!, plus his own improvisation. He played with great precision and refinement. His performance of Tournemire’s Triple Choral, op. 41 was an Ann Arbor premiere. Farrington’s four-movement work, Fiesta!, was a bit of fresh air, conjuring up all sorts of secular venues, from a stripper’s stage to a cocktail lounge.

Tuesday, October 5
On Tuesday, Martin Bambauer began his lecture, “Tournemire’s Triple Choral,” by saying that it was Tournemire’s first major organ work, and he had learned it in a week (!) and played it for the fourth time in public yesterday, and that it was not a very popular piece. Truly, I would have thought he had been playing the piece for years. This early work of Tournemire is introspective and cerebral, and at the same time hints at the other-worldliness that would characterize his later work. Bambauer mentioned that in 1896 the Liber Usualis became Tournemire’s constant companion, and when he became Franck’s successor at the Basilica of St. Clotilde in 1898 he only improvised on chant in the services. He thought sacred music was the only music worthy of the name, and when Langlais questioned him, asking what about the music of Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky, he said it didn’t matter! Bambauer recommended listening to Tournemire’s eight symphonies, among them Search for the Holy Grail and Apocalypse of St. John. Tournemire was drawn to the mysterious and supernatural, apparent not only in his music, but in his biography of Franck in 1931, and the naming of his two cottages “Tristan” and “Isolde”—his Opus 53 bears those names.
Bambauer pointed out that Tournemire was recognized as a great improviser, and Vierne described him as being “impulsive, enthusiastic, erratic, and a born improviser.” Tournemire’s Five Improvisations, recorded in 1930 at St. Clotilde and transcribed by his student, Duruflé, are his most popular works. His L’Orgue Mystique, fifty-one liturgical sets of five pieces each, was composed between 1927–1932 and is the Catholic counterpart to Bach’s Orgelbüchlein. Bambauer explained that the first edition of L’Orgue Mystique was dedicated to César Franck and states in the preface that the performer is free to choose the registration; however, in the second edition Duruflé includes registration and manual changes.
Bambauer’s insightful analysis of Tournemire’s Triple Choral not only focused on his compositional techniques—use of imitation, paraphrase, and inversion—but how and when Tournemire used the same harmonic vocabulary as Franck. Bambauer illustrated the meticulous craftsmanship in this early work of Tournemire based on his newly created chorals entitled “The Father,” “The Son,” and “The Holy Spirit,” and discussed how the prose with which Tournemire prefaced each choral was mirrored in the music. Tournemire’s prose offers a poignant testimony of his profound faith and allows the listener to participate in Tournemire’s personal vision.
Bambauer commented that the highlight of the piece occurs at the end as the three chorals softly merge together. Bambauer treated us to another performance of Tournemire’s Triple Choral and “the knowing made all the difference.”
Tuesday evening James Kibbie, Professor of Organ at U-M, presented a stunning memorized recital. He has a special affinity for the music of Marcel Dupré, Jehan Alain, Dan Locklair, and Jirí Ropek. He played Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 7, no. 1, with conviction and assurance. The pleasure of hearing Alain’s rarely played Two Preludes was heightened by being able to read the texts that accompany them. Kibbie’s sensitive interpretation made the images of the text take on a life of their own.
Dan Locklair’s Voyage was another kind of tone poem, providing a journey to fantasy lands filled with sounds of the ebb and flow of tides, jazz, bird song, chimes, and billowing waves evoked by hand glissandi. Kibbie managed to weave together these disparate elements into a fabulous and entertaining voyage.
It was a pleasure to hear Kibbie speak of his meeting Jirí Ropek when he won the Prague Organ Competition in 1979 and of his continuing friendship with this celebrated organist/composer who suffered greatly during the Communist oppression. Kibbie related conversations he had had with Ropek that offered insight into his music. Of the three Ropek pieces on the program, Kibbie said that the Toccata and Fugue (dedicated to Kibbie) was the most complex and dissonant, and mirrored in the work is Ropek’s philosophy: “Life is not only one melody, but many and dissonances, but in general I’m quite melodious. No frightening the audience.” To hear this account made Ropek’s Toccata and Fugue, filled with haunting and aggressive motives, a kind of musical autobiography. Kibbie also explained the compositional process of Ropek’s Fantasy on Mozart’s Theme. In 1775 Mozart improvised a work in a monastery, and only the first 57 measures were written down. Ropek was asked to play it and he added a cadenza. He worked on it over the years and finally he attached his own music to Mozart’s original piece. It was one of the last things he wrote before he died and is dedicated to the students of James Kibbie at the University of Michigan. It was published in 2009.
Kibbie mentioned that he had just played Ropek’s Variations on “Victimae Paschali Laudes” in Prague the week before and made a recording for the radio at the Basilica of St. James where Ropek was organist for 35 years. This beautiful work has become a signature piece for Kibbie.

Wednesday, October 6
Five recitals were performed on Wednesday, an intense day of listening.
The first recital of the day was played by Andrew Lang on the Létourneau organ in the School of Public Health. Lang is a student of James Kibbie and commutes from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His program was well suited for the room and instrument: “The Primitives” and “Those Americans” (from Five Dances for Organ) by Calvin Hampton; Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot, BWV 678, Fughetta super Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot, BWV 679, and Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, BWV 544, by Bach. Lang played with verve and energy; the contrapuntal lines were electric with clarity and precision.
The day’s second recital was played at Hill Auditorium by Józef Kotowicz, who received his doctoral degree in 2001 from the Music Academy in Warsaw. He is active, playing recitals in music festivals throughout Europe, producing a radio program devoted to organs of northeast Poland, recording on the organ in the Cathedral Basilica (Bialystok), and teaching and serving as organist at St. Adalbertus Church. Two of the most interesting pieces of his ambitious program were works by Mieczyslaw Surzynski (1886–1924), Improvisation on the Polish Sacred Song “Swiety Boze,” and Stefan Lindblad (b. 1958), Espanordica. Kotowicz explained to me that “Swiety Boze” is a very popular hymn in Poland and is sung often during funeral services. A translation of the first line reads: “Holy God, Holy [and] Mighty, Holy [and] Immortal, have mercy on us.” The hymn has inspired many composers.
After hearing the performance of Surzynski’s Improvisation, it is easily understood why he is the most revered Polish composer of organ music. The work began with a statement of the hymn, and six dramatic variations followed, with variations one and five being the most riveting. In variation one, thundering chords are played in the manuals while the cantus firmus is heard in the pedals. In variation five, a fiery toccata is in the manuals while the cantus firmus thunders in the pedals.
Kotowicz’s performance of Lindblad’s Espanordica was electrifying. Each of the three movements—Rhapsodia, Nocturno, and Litanies—is built on Spanish dance motifs. Kotowicz told me that Stefan Lindblad lives in Göteborg, Sweden. Lindblad has composed two large works for organ, Hommages and Espanordica, which Kotowicz has performed in Ann Arbor. Both of these pieces have never been printed and he is the only Polish organist who has the scores. He also commented, “It’s interesting that Lindblad is almost completely unknown in Sweden, so I feel like his promoter. I know him personally because I often play in Sweden.”
In honor of Chopin’s 200th birth year, Arthur Greene, Professor of Piano at U-M, performed an all-Chopin recital. It was truly a gift to hear such great artistry.
His program provided a rich and tantalizing view of Chopin’s brilliant oeuvre. Greene drew sounds out of the piano like a magician—singing, soaring, langorous melodies, and thunderous, tumultuous chords. Greene is a master in knowing how to use his body in eliciting such sounds, and in controlling the exact timing of each key and creating suspense through poignant pauses. The audience was captivated by the huge gamut of emotions, from laughter to dark despair, that were portrayed in Greene’s memorized recital. In his hands each piece became a sort of microcosm of its own, glowing with its own unique beauty. His program included three short Mazurkas (op. 67, no. 3; op. 24, no. 3; op. 24, no. 4), the well-known Nocturne in E-flat Major, op. 9, no. 2, Écossaise, op. 72, and four Ballades (op. 23, op. 38, op. 47, and op. 52).
The 4 o’clock recital featured graduate students of James Kibbie and Marilyn Mason. Each performer played with such artistry, conviction, and joy. Their discipline and dedication to their art was obvious. Those performing from Kibbie’s studio included Joseph Balistreri (In Organ, Chordis et Choro by Naji Hakim); Susan De Kam (Partita sopra “Nun freut euch” by Lionel Rogg), and Richard Newman (Final from Symphony No. 5, op. 47, by Louis Vierne). Mason’s students included Timothy Tikker (Pièce Héroïque by César Franck) and Louis Canter (Adagio, Fugue from The 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke).
The final concert of the conference was played by Charles Echols. His entire program was devoted to the music of René Louis Becker (1882–1956). In his notes, Professor Echols described Becker’s career as a musician in the Midwest, and commented that among the many churches Becker served as organist were Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit and St. Alphonsus Church in Dearborn, Michigan. Echols also indicated those pieces that have been published and those that are in manuscript form. Echols’s playing was flawless, and he is to be thanked for advancing this composer’s work, which recalls the music of Mendelssohn.
Professor Marilyn Mason has been responsible for the organ conference at the University of Michigan, a “happening” in Ann Arbor for 50 years. When I asked her what inspired her to begin this incredible conference she told me: “I began the conference for our students; my then manager, Lillian Murtagh, urged me to sponsor Anton Heiller, who had never played in Ann Arbor. Further, I realized since the students could not have a European experience there, we could provide it for them here: especially to hear organists who had not played in Ann Arbor. Some firsts in Ann Arbor were the Duruflés, Mlle Alain, Anton Heiller, and many more. This contact also provided a window of opportunity for the students, many of whom went on to study with the Europeans after having met them here.” This gathering together of world-class performers and teachers continues to nurture and inspire. We are indebted to Marilyn Mason for literally bringing the world to us.

•

These articles represent the ten sessions that I reviewed (each session is designated by roman numerals I–X).
I. Sunday, October 3, 4 pm, A Grand Night for Singing, Hill Auditorium
This inaugural event was a multi-choir extravaganza led by conductor and artistic director Professor Jerry Blackstone. He was assisted by other U of M faculty conductors, vocalists and instrumentalists. Six U of M student auditioned groups participated, with approximately 650 students. Composers ranged from Monteverdi to Sondheim, fourteen in all, and many various ensembles, representing a variety of musical genres. Each of the sixteen presentations, including choirs, solos, opera, theater, and musicals, was greatly appreciated by the audience, which rendered a standing ovation.

II. Monday, October 4, 10:30 am, dissertation recital by Jason Branham, at Moore Hall, the School of Music, on the Marilyn Mason Organ built by Fisk
Branham’s recital featured Buxtehude’s Praeludium in E Major, BuxWV 141, Bach’s Liebster Jesu, wir sind heir, BWV 731, and Trio Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529, Clerambault’s Suite du deuxième ton, and Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 4 in B-flat Major, op. 65. Branham performed with an understanding of musical forms, in a sensitive and confident manner. The variety of works presented allowed him to demonstrate well many registration possibilities of this unique instrument. This performance was acknowledged with great applause.

III. Monday, October 4, 4 pm, dissertation recital by Christopher Reynolds at Hill Auditorium
Cantabile by Franck, Passion, op. 145, No. 4 by Reger, Prelude on Picardy by Near, Meditation on Sacramentum Unitatis by Sowerby, Elegy in B-flat by Thalben-Ball, Praeludium in g, BuxWV 149 by Buxtehude, from Zehn Charakteristische Tonstücke, op. 86, Prologus tragicus by Karg-Elert, and Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, op. 23 by Buck. Reynolds appropriately approached and performed well the pieces that required a reflective and meditative interpretation. His registrations, musical sensitivity, and facility made his selections interesting for the listeners who aptly responded with approval.

IV. Tuesday, October 5, 9:30 am, Organs of France
IX. Wednesday, October 6, 9:30 am, Organs of Bach Country
X. Wednesday, October 6, 10:30 am, Organs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Janice and Bela Feher presented three narrated photographic summaries of the European pipe organs visited and played on University of Michigan Historic Organ Tours, 2005–2009.
Organs of France were viewed via a PowerPoint presentation of pipe organs from various regions of France. The Fehers showed examples of French Baroque, Classic, Romantic, and Symphonic organs, and they highlighted sites and instruments associated with important organists and composers. Instruments included organs built by Dom Bedos, François-Henry, Louis-Alexandre, and Robert Clicquot; Jean-Pierre Cavaillé (grandfather), Dominique (father) and Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (son); and Moucherel. The photographs of the organs were enhanced by illustrations of their settings; highlights of the organs included historical cases, consoles, and principal internal components.
Organs of Bach Country traced the life of Bach, with photographs of the places where he grew up, the churches where he worked, and the organs he designed and played, along with additional photographic documentation of the organs of Andreas and Gottfried Silbermann, and Arp Schnitger.
Organs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire included pipe organs of Hungary (Budapest, Esztergom, Tihany, Zirc), Austria (Vienna, Melk, St. Florian, and Salzburg), and the Czech Republic (Prague). Historic and modern organs were presented from a variety of churches, cathedrals, abbeys, and concert halls. The photographs showed churches and organs associated with Mozart, Bruckner, Haydn, and Liszt. The photographs and information about these organs and their sites will be available in the near future from the University of Michigan Organ Department website.
The photographs described above and information are contained in several books available through <blurb.com>. The Fehers, along with Marilyn Mason, have produced a photo book about historical organs of Germany and Demark related to Bach and Buxtehude, entitled Sacred Spaces of Germany and Denmark. Their second book on the organs of Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic is entitled Sacred Spaces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They are beginning to work on another book about the organs of France and Northern Spain. All books may be previewed and ordered from <blurb.com>.

V. Tuesday, October 5, 10:30 am, lecture by Christopher Urbiel, “The History of the Frieze Memorial Organ at Hill Auditorium, The University of Michigan”
Urbiel’s interesting history of this grand organ housed in Hill Auditorium began with the early instrument at Festival Hall at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Farrand & Votey organ, 1876 and 1893. Albert Stanley purchased the instrument for $15,000 during U of M President Angel’s tenure. It was placed in University Hall and named for Professor Frieze, founder of the University Musical Society and Choral Union, in 1894. In 1912 it was moved from University Hall. The organ has been changed, modified, and “rebuilt” through the years: Hutchings (1913), Moore, Palmer Christian, E.M. Skinner (1928), G. Donald Harrison, Noehren/Aeolian-Skinner (1955), Koontz (1980), renovated in 1900s, and rededicated to Frieze in 1994. Urbiel was very detailed and thorough in his presentation on the Hill Organ, a large unique instrument, and the audience showed great appreciation for his informative and delightful lecture and pictures.

VI. Tuesday, October 5, 11:30 am, lecture by Michael Barone, “Louis Vierne (1870–1937): The ‘Other’ Music (songs, piano pieces, chamber and orchestral works).”
Michael Barone presented the audience with a detailed listing (seven pages), containing comments, performers’ names, disc identification, and other information of Vierne’s “other” music as described in his lecture title. He discussed Vierne’s life and provided insight into the interpretation of his music based on the tragedies and pain Vierne suffered in the losses of his brother and son, coupled with the difficulties Vierne endured in his career, health, and home life. Barone provided more than 20 recorded excerpts, with verbal descriptions and information in an entertaining and interesting manner. Near the end of the seven-page compilation, Barone listed a disc summary of Vierne’s non-organ repertoire. The audience appreciated Barone’s thorough work, sense of humor, and sensitive presentation.

VII. Tuesday, October 5, 1:30 pm, lecture/demonstration by Michele Johns, “Organ ‘Plus’”
Dr. Johns began her lecture/demonstration by sharing some down-to-earth tips when deciding to use the organ with other instruments in services and concerts. She discussed conducting from the organ, getting funding, how to pay performers, ways to obtain band and orchestra members, vocalists, planning rehearsals, and rehearsing. Her program featured three pieces written for organ, two trumpets and two trombones, which she conducted from the organ. In celebration of this 50th annual University of Michigan Conference on Organ Music and in honor of the Organ Department, an arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard on High” for congregation, brass quartet, tympani and organ was premiered. This was a welcomed and enjoyed opportunity for the conferees to participate in this rousing and exciting setting written by Scott M. Hyslop. Dr. Johns received thanks for her expertise.

VIII. Tuesday, October 5, 2:30 pm, lecture by Steven Ball, “Music of René Becker”
Dr. Ball gave a brief history of René Becker, son of Edouard, who was an organist at Chartres Cathedral. Born in 1882, Becker and his four siblings trained at Strasbourg’s Conservatory of Music. In 1904, Becker moved from France to St. Louis and taught piano, organ, and composition at the Becker Conservatory of Music, which he formed with his brothers. He later taught at St. Louis University and Kendride Seminary. In 1912, Becker and his wife moved to Belleville, Illinois, where he became organist at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. It was at this time that son Julius was born, the only living child of René. Julius, a retired banker, presently lives in Birmingham, Michigan.
René Becker became the first organist of the newly built Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit in 1930; an AGO member, he helped to establish the Catholic Organists Guild, and with his son founded the Palestrina Institute. Becker retired in 1952 at the age of 70 from St. Alphonsus Church in Detroit. He left over 160 compositions for organ when he died in 1956. Dr. Ball shared some pictures of René Becker and introduced Becker’s son Julius and his family to the conferees. It was a delight to see Julius Becker (keeper of some of Becker’s compositions) in person. Steven Ball received a four-year grant to record René Becker’s compositions. 

The first University of Michigan Organ Conference took place in 1961, featuring Anton Heiller, and was the brainchild of Marilyn Mason. It is singular in the organ world for its longevity. Just two other schools offer comparable conferences: The Eastman School of Music initiated the EROI festival in 2002, and Indiana University started an annual conference in 2010. During its 54-year history, the U of M conference has featured a glittering array of artists and lecturers from the United States and Europe in addition to offerings by Michigan faculty and students. In 2014, this annual organ conference was held September 28–30. Due to construction at the School of Music, Theater and Dance on north campus, all events were held on the U of M’s central campus, with conference attendees circulating between Hill Auditorium, First Presbyterian and First Congregational churches. Shortened to two days rather than three a year ago to make it more accessible to attendees, the conference continues to offer a slate of strong academic content and fine performances. 

The 2014 conference not only honored Michele Johns’s 33 years of teaching but also was a natural showcase for the revamped Michigan organ department, with strong contributions by the new faculty. Following the retirements of three long-time teachers in close succession—Robert Glasgow in 2005 after 43 years, Marilyn Mason in 2013 after 66 years, and Michele Johns in 2014 after 33 years—unlike Michigan’s beleaguered football program, the organ department is transitioning smoothly into a new era. Kola Owolabi has joined the department as associate organ professor, and Joseph Gascho is the new associate professor of harpsichord. Vincent Dubois has been named permanent visiting professor, and a carillon instructor will be hired for the next academic year. James Kibbie became department chair in 2013, providing both continuity and a fresh approach. He seems genuinely excited about the department’s future. Current students come from a wide range of backgrounds, undergraduate applications have increased, and students are evenly spread between the undergraduate and graduate levels of study. The desire is to promote a culture of openness and excellence. As Dr. Kibbie is fond of saying, “There will always be a need for organists. We can’t predict what church musicians will need to do in the future, but we will continue to pursue excellence.”

The biggest change in the department was brought about by requests from students to study with all of the organ professors rather than being bound to one studio. Once a week they take part in a department-wide studio class dubbed “Common Time.” The era of specialization has been succeeded by a focus on collaboration and breadth. Early music is integrated into the organ department with Dr. Gascho’s harpsichord instruction, and the focus is on an eclectic approach to musical development to parallel the current professional landscape for church musicians and organists. Dr. Owolabi includes improvisation and church music courses among his teaching duties, offering sessions on blended worship music, different choral styles, and multi-cultural music. 

A Grand Night for Singing

“A Grand Night for Singing,” a gala concert put on by the choral, vocal, and theatre departments of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, offered conference attendees a great opportunity to witness the wide spectrum of vocal activity the school boasts. With over 650 students in eleven auditioned ensembles, the high caliber of Michigan music students and its excellent faculty was demonstrated by the fine performances prepared after only nineteen days of classes. Ensembles featured were the Chamber Choir, University Choir, Orpheus Singers and Orchestra, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Glee Club. In addition, the program included a scene from the musical Dead Man Walking and performances by voice majors. 

The concert concluded with all forces on stage for the Star Spangled Banner Medley, which had been featured previously in a football halftime show with the marching band and 500 singers in celebration of the 200th anniversary of our American flag. Before departing, the audience joined in “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Jerry Blackstone, director of choirs and creator of this fifth annual event, included this comment in the program: “We are a singing community, and I am so happy that you are here to experience this Grand Night with us. Breathe deeply! Sing from your hearts!” The energy coming from the stage was palpable, and the enthusiasm of the audience unbridled.

Stellar performances by Michigan faculty

The highlight of the 2014 conference was stellar performances by Michigan faculty members Joseph Gascho and Kola Owolabi, and by Karl Schrock. Though not on the faculty at present, Karl Schrock did yeoman’s work serving as interim organ professor for the 2013–14 academic year while also maintaining his teaching duties at Kalamazoo College. Schrock offered a delicately articulated and subtly nuanced performance, having selected his repertoire—which offered plenty of sonic and stylistic variety—to mesh with the disposition of the Wilhelm organ at First Congregational Church. His harmonization of the tune was judicious and carefully handled, never overpowering, and his registrant was well rehearsed and expert in manipulating stops for him. Schrock’s program included works by Bach, Clérambault, Tournemire, Langlais, and Mendelssohn. Schrock negotiated each style with ease and assurance. His performances of the Cantilène Improvisée (a transcription) by Tournemire, followed by Langlais’ Miniature (commissioned by and dedicated to Marilyn Mason) were particularly charming. It was an exquisite program and a delight for the listener.

Joseph Gascho, associate professor of harpsichord and early music, played a wonderful recital in the intimate space of Monteith Hall at the First Presbyterian Church on Tuesday afternoon. James Kibbie’s introduction of Gascho displayed his delight in having him on the department team. Gascho has much ensemble experience and hopes to expand early music opportunities, making them a more integral part of the music school. His program included works by J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Charpentier ,and C.P.E. Bach. He was joined by viola professor Yitzhak Schotten for the Bach Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1029, playing a sweet-sounding viola from 1570. Gascho and Schotten were in perfect synch and spirit, even in the many parallel trills. Gascho is very personable and warmly communicative in his playing. His conversational remarks before each piece further enhanced his connection with the audience.

Kola Owolabi put the Hill Auditorium organ through its paces with a program including works by Bach, Parry, Bingham, Widor, and Eben. His quiet technique matches his reserved demeanor, but underlying both is great confidence and a passion for excellence. Owolabi’s unfussy articulation and tasteful acknowledgement of harmonic events in the Bach made for easy listening, while he let the organ’s sweetest sounds sing in Parry’s lyrical Chorale Prelude on ‘Martyrdom.’ Equally fine was Bingham’s Toccata on ‘Leoni.’ It is a powerful work, beginning with a harmonization of tune then launching into alternation between French-toccata style and quieter sections that display Bingham’s distinct style. The complex texture of the Widor Pastorale from Symphonie II was rendered with ease and elegance and the heroic finale was played with aplomb. Eben’s Four Biblical Dances comprised the second half of the program, preceded by clear verbal notes given by Owolabi. The Biblical passages related to each movement were read ably by current organ students. In this fascinating work, which displays Eben’s imaginative take on the Biblical stories, Owolabi’s quiet, efficient technique was particularly effective, letting the experience be all about the music and its sonorities while the performer stays out of the way. 

Joshua Boyd, who has studied with Marilyn Mason and Karl Schrock, gave his bachelor’s degree recital on Monday afternoon, performed from memory. He launched into the program with energy and confidence in the Recessional by Mathias followed by a sensitively played Drop, Drop Slow Tears by Persichetti. He appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself throughout the Adagio from Widor’s Second Symphony. The first half closed with Digital Loom by Mason Bates, a fascinating and enjoyable piece for organ and electronica, which Boyd had played to rave reviews at the Ann Arbor POEA this past June. Bates grasped the mystery and visceral quality of the organ, successfully pairing its power with throbbing electronic sounds. The second half of his ambitious program was Dupré’s Symphonie Passion, masterfully played. Boyd’s fine performance proved that he deserved a hearing at the organ conference.

True to Michigan tradition, the evening organ concerts at Hill Auditorium were preceded by 30-minute carillon concerts. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra offered a sensitively played program on Sunday evening, complete with program notes, and Kipp Cortez, coordinator of carillon studies, played Tuesday evening. During these concerts, a handful of the organ crowd sat listening outside while students wandered by, often pausing to gaze up at the carillon tower and snap a photo with their phones.

The first organ concert of the conference was given by Jörg Abbing of Saarbrücken Conservatory of Music in Germany. His program consisted largely of twentieth-century music and made for demanding listening. Realizing he had planned a daunting program for the listener, Dr. Abbing made a late substitution of Franck’s Pièce Héroïque to open his concert. This and Reger’s Phantaisie ‘Hallelujah! Gott zu loben’ were far less than polished, but Abbing played works by Messiaen, Guillou, and André Jolivet with conviction and finesse. At eighteen minutes and fifteen minutes in length, the Guillou and Jolivet works require a real commitment from the performer not only to handle the technical demands, but also to make sense of the noisy bursts of sound alternating with slow-moving sections and silences. Mandala by Jolivet is a programmatic work, describing the seven continents and seven seas of the Jambu diagram, a “mandala” to aid Hindu meditation. Jean Guillou was one of the first to perform it in 1969 and devised the registration scheme for the published work. In contrast, Guillou’s Regard does not have a program, reflecting his preference for leaving the audience free to interpret his piece. It is interesting to note that Jolivet’s piece was composed in 1969 and was revolutionary at the time, while Guillou’s, written in 2011, does not differ from it appreciably in style.

Abbing proved to be an engaging and effective coach in a Monday morning workshop on improvising on Gregorian chant. He believes all students should be creating their own music in order to help develop a unique musical personality. He worked with several organists on harmonizing melodies, changing the tonality and paraphrasing the melody. Master’s student Ye Mee Kim and Michigan organ alums Joseph Balistreri and Dr. Naki Sung-Kripfgans were Abbing’s willing and skilled pupils.

A variety of lectures

Michael Barone kicked off Monday morning with “So Much Music, So Little Time,” another of his organ music appreciation sessions that have become a fixture at the Michigan organ conference. Barone always provides an enjoyable and insightful session, playing his chosen instrument—a stereo and stack of CDs. This musical tour included Bach cantata movements arranged for two organists, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for saxophone and organ, Cameron Carpenter’s performance of a Bach solo cello work played on the pedals, and a piece for organ and harmonica, to name a few. Barone is fully immersed in the realm of organ music, always ready to listen with an open mind, and is fascinated by all sorts of organ music. He invites organists to follow suit in expanding their musical horizons. Ending the session on a wistful note with a recording of Refined Reflection by Stephen Paulus (from his unfinished Baronian Suite written in honor of “Mike”), he commented “You’ll never have enough time, but make the most of it.”

On Monday afternoon, Michigan organ alumna Joy Schroeder gave a lecture on “The Power of Theoretical Analysis upon Performance, Illustrated in Two Chorale Prelude of Bach and Brahms.” Believing there is often too much disconnection between performance and theoretical analysis, Dr. Schroeder encourages analysis as an aid to memorization and a way to discover new aspects of the score. She illustrated her analytical techniques with Bach’s chorale preludes Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt and Christe du Lamm Gottes from the Orgelbüchlein, and O Welt, ich muss dich lassen by Brahms. She noted that given the variety of opinions among theorists, discernment is required in applying analysis to interpretation. Schroeder’s points are well taken. It is all too easy to get caught up in learning the notes without a good understanding of the architecture of a piece. 

Tuesday morning, Iain Quinn of Florida State University gave a lecture on Russian organ music, providing an enlightening entrée to this little known realm of repertoire. The first organs in Russia were owned by the nobility and opportunities to compose organ music were limited because the Russian Orthodox Church suppressed the use of organs. Nevertheless, there is a small but very fine body of Russian organ literature written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were over two thousand organs in Russia, though many were destroyed during the Russian revolution. The first published organ works in Russia were three fugues by Glinka. Others who composed organ music are Gretchaninov, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, and Glazunov, whose works are the most substantial. Dr. Quinn skillfully played several engaging pieces, closing with the Prelude and Fugue in D Minor by Glazunov, which was dedicated to Saint-Saëns. Quinn provided a list of about three dozen works currently in print, most of which are published by Bärenreiter.

Michigan Improvisation Competition

The third annual Michigan Improvisation Competition, developed by Michele Johns, took place on Tuesday afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. The competition has injected new life into the organ conference, offering another event open to the public and an opportunity for another church to be involved with the conference. Judging by the attendance at the competitions, this event is an audience favorite. Contestants in the preliminary round submitted a recording of a free improvisation on a given theme and a hymn introduction and two stanzas of the tune Pleading Savior. Preliminary round judges were Dr. Gale Kramer, Dr. Joanne Vollendorf Clark, and Dr. Marcia Van Oyen. Five contestants were invited to the final round, which involved similar improvisational challenges—a free improvisation on a given theme, a free improvisation on Darwall’s 148th, and a hymn introduction and two stanzas of Darwall’s 148th with the audience singing along. Final round judges were Dr. Larry Visser, Dr. Ronald Prowse, and Dr. Jorg Abbing. 

First prize was awarded to Luke Mayernik of Pittsburgh, second to Christopher Ganza of Oklahoma City, third and audience prizes to Matthew Koraus of New York, fourth to Aaron Tan of Ann Arbor, and fifth to Bryan Sable of Pittsburgh. The prizes were sponsored by the American Center for Church Music. Once again, First Presbyterian proved to be an ideal venue for the competition with the ample resources of its Schoenstein organ (III/42) and its hospitable staff and volunteers. Following the competition, the Ann Arbor AGO provided a dinner for conference attendees.

Honoring Michele Johns

Festivities to celebrate and honor Michele Johns’s 33 years of teaching in the organ department began Monday evening with a catered dinner held at the First Congregational Church. Joseph Balistreri, director of music at the Archdiocese of Detroit and Michigan organ alumnus, served as master of ceremonies. Dr. Timothy Huth, Dean of the Ann Arbor AGO, Colin Knapp, organ conference coordinator, Dr. James Kibbie and Matt Greenough, former cantor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, each offered humorous anecdotes, remembrances, and words of appreciation.

In addition to her three decades teaching church music skills and philosophy at U of M, Michele Johns is the author of Hymn Improvisation (Augsburg 1987) and a regular columnist for GIA Publications. She is co-founder and executive director of the American Center of Church Music, an Ann Arbor-based, non-profit organization through which she was producer of five interdenominational choir festivals plus concerts, hymn-playing competitions, workshops, and conferences for the enrichment of church musicians. The ACCM currently supports the Michigan Improvisation Competition. She is also the co-founder and first Dean of the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

For more than twenty years, Michele Johns served as director of music at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth Michigan, developing one of the largest music ministries in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The ministry included 22 cantors, 5 handbell choirs, plus an 80-voice adult choir. Under her direction, the Plymouth Counsellors Chorale completed five European tours to ten countries and tours to churches in the United States. During her time in Ann Arbor, Dr. Johns also served at the Bethlehem United Church of Christ and the First Congregational Church. Her organ solo appearances in North America and abroad have featured music of the 18th and 20th centuries. In honor of her 30th anniversary of teaching at UM, a group of UM organ alumni created the Michele Johns Scholarship for Organ Performance and Church Music. Like her esteemed colleague and teacher, Marilyn Mason, Johns came to Ann Arbor to study organ at U of M and never left. 

Following the celebratory dinner at the conference, there was an alumni recital featuring students of Michele Johns. Performers were Dr. Christine Clewell, Dr. Brandon Spence, Stephanie Yu, Dr. Andrew Meagher, and Dr. Larry Visser. The repertoire included a variety of repertoire reflective of what Michele Johns would have covered in her church music classes—everything from a trio sonata to a congregational hymn setting. The program included the audience singing the anthem Peace I Give to You, composed by Larry Visser when he was a student, in honor of Michele Johns. The piece was later published by GIA and dedicated to Johns for her 20 years of service to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish.

Songs of Thankfulness and  Praise

Perched atop stools, morning-show style, Darlene Kuperus and Larry Visser offered an upbeat and personal tribute to Michele Johns titled “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise.” They began with an overview of her career and the church music courses she taught. Her courses included liturgical practices in different denominations, hymnody, hymn improvisation, and a church music practicum, which included discussion of books on church music and issues that church musicians face. Dr. Kuperus provided a recommended reading list of books dealing with changes in the church music landscape, including Eileen Guenther’s excellent Rivals or a Team? The most entertaining portion of the presentation was the time spent on recollections of Johns’ personal characteristics and what she taught her students. Citing Johns’ warm, down to earth manner and ability to connect with people, both Kuperus and Visser said that she helped them understand that church music is relational. They applauded her emphasis on consensus and collaboration, as well as her notion that it matters how you treat people. Quotes of comments Johns is regularly known to make such as, “That idea was worth this whole meeting,” and “We do this, ja?” elicited smiles and head nods from the audience.

On a personal note, I have truly enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to work with Michele Johns, particularly in recent years. While still at OLGC Parish, which is down the street from my church in Plymouth, she revived a Thanksgiving Choir Festival involving the choirs and bell choirs of five churches in town. I continue to organize this festival thanks to her inspiration. She is a dear soul with the ability to come up with great ideas and involve many people in implementing them. It is perhaps her collaborative spirit and kind heart that have had the greatest influence on those privileged to work with her. Thank you, Michele, for all of your contributions to the world of church music and for your friendship.

September 29–October 2, 2013

Thanks to Gale Kramer for his review of the student recital on September 30.

Marijim Thoene, a student of Marilyn Mason, received a DMA in organ performance/church music from the University of Michigan in 1984. An active recitalist, her two CDs, Mystics and Spirits and Wind Song, are available through Raven Recordings. She is a frequent presenter at medieval conferences on the topic of the image of the pipe organ in medieval manuscripts.  

Gale Kramer, DMA, is organist emeritus of Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan, and a former assistant professor of organ at Wayne State University. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he is a regular reviewer and occasional contributor to The Diapason. His article, “Food References in the Short Chorales of Clavierübung III,” appeared in the April 1984 issue of The Diapason.

Marilyn Mason—legend in her own time, musician and teacher of international renown, torchbearer for composers, organ builders, and students, ground breaker, and pioneer—was honored in this year’s 53rd Conference on Organ Music. Mason has been consumed by a magnificent obsession, and has shared her mantra “eat, sleep, and practice” with hundreds of students at the University of Michigan. The Victorian writer Walter Pater encapsulated her life: “To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life.” 

The principal business of this annual conference was the celebration of Marilyn Mason’s 66 years at the helm of the organ department of the University of Michigan. Following this year of furlough she will say goodbye to the full-time employment that has occupied her since her organ teacher, Professor Palmer Christian, hired her on to the faculty of the School of Music. Over the course of the conference many of her attributes came to the fore: loyalty to the University of Michigan, excellence in performance all over the world, practical concern for scholarships and employment for her students, and perseverance in making things happen, not just once, but over many years. The organ conference itself embodies one of many events she saw a need for, initiated, and perpetuated over time, in this case for 53 years. Other long-term projects to which she devoted her energies include a large repertoire of commissioned organ works, and 56 Historical Organ Tours sponsored by the University of Michigan, which she initiated in order to enable students to experience the sound and touch of historic European instruments.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The music of the first event of the conference, “A Grand Night for Singing,” featuring all of the choral groups at the University of Michigan—the Chamber Choir, the Orpheus Singers, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Glee Club, totaling 357 young singers—took place in Hill Auditorium and was filled with energy and beauty. The concert—the perfect way to begin a celebration of Marilyn Mason’s life’s work—was the first of the season, and also celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of Hill Auditorium. The singers entered from the back of the auditorium and the audience of over a thousand fell silent as hundreds of singers walked briskly down the aisles and took their places on the risers. The repertoire ranged from secular to sacred: from scenes from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville to Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, from Baroque to contemporary, from a cappella to that accompanied by the Frieze Memorial Organ, Steinway, or Baroque ensemble. The level of performance of these choirs was truly remarkable, especially since they had been prepared in only nineteen days. Vocal blend, whether from a small ensemble or a choir of over three hundred, was rich, the range of dynamics was kaleidoscopic, attacks were precise, phrases were controlled, but most impressive was the power to communicate deep emotion that transported the audience. This was apparent especially in the University Choir’s performance of Stephen Paulus’s The Road Home, conducted by Eugene Rogers and featuring soprano soloist Shenika John Jordan. Ms. Jordan became an actress and transported us with her soaring voice.  

Several works were accompanied on the Frieze Memorial Organ and harpsichord played by Scott Van Ornum, former student of Professor Mason. In both Benjamin Britten’s Festival Te Deum and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ O clap your hands we heard a sampling of the vast color palette of the organ, from soft flutes to thundering reeds. Van Ornum deftly exploited the dramatic power of the organ to soothe, exhilarate, and transport. The hosts of the concert, Melody Racine and Jerry Blackstone, reveled in the music, especially in the grand finale, It’s a grand night for singing, during which they danced and sang. The audience was invited to join in singing with all the choirs directed by Blackstone, and accompanied by organist Scott Van Ornum and pianists Samantha Beresford and David Gilliland. 

In the evening, Andrew Herbruck played music by Leo Sowerby for his Master of Music recital at Hill Auditorium, offering an interesting survey of Sowerby’s forms and styles. Comes Autumn Time reflected Sowerby’s fascination with blues and his preference for solo reeds. It was a treat to hear movements two and three from the seldom-played Suite for Organ. In the second movement, Fantasy for Flute Stops, Herbruck played the repeated motif (which sounded much like a forerunner of Philip Glass) with amazing dexterity and control. The third movement, Air with Variations, showed Herbruck’s careful phrasing of the passages for solo clarinet. He played the Passacaglia from Symphony for Organ with a combination of restraint and gusto and made the performance electric.

Festival Musick (I. Fanfare, II. Chorale, and III. Toccata on “A.G.O.”)filled the second half of the recital and provided a glimpse into Sowerby’s ability to combine unusual timbres in dialogue with the organ. 

Monday, September 30, 2013

The conference opened with a program by pupils of James Kibbie: Andrew Lang (Praeambulum in E Major, LübWV 7, Lübeck), David Banas (Premier Livre d’orgue: Récit de Tierce en taille, Offertoire sur les grands jeux, de Grigny), Mary Zelinski (Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 550, Bach), Paul Giessner (Organ Trio, no. 1, Lucas Grant), Elliot Krasny (his own Ascension, Descention), and Jenna Moon (Sonata IV in B-Flat Major, Mendelssohn). They brought out the best in the Marilyn Mason Organ, conceived by Charles Fisk and others in collaboration with Marilyn Mason in the years just before 1985.

Department Chair Kibbie introduced Dr. Karl Schrock, Visiting Faculty Member in Organ for the 2013–2014 academic year, and announced the appointment of Vincent Dubois and Daniel Roth as Visiting Artists, one in each of the two academic terms. They will each teach private lessons to all organ students and present a public masterclass and recital.

The afternoon session, featuring the students of Marilyn Mason, was held at the First Congregational Church, home of the 1985 Karl Wilhelm organ, Opus 97. When Marilyn Mason entered the church everyone spontaneously rose to their feet and clapped. She introduced Andrew Meagher, saying, “I admire Andrew a lot. He is the only student I have ever had who studied Schoenberg’s Variations on a Recitative with me and memorized it. I watched the score and he played it right!” (Schoenberg consulted with Mason during the writing of this work.) Meagher is a DMA graduate and played Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, from memory. The other students are currently enrolled and played the following pieces with conviction and energy: Regan Chuhran, Prelude in F Minor, BWV 534; Renate McLaughlin, Le petit pêcheur rusé—Air and three variations from Air and Variations for Pedal Solo by Flor Peeters; Joshua Boyd, Jubilate, op. 67, no. 2, and Recessional, op. 96, no. 4, by William Mathias; Glenn Tucker, Trio Sonata No. 1 in E-flat Major, BWV 525 (played from memory); and Kipp Cortez, Fantasie and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542.

The recital was immediately followed by Stephen Warner’s discussion of the history of the organs at First Congregational Church, with special emphasis on the current Karl Wilhelm organ. He gave some practical and useful advice on organ maintenance. 

Next we heard repertoire for organ and other instruments. Sipkje Pes-nichak, oboist, and Tim Huth, organist, performed Aria by Jehan Alain. We also heard music for organ and handbells directed by Michele Johns and performed by Joshua Boyd and ringers from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. 

The evening festivities began in the banquet hall of the Michigan League, packed with well-wishers whose lives have been profoundly touched by Marilyn Mason. She was congratulated and paid tribute to by David C. Munson, master of ceremonies and dean of engineering and computer science; Lester P. Monts, senior vice provost for academic affairs; and Arthur F. Thurnau, professor of music (ethnomusicology). The Reverend Dr. Robert K. Livingston, senior minister at the First Congregational Church in Ann Arbor where Marilyn Mason is organist, praised her, saying: “Her life is a model of a life lived with compassion and loving kindness, and dedication and desire to help mentor. She has followed the advice of Stephen King, ‘Make your life one long gift to others—the rest is smoke and mirrors.’ She has made a lasting difference to each one of us and the world.” Short reminiscences were given by some of her former students, including Michele Johns, adjunct professor of organ and church music. Carolyn Thibideau, dean of the Detroit AGO chapter, quoted Mason’s sayings: “A recital date always arrives” and “If you have a task that needs to be done, just do it and get it over with!” Tim Huth, dean of the Ann Arbor AGO chapter, said he thinks of the organ conference as “soul juice.” He thanked her for enriching his life, commenting that she helped found the Ann Arbor AGO chapter, which now offers scholarships in her name and has made her an honorary member. In thanking her, Tim quoted Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you say in life is thank you, that will suffice.” Mary Ida Yost, professor emerita of organ at Eastern Michigan University, recalled Mason’s raucous laughter, and jokes from her little black book. She remarked how Marilyn Mason is one of the most celebrated performers and teachers of the world. She is larger than life. She has changed the world of organ music for life. She is a living example of unending generosity, genuine respect, and kindness. Her greatest legacy is about the future and not the past—through former students of hers who play in churches and teach, generation through generation. 

She quoted Mason’s sayings: “Miss one day of practice and you notice, miss two and your friends notice, miss three and the whole world notices.” 

Closing remarks were offered by Christopher Kendall, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance: 

Throughout her career she has shattered many glass ceilings. She was the first American woman to play a concert in Westminster Abbey, the first to play in Latin America and Egypt. She has concertized on five continents. On one sabbatical she consulted with Fisk on the building of the facsimile of a Gottfried Silbermann organ for the Blanche Anderson Moore Recital Hall. She has made definitive recordings, consulted with Arnold Schoenberg, commissioned seventy-five organ works, and mentored hundreds of talented students. Her studio will be named the Marilyn Mason Organ Studio.

We were serenaded with a carillon recital as we left the League for Hill Auditorium to hear a concert to be performed by former doctoral students of Marilyn Mason. The joyous music announced the celebration like a high feast day. Patrick Macoska played Menuet Champetre Refondu by Ronald Barnes, Triptich: Intermezzo-Fantasy, and Slavic Dance by John Pozdro, Happy in Eternity (passacaglia) by Ronald Barnes, and Evocation by John Courter. 

At Hill Auditorium, James Kibbie, professor of organ and co-chair of the organ department at the University of Michigan, began his remarks by saying, “Look around and you will see the legacy of Marilyn Mason.” He pointed out that she has brought the best students and helped place them in jobs; led organ tours throughout Europe; created the Organ Institute; built the Scholarship Endowment Fund; and found and unlocked her students’ potential. He noted that the greatest tribute of all is to hear great music performed by her students. “Her greatness was immediately recognized by Palmer Christian, her teacher at the U of M. Upon meeting her he announced that a ‘buzz bomb’ just arrived from Alva, Oklahoma.” 

The concert’s emcee was the witty and loquacious David Wagner, professor of organ at Madonna University and director of the classical music station in Detroit. He regaled us with his unforgettable and hilarious story of his first encounter with the University of Michigan Organ Conference. Sixteen-year-old David read about it in The Diapason, a gift given to him as a reward for a good lesson by his organ teacher in Detroit. David persuaded a pal to borrow his uncle’s Buick and drive around Ann Arbor until they found Hill Auditorium. He had no idea where it was, but was convinced they could find it. They did find it. When David got back to Detroit, the police were ready to arrest his pal for grand theft, because his pal had not told his uncle they were borrowing the car. Such is the lure of the organ conference! 

All of the performers without exception played brilliantly. Each selected masterworks calculated to mesmerize and enthrall. Shin-Ae Chun (2006), a native of Incheon, South Korea, also holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing science. She is an international concert artist, represented by Concert Artist Cooperative, and organist at the First Baptist Church in Ann Arbor. She played Miroir by Ad Wammes and Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Franz Liszt. Thomas Strode (1981), founder of the Ann Arbor Boy Choir in 1987, teacher of music at St. Paul Lutheran Middle School, is director of music at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor. He played Gaston Dethier’s Christmas (Variations on ‘Adeste Fideles’). Thomas Marshall (1975) has been a member of the music faculty at the College of William and Mary since 1981 and has played harpsichord in an early music ensemble at Williamsburg since 1977. He played Praeludium et Fuga in h, BWV 544 by J.S. Bach and a commissioned work for this concert, Dance of Celebration (“Mambo for Marilyn”) by Joe Utterback. Joseph Galema (1982) received his BM from Calvin College and his MM and DMA from the University of Michigan. He has been organist at the U.S. Air Force Academy since 1982. In 2008, he became an instructor in the Milan Academy in Denver. He is in Who’s Who in America and has toured throughout Europe and the Baltic states. He played Marcel Dupré’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, op. 7, no. 1, and Allegro Deciso from Evocation, op. 37. 

Interspersed among the music were tributes offered by Professor Larry Schou of the University of South Dakota; Eileen Guenther, president of the AGO; and Professor Emeritus Gale Kramer of Wayne State University in Detroit. Larry Schou teaches organ and world music, and as dean of the School of Humanities oversees a faculty and staff of forty-seven. He recalled Marilyn Mason telling him to “Work hard. See life as others might not.” He remembered with fondness her workshops on Alain and Duruflé, and Almut Rössler’s performances and lectures on Messiaen. He thanked her for inviting his father and his colleague to her house for lunch, and for her work of sixty-six years. “Your performances, sense of humor, and prayers have helped so many people—they are to me a living legacy.”

Eileen Guenther’s letter was read. The president of the AGO expressed her congratulations to Mason, saying the lives she touched bear witness to her dedication to education. She thanked her for all she has done for the AGO.

Gale Kramer described Mason with words, varying in number of syllables from six to one, which poignantly captured her essence. 

Six syllables: “Marilyn Mason is indefatigable. Part of being indefatigable means doing something carefully many times without getting tired, whether practicing, repeating a joke, or commissioning an organ work. She has said a good teacher tells a student the same thing over and over in as many different ways as possible. Part of being indefatigable is coming back after a rest—on a pew, in the back of a bus—then climbing to the top of a spiral staircase.”

Five syllables: “Marilyn Mason is multifaceted, a performer, teacher, church musician, bon vivant, tour leader, raconteur, and friend.”

Four syllables: “Marilyn Mason is a visionary, evidenced in 53 organ conferences, 56 historic organ tours, and 70 commissioned works.”

Three syllables: “Marilyn Mason is practical. She realized it takes money to refurbish and maintain the Frieze Memorial Organ and to build and maintain the Fisk organ; it takes money to fund scholarships. And she is concerned that her students find jobs. At the breakfast table on her Historic Organ Tours, she would say, ‘Take some bread for a snack later on, you paid for it!’”

Two syllables: “Marilyn Mason is loyal to her students—that’s why we are here. And she is loyal to the University of Michigan. She belongs to a group of individuals who used their careers to bring esteem and glory to the university, not to people who used the university to further their own careers.” 

One syllable: smile. “We remember her smile, her exuberance.” 

At the end of the concert, Marilyn Mason was surrounded by students past and present whose lives have been profoundly touched by her teaching, joie de vivre, compassion, and kindness. 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

We were privileged to hear Michael Barone of Pipedreams lecture on the topic “As Years Fly By.” It is always illuminating to hear Barone comment on recordings of organ music. He focused on composers whose birthdates can be celebrated in 2013. First on his list was Jean Titelouze (1563–1633) of the French Classical School. 

With the birthday of Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780) we celebrate (maybe) The Little Preludes and Fugues. Barone suggested we check out other of Krebs’s works, including a Fugue in B-flat, which has been recorded by Irmtraud Krüger at Altenburg Cathedral. 

Barone also mentioned Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888), whose set of virtuosic etudes for pedal piano has been recorded by Olivier Latry on Art of Pedal Piano: Alkan, Boëly, Brahms, Liszt, Schumann, issued in 2011. Kevin Bowyer, an English organist, has recorded the music of Alkan in Salisbury Cathedral. 

2013 marks the 150th birthdays of American composer Edgard Varèse (1883–1965), who studied with Widor at the Paris Conservatory, and Horatio Parker (1863–1919), several volumes of whose concert pieces, including the 21 Recital-Pieces, have been reissued. 

2013 also marks the hundredth anniversary of the births of Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), composer of War Requiem and only one organ piece, Prelude and Fugue on a Theme by Vittoria (1946), and Robert Elmore (1913–1985), much of whose music—reminiscent of Sigfrid Karg-Elert and Max Reger—is out of print. His Come to the Holy Mountain and Beneath the Cross of Jesus offer a richly emotional landscape, yet easily approachable. Norman McKenzie has recorded Elmore’s Sonata, written in 1975.

It was fitting that Michael Barone, one of the most informed critics of our time of organ repertoire and its discography, be invited to celebrate the accomplishments of Marilyn Mason. He began by saying: “Marilyn Mason has been with us through the ages. We are all her children, celebrators, and her debtors.” He pointed out that she has performed the music of contemporary composers: Searle Wright, Leo Sowerby, Robert Crandell, Virgil Thomson, Normand Lockwood, and Paul Creston (to name only a few) and has commissioned many to compose music for her. Mason was the first to record Arnold Schoenberg’s Variations on a Recitative and has recorded the freely composed works and partitas of Pachelbel on the Fisk organ. Barone played excerpts from her recordings, which included her program performed at the International Congress of Organists in London in 1957: the one solo piece, Concerto by English composer Matthew Camidge (1758–1844) as well as Sowerby’s Classic Concerto and Seth Bingham’s Connecticut Suite, both with orchestra. Barone concluded by playing her recording of a trumpet fanfare by José Lidon (1752–1827). He said: “To Marilyn Mason who has taken us around the world, and given us reason to practice, and given us an example for us all to follow.” With these words we all stood and clapped and cheered while Marilyn Mason gave us one of her unforgettable smiles.

James Hammann, DMA, former Mason student, concert artist, recording artist, scholar, former chair of the music department at the University of New Orleans, and former president of the Organ Historical Society, gave a presentation entitled “History of Farrand & Votey Organ with Videos, Recordings, and Commentary.” He prefaced his lecture saying that “This work was done for my DMA document and was encouraged by Marilyn Mason.” Hammann detailed the mechanical developments during the organ’s transition from mechanical action to electro-pneumatic, pointing out that the Detroit organ company of Farrand & Votey was the first to use intermanual couplers with tilting tablets. Farrand & Votey built Opus 700, now known to us as the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium, for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It had 63 speaking stops and the same façade that it had when it was placed in University Hall in 1898. University Hall was torn down and replaced with Angell Hall and the organ was moved to Hill Auditorium in 1913. It was considered one of the largest and finest instruments in the country. Farrand & Votey built small organs as well as large; Detroit in the 1890s was an innovative organ-building center.

As we left Hill Auditorium we were treated to a carillon concert: Kipp Cortez, doctoral student of Marilyn Mason,  played Preludio V by Mathias Vanden Gheyn, Chorale Partita IV: ‘St. Anne’ by John Knox, two movements from Gregorian Triptych by John Courter, Image no. 2 by Emilien Allard, and Movement III from Serenade by Ronald Barnes. 

The final round of the Second Annual Organ Improvisation Competition was held at the First Presbyterian Church. Each contestant was given a theme to study for 30 minutes and was then required to improvise a three-movement suite no more than 15 minutes long. Judging criteria included thematic development, form, stylistic consistency, rhythmic interest, and use of the instrument. The judges were Michael Barone, James Hammann, and Christine Clewell. Each contestant played with virtuosic technique, and grasped instantly the possibilities of colors and timbres at their disposal. It was exciting to hear “new works” spun from their imaginations and to hear them played with such passion. It was no wonder the judges deliberated for almost 45 minutes.  

Devon Howard, private teacher and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Longmont, Colorado, and Douglas Murray, professor of English at Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, were runners-up. Aaron Tan, organ scholar at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, received third place. Alejandro D. Consolacion II, director of music and organist at Whitehouse United Methodist Church in Princeton, New Jersey, received second place. Richard Fitzgerald, associate director of music at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., received first place.

Richard Fitzgerald received his undergraduate degree from Westminster and his MM and DMA from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore; his dissertation was entitled “Method for Improvisation and Pedagogy.” He has studied improvisation with John Walker, Donald Sutherland, Mark Anderson, Ronald Stolk, Rachel Laurin, Jeffry Brillhart, and Peter Latona. 

Special thanks are due to Tom Granum, Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church for his gracious hospitality, and to Michele Johns, organizer of the competition, and her committee, Marcia Van Oyen, Gale Kramer, and Darlene Kuperus. 

As we approached Hill Auditorium for the final concert of the conference, we were welcomed by Joshua Boyd’s carillon recital: Summer Fanfares by Roy Hamlin Johnson, Music for Carillon, op. 107 by Lowell Liebermann, Reflections from the Tower by Emma Lou Diemer, and Easter Dawning by George Crumb. 

The closing recital was played by Tom Trenney who, from my vantage point, looked like a teen-ager. His recital was icing on the cake—played with intensity, gusto, sensitivity, and passion. One was dazzled by his flawless technique and the beautiful spirit that shone through each piece: Variations on America by Charles Ives, Scherzo, op. 2, by Maurice Duruflé, Air by Gerre Hancock, six movements from The King of Instruments by William Albright, Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 by J.S. Bach, Deuxième fantasie by Jehan Alain, and an improvisation on two submitted themes (Now Thank We All Our God and a newly created abstract theme). At the end of his performance Trenney was given thunderous applause and a standing ovation. 

After the first half of Tom Trenney’s recital, a surprise appearance by William Bolcom and Joan Morris paid tribute to Marilyn Mason with a lively and heartfelt performance of Black Max and (I’ll Be Loving You) Always.  

The 53rd Conference on Organ Music honoring Marilyn Mason’s sixty-six years of teaching was organized by Michele Johns. It offered performances and lectures of the highest quality that informed and inspired, and offered tribute to a beautiful life dedicated to performing, teaching and learning. Marilyn Mason’s energy, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and compassion are the qualities that have drawn hundreds of students to her from all over the world, and throughout the United States. 

The final photo is of Gordon Atkinson, a resident of Windsor, Australia, and an eminent composer and organist, who, of all of her former students, traveled the farthest to celebrate her lifetime achievement. He reminisced saying: 

I heard Marilyn Mason play at Westminster Abbey in 1957 for the International Congress of Organists. She played at the Abbey when it had only one general piston! The program was hailed as one of the great recitals of the Congress. Who would have guessed I would study with her for my master’s degree at the University of Michigan?

Marilyn Mason has been a Svengali, and an organistenmacher. Her countless students are literally everywhere there is a pipe organ to be played. Each person attending the conference was given a CD that included works from some of her performances with the Galliard Brass Ensemble, works played at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and Pipedreams premieres.  In this gift we have a reminder of her virtuosity and artistry. In conclusion we say thank you to Marilyn Mason for “burning with a hard, gem–like flame,” and for sharing your radiance with the world and us.

23rd International Organ and Church Music Institute

The 23rd International Organ and Church Music Institute was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor June 23-25. The institute began with a recital of music for violin and organ presented by U-M alums Tapani Yrjölä and Michele Johns, who also taught an improvisation class in addition to performing and organ teaching. The recital included Finnish music for violin and organ by Toivo Kuula and Franz Linnavuori, in addition to works by Bach, Buxtehude, and Vivaldi.

Marilyn Mason conducted an excellent masterclass on the Bach Neumeister Chorales, providing insight into these recently-discovered works. James Kibbie provided a thorough examination of the Bach Clavierübung, part III, in his masterclass. Robert Glasgow presented a very informative session on the interpretation of the organ works of César Franck.

One of the highlights of the festival was a recital by doctoral student William Jean Randall of Baroque music from France and Germany, which included a setting of the Titelouze Magnificat primi toni and the Marchand Te Deum, complete with plainchant sung in alternatim by Chris Meerdink. The last day of the institute included a three-hour masterclass on organ construction and design by Helmut Schick, which was then followed by a closing recital by students of Dr. Mason and Dr. Kibbie, featuring works by Bach, Buxtehude, and Lübeck.

--John C. Bostron

Organist, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Boise, Idaho

Organ Faculty, Boise State University

42nd Annual Conference on Organ Music

The University of Michigan's 42nd annual Conference on Organ Music  took place October 6-9, 2002, entitled "The European Connection," and featured the music of Germany, France, and the United States. Hill Auditorium, one of the usual venues for recitals and other events, is being renovated and was not available during this conference; however, Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas are replete with a wonderful variety of fine pipe organs.

The gala opening concert was held in the new sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Plymouth, Michigan, and featured the new Casavant organ of 31 stops (42 ranks) on three manuals and pedal. The church sanctuary is spacious and the organ speaks effectively. It is an instrument with a rich palette of colors,  accommodates literature from all the periods, and is in a fine acoustical environment. Featured performers for the gala concert were guest organists from the Ann Arbor Chapter, American Guild of Organists, Donald Williams and Edward Maki-Schramm; from the Detroit Chapter, Scott van Ornum and Tom Trenney; from the Toledo Chapter, Brian Rotz and Barbara Dulmage. They performed works by Bach, Clérambault, Dudley Buck, Franck, and Duruflé.

Monday morning's activities were held in the Blanche Anderson Moore Hall of the University of Michigan, which houses the Marilyn Mason Organ, built by C.B. Fisk, which most closely resembles the instrument built by Silbermann for the Georgenkirche in Rotha, Germany. Master's degree student, Kirsten Hellman, performed music of France and Germany which included works by Lübeck, Couperin, and J.S. Bach. She was ably assisted by cantor David Troiano in the Gloria section of the Couperin Messe pour les Convents. Ms. Hellman was very well received as she played comfortably and flawlessly, concluding her program with the Bach Trio Sonata No. 1 and Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532.

Robert Clark, former Michigan organ faculty member and now Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, lectured in the morning on the Hildebrandt organ of the Wenzelskirche in Naumburg, and performed the Bach Clavier-übung, Part III, in the afternoon.

The afternoon and evening activities on Monday were held at the First Congregational Church, which houses a fine Wilhelm organ. Graduate students Abigail Woods, Michael Frisch, and Elizabeth Claar, representing the studios of Professors Robert Glasgow, James Kibbie, and Marilyn Mason, gave brief remarks about the composers and music they were about to play, including compositions by Bach and Dupré.

Marilyn Mason blithely stated, as she introduced Susanne Diederich, distinguished German musicologist, that "some Germans love French music, and here is one!" This was an explanation for those wondering why Dr. Diederich was about to present a lecture titled, "Relations Between the Organs and the Music in the Classical French Tradition." Diederich gave lucid explanations of many aspects of French organ music, and her detailed handout provided a wealth of information on instruments, registration, and stoplists. Robert Luther, organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka, Minnesota, played musical examples by Jean Adam Guilain.

Professor Clark's earlier lecture was based on his travels in East Germany and addressed the transitions of the Hildebrandt organ in 1933, 1978, and the restoration of 2000. We were treated with recordings of the present instrument along with a fine, scholarly and illuminating presentation. Mr. Clark played the Clavierübung, Part III, in memory of Robert Noehren, former Michigan organ professor and university organist who died on August 4, 2002. The playing was solid and sure, and the Wilhelm organ was the perfect instrument for this glorious music.

The concluding program for the day was all Bach, performed by Irene Greulich, organist at the Wenzel Church in Naumburg, Germany, since 1971, and included six compositions from the "Leipzig Eighteen," and a prelude and fugue along with the famed Toccata and Fugue in d minor, BWV 565. Her registrations were at times unexpected and effective, particularly in the chorale prelude Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott.

Tuesday morning's activities were held at the First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, with its recently installed Schoenstein organ of three manuals, 33 voices, and 42 ranks, on electric-pneumatic action. This instrument is described as enchambered with great and pedal unenclosed, and swell and choir enclosed. To the eyes and ears of this writer it is a successful instrument on which one is capable of leading church services, accompanying choral and instrumental groups, and performing organ literature of all periods.

Graduate students Luke Davis, Alan Knight, and Paula Seo, all of whom are directors of music at churches in the area, started out the day by presenting a well-performed program of organ music by Mendelssohn, George Thalben-Ball, and John Weaver. Again, the three players represented the three teaching studios of the Michigan organ faculty.

Marilyn Mason opened her lecture, "A Lifetime of New Music," commenting on and performing Prelude (pour Madame) by Gregory Hamilton and Miniature by Jean Langlais. Both compositions were played with verve, assurance, and absolute aplomb. Many of those present yearned for more of her playing; however, we were contented with cogent comments she made prior to each succeeding student performance. Doctoral students from her studio were Shin Ae Chun, Wm. Jean Randall, and David Saunders, performing commissioned works by John Ness Beck, Charles Callahan, Normand Lockwood, and Gordon Young. All of these organ students acquitted themselves splendidly. The brochure detailing the organ works commissioned by Mason through the years numbered over eighty, all of which she has performed. How many present-day organists can perform over eighty works by composers born in the 20th century?

Michael Gailit, distinguished Austrian organist at St. Augustine's Church in Vienna and a member of the faculty at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, presented a recital, "Mendelssohn and the Organ: The Background," which comprised works of Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Franz Schmidt. The entire program was cleanly played, always with tasteful, appropriate registrations and sometimes at breathtaking tempos.

Later in the afternoon, at St. Francis Catholic Church, where there is a three-manual Létourneau organ, Mr. Gailit presented an illuminating and often humorous lecture on his recital theme cited above. We were given a fairly exhaustive handout which included a number of composers and organs of the time, along with a graph which detailed the dates of Mendelssohn's organ compositions, publishers, and other useful information.

Irene Greulich, who performed on Monday night, lectured on the Bach Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651, 658, 659, 662, and 668. She discussed the plan for three settings of three chorales and spoke of the various usages of the settings. She was marvelously and amusingly assisted by Susanne Diederich, who also had lectured the day before, since Ms. Greulich was not always able to easily express herself in English. That, along with the consistent idea of "mystery" were sources of great fun and genuine interest.

One can, perhaps, tire of more and more brass groups endeavoring to play the great organ literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the afternoon performance of the ensemble Today's Brass Quintet was refreshing, adding organ and tympani on this particular day. In their own words, "TBQ programs its original arrangements from a full spectrum of styles, ranging from the sparkling Baroque masterpieces of Bach and Pachelbel to the toe-tapping pleasures of Sousa, Gershwin and Ellington." On this occasion we heard some light fare, but in the main, we were feted with solid brass arrangements solidly played, including chorale preludes and an arrangement from Art of Fugue. Janelle O'Malley, organist at St. Francis, very competently joined the quintet on several compositions.

The long day ended splendidly with a performance of very challenging literature performed by Michigan organ professor James Kibbie. Beginning with the Bach Passacaglia in C minor, Professor Kibbie played compositions by Alain, Dan Locklair, Widor (Finale from Symphony VI in G minor), and Two Incantations for Trombone and Organ by Petr Eben. David Lee Jackson, trombonist, matched the organ in dynamics, expressiveness, and tone color. The Eben was a highlight of the recital. Kibbie plays with grace and ease, and one hears a maturity of expression and a total comfort with literature of all periods.

--Herman D. Taylor

Professor Emeritus

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

On Wednesday, October 9, the last day of the conference, conferees were treated to programs on two magnificent E. M. Skinner organs in Detroit. The morning program was held at the beautiful Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, which houses a 68-rank Skinner organ. A program of music by Duruflé, Franck, Messiaen and Willan was performed by U of M doctoral students Gregory Hand, James Wagner, and Brennan Szafron, who used the registration possibilities available on the Skinner organ to the fullest.

The conference moved to the Masonic Temple for the afternoon program. After lunch at The Grill at the Temple, conferees gathered in the auditorium to hear the second Skinner organ. Dorothy Holden, internationally renowned E. M. Skinner expert and author of The Life and Work of E. M. Skinner, gave a very informative lecture on the development of the E. M. Skinner organ, illustrated by bits of music recorded on various notable Skinner organs around the country.

Next on the program was Robert Glasgow, U of M Professor of Music. Lecturing from the organ bench, Dr. Glasgow presented a masterclass on the performance of the Fantaisie in A by César Franck. For reference during the class, conferees were given a copy of the music with suggested annotations for performance by Dr. Glasgow.

The program--and the conference--concluded with the third dissertation recital of doctoral student Wm. Jean Randall. Mr. Randall played music of Dupré and selections from L'Orgue Mystique by Tournemire. Mr. Randall's performance of the Tournemire brilliantly demonstrated what an understanding of the previous scholarly talks on the Skinner organ and performance of late 19th-century French music can produce. It was a fitting conclusion to a rich and varied conference. Following the conclusion of the recital, conferees were invited to play the organ and tour the organ chambers.           

--Kathy Woodbury

Organist, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Norwood, Massachusetts

Jerry Jelsema is organist and music director at the First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. He earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan where he studied with Robert Glasgow, while his undergraduate studies took place at Central College in Pella, Iowa, a liberal arts college affiliated with the Reformed Church of America.

The 47th annual conference on organ music took place on the University of Michigan campus from September 30 through October 3, with a major emphasis on the life and work of North German composer and organist, Dieterich Buxtehude. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the composer’s death, numerous recitals featuring his music were presented and the well-known Buxtehude scholar, Kerala J. Snyder, presented a series of lectures concerning his organ music. Her topics included the composer’s origins in Denmark, his move to Lübeck, his contact with other significant composers and organists of the time, as well as source materials and performance options for the contemporary player.
The only all-Buxtehude organ recital of the conference took place at the School of Music on the two-manual Fisk organ, an instrument fashioned on the famed Gottfried Silbermann organ at the Georgenkirche in Rötha, Germany. Marcia Heirman, a doctoral candidate at the school, played a wonderful program of works including several chorale preludes, two large praeludia as well as the Toccata in D Minor and the Ciacona in C Minor.
Polish organist Jozef Kotowicz presented a stunning recital featuring music of Buxtehude, Bach, Petr Eben and contemporary Polish composers on Monday evening. Heard on the Karl Wilhelm organ at the First Congregational Church, Buxtehude’s Prelude and Fugue in F Minor and Bach’s well-known Passacaglia in C Minor were especially suited to this instrument with modified Werckmeister III tuning.
An additional Buxtehude concert of organ and vocal works also took place at the Congregational church on Tuesday evening. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra and the Collegium Musicum from Eastern Michigan University alternated music for organ with pieces for various voice and stringed instrument combinations.The solo songs accompanied by viola da gamba and organ continuo were especially engaging. This creative and energetic program gave a more complete picture of Buxtehude as composer and church musician.
The final day of the conference began with an elegant recital by Les Deux Clavecins, composed of duo harpsichordists Thomas Marshall and Allen Shaffer, both former students of the university’s music school. They performed transcriptions of Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major and Buxtehude’s Fantasia on “Nun freut euch.” The final piece on the program was a work commissioned by the duo from composer Pamela Decker, entitled Portales. Composed in 2000, Portales uses as a springboard a number of Spanish dances including the tango, fandango and charrada. The writing as well as the performance of this piece was virtuosic.
Also part of the conference was a lecture-recital by Timothy J. Tikker on a single work by French composer Jean-Louis Florentz, Debout sur le Soleil: Chant de Resurrection, pour orgue (Standing on the Sun: Song of Resurrection, for organ). A short recital of organ works by American composers was performed by Michele Johns at Bethlehem United Church of Christ on Tuesday. Sowerby’s Comes Autumn Time and Bolcom’s What A Friend We Have in Jesus showed the colors of the Casavant Frères organ of 54 stops. On Wednesday, the final day of the conference, two recitals were presented by students currently in various degree programs at the university, with both events held at Hill Auditorium.
Two lectures complementing the conference’s Buxtehude theme included Bela Feher’s impressive video presentation of churches and organs in Northern Germany and southern Denmark. Based on last summer’s tour of the University of Michigan’s annual organ travels, the presentation followed the steps of Bach and Buxtehude including churches, museums and monuments. An additional session included Pipedreams personality Michael Barone, who detailed the available recordings showcasing the organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude.
The Global Bach Community held an open meeting during the lunch hour on Wednesday, to introduce people to the organization. The GBC was written up in The Diapason in May 2006. Its mission is to foster a sense of community among Bach lovers, performers and scholars worldwide. Formed in 2000, in addition to individual members, about 25 Bach organizations now belong to the GBC, which recently awarded its first small grant. The GBC advisory board includes Christoph Wolff and Helmuth Rilling; its board of directors includes Marilyn Mason and Richard Benedum.
The 47th conference on organ music was especially significant in that it was a celebration of leadership, dedication and artistry embodied in the work and life of Marilyn Mason, who marks her 60th year of teaching at the University of Michigan. Faculty, students (both current and former), and friends gathered for a splendid banquet honoring Dr. Mason on Monday evening. Former students gave testimony to her teaching, her wonderful sense of humor, her commitment to the instrument, her encouragement in careers and her graciousness and generosity. Fellow faculty members also spoke of her dedication to the school of music and to the university itself. The current dean of the school, Christopher Kendall, announced at the end of the ceremonies that Dr. Mason will leave a very generous bequest to the School of Music, which will endow the organ chair in perpetuity. The announcement was followed by a standing ovation and thunderous applause, all in appreciation of a respected and loved organist and musician.
The banquet festivities were followed by an impressive program of great organ favorites, played by former students of Marilyn Mason. Jonathan Tuuk opened the recital with a commanding performance of Tournemire’s Victimae paschali. N. Seth Nelson deftly played the Fantasie, K. 608 of Mozart, followed by an inspired Pièce Héroïque performed by Shin-Ae Chun. Herman Taylor gave us Si bemol-mineur from Deux Esquisses by Dupré, and Joseph Galema stylishly dashed off Naïades and Toccata by Louis Vierne. The program closed with the toe-tapping music of William Albright: Tango and Alla Marcia from his Flights of Fancy, both brilliantly played by Douglas Reed.
The 47th conference on organ music at the University of Michigan was indeed a worthwhile event centered around the life and work of Buxtehude. The additional celebration of the life and work of Dr. Marilyn Mason made the conference even more exciting and wonderful.

Marilyn Mason 60th anniversary tributes
Many tributes on the occasion of Marilyn Mason’s 60th anniversary at the University of Michigan were offered at the banquet Monday evening at the Michigan League. The following is a sampling.

Marilyn Mason. There are few organists and lovers of the instrument who do not know your name. Your influence is far-reaching. Performing over the years on six continents, adjudicating at major competitions, and, importantly, leading the European tours to hear and play historical organs, you have opened the minds and ears of those fortunate to attend.
Wide-ranging in your interests—poetry, English literature—your gift of welcoming with warmth is gratefully remembered. Enthusiastic in all you undertake, be it walking, quoting poetry—yes, and cooking—all is accomplished with an infectious fervor. Your sense of humor, with your bon mots, is memorable.
Congratulations, Marilyn, on the magnificent achievement of 60 years at the University of Michigan, from one who was privileged to be your student. Thousands of students and audience members today say “Thank you.”
—Gordon Atkinson, MMus
formerly of Canada and the USA, now retired in Melbourne

My earliest memory of our class was a party in the MM Organ Studio celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Reformation. In just 10 years we will celebrate the 500th anniversary! We all wore Halloween costumes. I played Ein feste Burg. In those days before the European tours, we traveled with Marilyn around Michigan. We took the trio sonatas and the Clavier-Übung III to Olivet College, Mariner’s Church, and Andrews University.
Our Marilyn is like a “jewel.” She has many facets: the nurturing teacher, the professional, the gourmet, the bon vivant, the raconteur, and the deeply prayerful, reflective and grateful human being. And like a jewel she is precious to us all!
—Gale Kramer, DMA
organist emeritus, Metropolitan
Methodist Church, Detroit

I don’t remember the exact day, time, or place. What I do remember is that during my lesson, as I played, I had the uneasy feeling that Prof. Mason was becoming more and more agitated. After several more pages, she shouted, “Stop, you are working too hard at that piece. Watching you play that is like me trying to eat peas with a knife.” Then she said something that I will always remember: “Let the instrument be your teacher. The instrument will tell you exactly how it wants to be played, if you will just listen.”
I have found that statement to be true; and those of us who have journeyed on the University of Michigan Historic Organ Tours have studied with some of the world’s oldest and greatest teachers. This became clear when in Bologna, Italy, I found myself standing in the magnificent Church of San Petronio. The tour members were to play a recital that afternoon, and the organist asked if I wanted to play the “old” organ or the “new” organ. The old organ was completed around 1470, and the new one somewhere around 1510. I played the old organ and I listened. As it predated Columbus’s voyage, it had a lot to say.
I have been fortunate to tour with Prof. Mason on five Historic Organ Tours. She is always the consummate hostess for her aficionados. She does, however, like to take the occasional nap during the bus tour portions of the day. One particular day, our Italian tour guide stopped the bus in front of a house and proudly said, “This is where Marconi invented the radio.” Roused from her sleep and not yet fully awake, Prof. Mason piped up, “How convenient—the house where macaroni was invented.”
The University of Michigan organ tours allow a student to soak up the sights, sounds, and yes, even smells of a particular region. You hear the music as it would have actually sounded—sometimes sweet, sometimes harsh, and sometimes even out of tune. You just try keeping a 16th-century Trompeta Real in a freezing cold Spanish cathedral in tune sometime! As Prof. Mason would often say to us as we grimaced at the sounds, “It is not out of tune. It is authentic.”
Traveling with her, you will find that in Spain, Tapas, Tia Maria, and Tientos do go nicely together. In Italy it is Pedals, Pipes, and Pizza. And in Germany it is true enough that Beer and Bratwurst do make Bach better. I skipped the French tours and over the years, I have regretted it as I still struggle with the age-old question, “When playing Franck, does one serve red or white wine?”
Prof. Mason has often said that the most important person to know is the man with the key. I once remarked to a gentleman with a huge ring of keys attached to his belt, “Wow, you must be very important.” He replied, “No, if I were important, I would have only one key—the master key.”
Prof. Mason, you are indeed a Master Key. You have unlocked the potential in each person under your tutelage. You have been the key to successful careers in music. And, you continue to unlock a world greater than any we could imagine on our own, or ever experience.
—Philip Burgess, DMA
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Salisbury, NC

When Michele Johns called with the invitation to say a few words about Marilyn this evening, I had just been to the bookstore and gotten Doris Kearns Goodwin’s chronicle of the World War II years of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. I have borrowed the title of her book, No Ordinary Time, because I think that it best describes time with Marilyn, and why generations of students, and hundreds of organ aficionados on her tours have been attracted to her. Ordinary time is also that portion of the church year when there are no large festival times or feast days—but time with Marilyn usually seems like a festival, and often involves a feast.
Three important personality traits stand out whenever I think of Marilyn: her immense vitality, her ability to celebrate and be “in the moment,” and her insatiable curiosity. We students, in my era, had two nicknames of affection for Miss Mason: one was “Our Lady of Perpetual Motion,” and the other was “Ms. Monsoon,” because she truly is a force of nature! This vitality is focused into the joy and importance of the moment, resulting in lessons where it seemed that the most important thing in life was playing and understanding the composition that was being studied. She also makes every second count. No time is wasted, and while “multi-tasking” is a recent buzzword, she has been a master at it for six decades.
Marilyn’s insatiable curiosity has resulted in her having played almost every organ composition of significance. In addition to the many commissions and premiers of new music, her repertoire is voluminous, and covers every era and school of composition. This same curiosity has led to invitations to many renowned performers and scholars related to the organ, and consequently their presentations of recitals and master classes here in Ann Arbor. No one is ever more attentive at these, and a better student, than Marilyn herself. This is evident at lessons when she remarks, “Marie Claire Alain says this or that,” “Maurice Duruflé said to play it this way,” “Anton Heiller suggests this phrasing,” or “Peter Williams advocates this registration.”
Yes, Marilyn, for six decades now, it has been NO ORDINARY TIME, in fact it has been quite an EXTRAORDINARY TIME! Thank you!
—James Hammann, DMA
University of New Orleans
Chapel of the Holy Comforter

The Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, in response to the generosity of Marilyn Mason over the years, is pleased to announce the establishment of the “Marilyn Mason Young Musicians Scholarship Fund.” This fund will provide financial assistance to pre-college organ students to attend a Pipe Organ Encounter such as will take place in Holland, Michigan during summer 2008. By offering this opportunity to the community, the Ann Arbor AGO hopes to honor one of our founding members who has given so much for the advancement of organ playing.  
—James H. Wagner, A.Mus.D.
Dean, Ann Arbor AGO chapter

Thanks from Marilyn Mason
This is to thank all who participated in my 60th anniversary celebrations during the 47th U-M Conference on Organ Music. I have had, in 60 years of teaching, many distinguished and wonderful students. I have taught future administrators, deans, and chairs of organ departments. BUT, I did not realize that my legacy included a Buxtehude scholar, Kerala Snyder. She reminded me, at the occasion of her four splendid lectures during our conference, that she studied the organ with me at Columbia University during the summers of 1954 and 1955.
—Marilyn Mason
University Organist
Chair, Organ Department
University of Michigan
School of Music