The American Guild of Organists (AGO) will sponsor a recital and gala benefit reception honoring Charles Callahan on Friday, April 25, 2014, at 7:00 p.m., at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Callahan will perform a solo recital featuring works by American composers; the reception will follow at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.
The recital is free and open to the public; gala benefit reception tickets are $125 ($100 tax deductible) and can be purchased online at Agohq.org or by calling 212/870-2311, ext. 4308. Gala ticket holders will be offered preferred seating and will have their names printed in the commemorative program book.
Those unable to attend the recital and gala benefit reception are invited to participate from a distance by making a contribution to the AGO Endowment Fund in honor of Charles Callahan. Contribute online at Agohq.org or by sending a check to the AGO Endowment Fund, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1260, New York, NY 10115. All proceeds from the gala will honor Charles Callahan in perpetuity through the AGO Endowment Fund.
A native of Cambridge, Mass., Charles Callahan is well known as a composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. Callahan’s compositions are performed frequently in church and concert; his writing style has been described by The Washington Post as “gentle, confident lyricism.” Dr. Callahan is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Catholic University of America, with additional study in England, France, Germany, and Belgium. He holds the AGO’s Associateship and Choirmaster certificates. Among his notable compositions are two commissions from Harvard University and commissions from the Archdioceses of St. Louis and New York for Papal visits, scored for full orchestra, choir, and congregation. His Mosaics, a symphonic work in four movements for organ and orchestra, was premiered at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.
Callahan is frequently consulted on the design of new organs and the restoration of and improvements to existing instruments. His two volumes on American organ building history, The American Classic Organ and AEolian-Skinner Remembered, have become standard reference works. An active church musician and concert organist, Charles Callahan has performed on many of the great organs of the world and has a dozen solo recordings to his credit. A member of the American Guild of Organists and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, he lives in rural Vermont.
