Ken Cowan to Inaugurate St. James' Bicentennial Organ October 17

Internationally acclaimed organist Ken Cowan will will inaugurate the St. James’ Bicentennial Organ built by Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders www.schoenstein.com of San Francisco in a concert to be held at St. James’ Church on Sunday, October 17 at 3:00 p.m. The St. James’ Bicentennial Organ is Schoenstein’s largest east-coast installation, containing 5,538 pipes divided between the chancel and the gallery of the church. The entire organ is controlled by a four-manual (keyboard) console in the chancel; a two-manual console is located in the gallery to play that portion of the instrument independently. The complete specifications for the instrument are given on page 3-4.



Davis Wortman, Director of Music & Organist at St. James’ and Jack Bethards, President and Owner of Schoenstein & Co., designed the organ, built in the symphonic tradition, specifically for playing service music and accompaniment in many styles. The new organ for St. James’ grows out of the tradition of instruments built for English cathedrals and of American-built symphonic organs of the 1920s and ’30s. The instrument was built in the Schoenstein factory in Benecia, California, near San Francisco, then dismantled and installed in sections over the summers of 2008 and 2009. The Bicentennial Organ was first used in the liturgy on Sunday, September 13, 2009.



St. James’ Bicentennial Organ Stop List www.stjames.org/music/stoplist.pdf



Ken Cowan



Ken Cowan is one of North America’s finest concert organists. Praised for his dazzling artistry, impeccable technique and imaginative programming by audiences and critics alike, he maintains a rigorous performing schedule which takes him to major concert venues across America, Canada and Europe.  Featured performances have included appearances at Grace Cathedral San Francisco, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Spivey Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, France. In addition, Mr. Cowan has been a featured artist in recent years at the national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, has performed at many regional conventions of the AGO, and has been featured at several conventions of the Organ Historical Society and the Royal Canadian College of Organists.



A native of Thorold, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Cowan received the Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Thomas Murray.  Prior to attending Yale, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with John Weaver. Mr. Cowan is Assistant Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award.  Previous positions have included Associate Organist and Artist in Residence at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, New York City, Assistant Organist posts at St. James’ Church, the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City, and Saint Clement’s Church in Philadelphia.  He has also been on the roster of Associate Organists for the famous Wanamaker Grand Court organ in Philadelphia.



Mr. Cowan’s most recent compact disc releases are Ken Cowan Plays Romantic Masterworks (on the Raven label), which was recorded on the 110-rank Schoenstein organ at First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, and The Art of the Symphonic Organist Vol 4 (on the JAV label), which was recorded on the Michael Quimby organ at First Baptist Church in Jackson Mississippi.  In addition to his solo recordings, Mr. Cowan also joined organist Justin Bischof in the world premiere recording of American composer Aaron Miller’s Double Concerto for organ, recorded with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra on the Kleuker organ in the Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland (Ethereal Recordings). Many of Mr. Cowan’s recordings and live performances are regularly featured on the nationally distributed radio show Pipedreams from American Public Media.



Information and press photos for Ken Cowan www.concertorganists.com/site2009/artist2.aspx?id=93 (Photo herein by Paul Sirochman)