Faythe Freese premieres the Freese Collection by Pamela Decker

From saucy tangos to chant-based works, expertly fashioned counterpoint, and everything in between, the organ works of Pamela Decker run the gamut of style and variety. Her compositions and recordings have received high and well-deserved acclaim in recent years. Decker has had a variety of experiences that shape her compositions—from theater organist to Fulbright Scholar. She has been commissioned by regional and national American Guild of Organists conventions, and her works have been performed around the world.

Background

I first became acquainted with Decker’s works as a graduate student at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. My professor, Larry Smith, suggested that I learn her three-movement work, Río abajo río (1999, Wayne Leupold Editions, WL610004). I became enamored with the excitement and fire in the music, as well as her colorful, yet accessible harmonic language. Since then, I have learned several other Decker works, for both church and concert use. In addition, I had the privilege of premiering her first organ concerto, El Tigre, at the Region IV AGO convention in 2011. 

Music and movement have always had a close connection to Decker. While she did not grow up in a family of musicians, her earliest memories are of a home in which music frequently came from the record player, and she danced and performed living-room gymnastics whenever it was on. As a child, Decker and her family lived in Falls Church, Virginia, where her father was a naval research contractor. They attended a Methodist church there, and Pamela recounts this story:  

I recall a Sunday morning when my parents were taking me to church, and we were about to enter the narthex. Someone at that moment opened the big double doors to the sanctuary, and I remember an expanse of white wood and columns and a torrent of organ music pouring down the center aisle. I was entranced, and I thought that I would very much like to play the grand instrument that could produce those sounds.

Her parents thought she might have a specific talent for dance, but when at nine she was given the choice among dance, ice skating, or music, she quickly and without hesitation chose music lessons. She has had formal lessons in piano, organ, and harpsichord. Her first organ teacher was Jean Morgan, a concert organist with a large studio in Alexandria, Virginia.

When Decker was thirteen, her father received a promotion that required the family to move to the San Francisco Bay Area. This move was significant to her development as a composer, as it introduced her to the world of the theater organ. Her first teacher in the Bay Area, Galen Piepenburg, was trained as both a classical and theater organist. The Avenue Theater in the Bay Area hired organists to play half-hour recitals before movies began. By the time she was fifteen, Decker was showcased as one of these performers. She both made her own arrangements of “twenties-style” music and used reputable versions by other performers. The theater also hosted concerts by renowned organists from around the world. One of the recitals she considered memorable was by Korla Pandit, a theater organist from India. Decker’s experience with the theater organ scene greatly influenced her desire to create and “re-create.”

Decker moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Stanford University, where she studied with Herbert Nanney, an experienced concert organist and a published composer. While an undergraduate at Stanford, she had a church position and made the decision to focus on classical training. As she developed, she concentrated equally on both composition and performance practice. Her desire to study performance practice led to a Fulbright scholarship to study in Lübeck, Germany, at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. This experience gave her the opportunity to learn from and perform on many historic instruments. In addition, she was able to travel to Paris and even spent a day with Jean Langlais and Marie Louise Jaquet-Langlais. 

Decker recounts this fond memory of her day with Langlais: 

In the early evening, Mr. Langlais had to go to Ste-Clotilde to play for a funeral. He took me with him. On the streetcar, he kept pointing to landmarks and telling me to look at them. Even though he was blind, he knew exactly where everything was and how to tell me important bits of information in connection with what he was pointing out. I realized that I was on a “sightseeing” tour with Jean Langlais! At the church, there was some time before the service, so he allowed me to play several pieces. I recall that I played the Bach 9/8 Prelude and Fugue in C Major, and some of my own music. It is a treasured memory for me that he said very positive things about my work in both areas and encouraged me to continue composing as well as performing.

Harmonic style

The music of French organ composers has had a tremendous influence on Decker’s compositional output and her tonal language. She is particularly fond of Olivier Messiaen’s music. His modes of limited transposition have influenced the development of her own individually designed synthetic modes. The most influential of Messiaen’s works for Decker has been La Nativité du Seigneur. In learning and studying this work, she was struck by the lush harmonies and rich chromaticism that the modes yield. This, in turn, inspired Decker to explore and discover her own unique harmonic language. 

Study of Messiaen’s modes has led Decker to transform church modes, adding one or two pitches to the collection of a specific mode. She frequently incorporates a transformed Dorian that adds F-sharp and B-flat to the basic Dorian mode. (See Example 1.) One of her other favorite modes to employ is a Phrygian mode that adds F-sharp and C-sharp. These are just two examples of the synthetic modes that Decker works with, and she believes that each one has its own “pitch-class personality.” She works with the modes both individually and in combination and finds it interesting to use this “modal material within the context of designing original forms.”

Example 2 shows an example of the synthetic Dorian, used in mm. 64–70 of Albarda, the first movement of Flores del Desierto (1998, Wayne Leupold Editions, WL610006). Decker’s synthetic Phrygian mode, which adds F-sharp and C-sharp to the basic Phrygian mode, is shown in Example 3. Decker uses this mode in Jesu, dulcis memoria (2011, Wayne Leupold Editions, WL710010), mm. 64–69, as shown in Example 4. 

Decker has also worked with scale types in flamenco patterns (see Example 5). The intervallic patterns of the flamenco modes play a prominent role in her new work, Fanueil Hall (2013, Wayne Leupold Editions, WL610014), which was premiered at the 2014 AGO national convention, held in Boston. 

Rhythmic influences 

Messiaen’s creative rhythmic structures also have inspired Decker’s compositions. Decker states, “Messiaen also choreographs expressive nuance through additive rhythms and multi-metrical constructions. I have also found this element to be influential; I have used meter changes and shifting accents to place emphasis in my music.” For example, this passage in 2/4 from the final movement of Río abajo río, shown in Example 6, illustrates these shifting accents, which provide a strong syncopated effect. 

The captivating rhythms that Decker employs are also largely influenced by Latin American dances. She first became interested in Spanish and South American music after hearing Alicia de Larrocha perform Iberia by Isaac Albéniz. After this discovery, she began to immerse herself in Spanish and South American literature. She has done much reading and research into Latin American dance forms. She has incorporated many dance rhythms into her works, including the samba, charrada, rondena, tarantella, boliviana, and many others. Example 7 shows an example of a tango rhythm from the third movement of Río abajo río.

Other South American Influences

Another influence on Decker has been Ástor Piazzolla, a composer from Argentina who studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger encouraged Piazzolla to compose works that would reflect his native Argentinian culture. Piazzolla was a virtuosic performer on the bandonéon, the main instrument of the South American tangueros (students of tango). Decker states: 

This instrument was invented in Germany in 1854 by Heinrich Band, as a substitute for a pipe organ for churches without the financial resources to purchase and install a pipe organ. The instrument gradually made its way to South America, as musicians emigrated from Europe, and after the passage of time, it was adopted by the tangueros and the street musicians. Thus, there is a connection between Piazzolla’s primary instrument (he was a virtuoso-level performer on the bandonéon) and my own primary instrument. I love the fact that there is precedent for performing tango music at the organ.  

Registrations

While Decker’s harmonic language and rhythmic energy are progressive, she tends to stay with traditional use of the organ in terms of registration. She uses registrational changes as both a “color and form-defining factor.” Her scores are very clear in calling for specific registrations that are adaptable to most instruments. As a performer, she understands the need to make registration changes work on both electro-pneumatic and mechanical-action instruments, and as a composer takes into account that sometimes a combination action may not be available and that the performer must pull stops by hand. Her registrations might call for combinations such as a voix celeste accompanying a solo reed, a clear plenum, or combinations up to full organ. 

Traditional forms

Decker also employs more traditional forms, such as the prelude and fugue. She composes counterpoint as a “procedural basis” and expands the form with contemporary harmonic and formal structures. She also frequently integrates Gregorian chant into her works. Her collection entitled Retablos incorporates the chants Pange lingua, Ubi caritas, and Victimae paschali laudes. Jesu, Dulcis Memoria is a prelude and fugue based on the chant for which it is titled; Example 8 shows a passage from the prelude, and Example 9 a passage from the fugue. 

German chorale and Protestant hymn tunes also play a major role in Decker’s works. She has written a chorale prelude on Herzlich tut mich verlangen, and her collection On This Day (2009, Wayne Leupold Editions, WL610005) features popular Advent and Christmas tunes such as Personent Hodie, Antioch, and Cranham. On This Day would be an excellent collection with which to begin studying Decker’s works; Example 10 shows a passage from her setting of Antioch.

Many of Decker’s works can serve both a concert and a liturgical purpose. Her compositions are both engaging and accessible to a wide audience, especially when the audience is educated about the construction and program behind the piece. Decker states:

I believe that music should have intellectual substance, pure emotion, and undeniable communicative ability in equal measure. Even if a passage or section sounds improvisatory, I think that upon analysis, a performer or theorist should be able to discern evidence of substance and “intelligent design,” if I may borrow a phrase from another discipline. I also think that while program notes are fascinating, they should not be necessary for the composition to achieve its goal of making a visceral impact on the listener.

For those who have never explored Decker’s works, I encourage you to investigate her compositions. Pamela Decker has recorded her own works on the following Loft recordings: Decker Plays Decker: Sacred to Secular (Volume 1), LRCD 1053, Decker Plays Decker: Desert Wildflowers (Volume 2), LRCD 1076, and Decker Plays Decker: Suite Dreams and Fantasies (Volume 3), LRCD 1130 (www.gothic-records.com). A complete list of her works may be found at her website, pamela-decker.com.

Edie Johnson is music associate and organist at Church Street United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. She also teaches private organ and courses in organ literature and church music at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

Expensive as national conventions of the American Guild of Organists have become, it was still a bargain to be in eastern Minnesota enjoying an extensive program of musical treasures from France, England, and Germany, without the financial challenges of elevated euros or precious pounds. Add the Twin Cities advantages of near-perfect cool summer weather, many events scheduled within walking distance of the central city hotels, and a well-organized charter bus transport package available for travel to sites farther away, for further incentives to participate in the morning-to-midnight musical marathon detailed in the lavish (and heavy) 252-page program book.
Each of the nearly 1800 registrants attending the AGO’s 49th biennial gathering (held June 22–28 in Minneapolis and St. Paul) will have unique impressions of the meeting, based not only on individual tastes, but also on which of the presentations were heard. Many recitals and all workshops were offered concurrently. This report describes what I chose to experience, in this, my 50th year of attending such national meetings. Comments about several events I did not attend are treated as “convention buzz.”

From France: Messiaen Plus
France was represented with quite a lot of music by Olivier Messiaen: it is, after all, the centennial year of his birth. The first organ recital heard on Monday, the first full day of the convention, was played by Stephen Tharp, who gave a masterful account of Messiaen’s Messe de la Pentecôte as the climax of his all-French program on the bright and forthright 2001 Lively-Fulcher organ in St. Olaf Catholic Church. Tharp’s brilliant playing recalled again the visceral shock of this music when first encountered at Oberlin, presented by Fenner Douglass as very recent music. Even now it is not possible to hear the most evocative and accessible movement of the cycle, the Communion Les Oiseaux et les Sources (The Birds and the Springs) without remembering Douglass’s trenchant, if acidic, review of a 1972 performance in a non-reverberant Dallas sanctuary: “The birds . . . called out weakly as they died on the branch, and the drops of water more resembled curds of old cottage cheese.”1
I suspect the late, lamented Professor Douglass would have been happier with Tharp’s account! This time the birds sang jubilantly and chirped ecstatically before flying off into the stratosphere, while the springs burbled gently as they descended to subterranean depths at the piece’s ending.
Following a riveting performance of the final movement from Widor’s Symphonie Romane and works by Jeanne Demessieux, the Mass served as a bracing reminder of just how much hearing a dose of Messiaen’s organ music helps to balance some of the pabulum so often served up as modern church music. But it does remain difficult listening, and oft times more fun to play than to hear. Tellingly, a perusal of the entire convention program revealed no other organ works by Messiaen listed for performance during the entire week! For National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance [NYACOP] contestants, for the Rising Stars organists, as well as for more established recitalists, the French notes of choice were most often penned by Langlais, Dupré, or Naji Hakim.

. . . at Orchestra Hall
Kudos to the convention program committee for making certain that nearly everyone got some exposure to works by one of the 20th century’s most eminent masters when the entire convention attended the most discussed program at Orchestra Hall on Tuesday evening. All-Messiaen, the concert contained no organ music at all (not surprising, since there is no organ in this major symphonic space); live music was followed by a post-concert showing of Paul Festa’s mesmerizing 52-minute documentary film, Apparition of the Eternal Church.
For more than two hours the assembled church musicians and organists heard readings of three poems by the composer’s mother Cécile Sauvage and secular pieces by Messiaen, performed almost exclusively by women. These were all early works: Theme and Variations for violin and piano, 1932; voice (selections from Poèmes pour Mi, (1936); three of the Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus for solo piano (1944); and, best of all, two of the eight movements from the composer’s chamber masterwork, Quartet for the End of Time (1940–41)—Abyss of the Birds for solo clarinet; and the final eight-minute transcendent Praise to the Immortality of Jesus, for violin and piano—performed with maximum expressivity and intensity by clarinetist Jennifer Gerth and violinist Stephanie Arado with Judy Lin, piano.
Programming the 35-minute closing piece, Festival of Beautiful Waters (1937) for a sextet of Ondes Martenots, provided a probable once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear this work expertly played by L’Ensemble d’Ondes Martenot de Montréal. The delicate electronic instruments, their sounds inspired by the changing frequencies of radio dials, produced tones somewhat like Benjamin Franklin’s eerie glass harmonicas (tuned water goblets). Capable of playing only single notes, the keyboard instruments have considerable dynamic and touch-sensitive possibilities. The audience dwindled markedly as the clock approached ten, and passed it: sad, because the short explanation and demonstration of the Ondes Martenots following the performance was both instructive and charming.
I missed the first part of the subsequent film showing while attending a posh Eastman Organ Department reception in the Orchestra Hall Green Room, an especially celebratory event since the first place NYACOP winner this year was current Eastman doctoral student Michael Unger. Something—perhaps as simple as not wishing to walk back alone to my hotel—led me to look in on the film in progress. I stood, totally engrossed, for the remaining third (arriving just as the late harpsichordist Albert Fuller described an early life-changing experience in the low C pipe of Washington Cathedral’s Skinner pipe organ. The unexpected sight and story grabbed my attention!).
A program book disclaimer read, “Please note that the film deals frankly with sex and violence in explicit language . . . However, DVDs are available for sale [at an Exhibition booth], should curiosity get the better of you afterwards.” The filmmaker, Paul Festa, writing of his creation, explained that Messiaen regarded one of four tragedies, or “dramas” of his life experience, to have been that “he was a religious composer writing, for the most part, for nonbelievers.” This film concerns “what . . . the nonbelievers see when they hear his music,” in this case the 1931 organ composition Apparition of the Eternal Church. The film shows responses to Messiaen’s creation by 31 individuals. They range from Yale professor Harold Bloom and filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell to fringe culture and drag figures, as well as Fuller and the composer Richard Felciano, a student of the French composer.2

. . . and in workshops
Messiaen’s music was the featured topic for a pedagogy track during the workshops, a new concept implemented to replace the pre-convention pedagogy workshops of previous years. Charles Tompkins filled in as master teacher for the indisposed Clyde Holloway. His “Windows on Lessons” featured students Brent te Velde (Trinity University), Tyrell Lundman (University of Montana, Missoula), Julie Howell, and Erin MacGowman Moore (both from the University of Iowa).
Youthful scholarship was represented in two juried papers, selected by the AGO Committee on Continuing Professional Education (COPE). I attended the presentation by Yale student Christopher White—“Creating a Narrative in Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur”—in which he assigned certain extra-musical associations to various individual pitches and chords (an example: E=Jesus, E Major=Jesus on earth, as human) and made a convincing case for such an analysis of Messiaen’s nine-movement Christmas cycle. The University of Iowa’s David Crean followed with a complex discussion of “Messiaen’s Sixty-four Durations” (from the extraordinarily complex Livre d’Orgue, possibly the composer’s most abstract organ work).
Indiana University faculty member Christopher Young gave a workshop on “Understanding the Theory Behind the Art in Messiaen’s Organ Works.” However, it may have been the quiet mysticism of the Frenchman’s lush Communion motet O Sacrum Convivium, sung as the opening work at Thursday’s finale concert, that made the most friends for Messiaen’s elusive art.
A fully subscribed workshop (on a non-Messiaen topic) was musicologist John Near’s “The Essence of Widor’s Teaching: Interpretive Maxims.” I arrived slightly after the appointed starting time, learning later that I had missed a brief recorded example of Widor’s voice! Pithy exhortations from the composer—“Let’s learn to breathe,” “Derive tempo from the space in which you are performing,” and an oft-repeated “Slow down” (borne out by each subsequent lowering of the metronomic indications for the composer’s signature work, the Symphonie V Toccata) as well as his instruction to “Respect the work, not the performer”—all ring as true today as they did in the previous century! Dr. Near, currently working on a biography of Widor to complement his stellar editions of the composer’s organ symphonies, continues to do service to our profession by reminding us of the basic root values underpinning the French symphonic tradition. Nearly all the auditors stayed on to engage in further questions and comments.

A French recitalist
French organist Marie-Bernadette Duforcet Hakim’s opening de Grigny Ave Maris Stella was more effective than a jolt of double-strength espresso as a wake-up aid for her early-morning recital on the House of Hope’s large C. B. Fisk magnum opus. This organ’s Grands jeux, weighty, noble, and thrilling, provided a filling mass of sound in this Presbyterian Gothic edifice, which unfortunately lacks an extra five seconds of reverberation that would allow the loud and brilliant organ to bloom. That virtual coffee may have had an adverse effect on the recitalist, resulting in an overly brisk tempo for Franck’s Pièce Héroïque (after all the composer did mark it Allegro maestoso). Mme Hakim’s nuanced performance was stylistic, but any majesty was decidedly of the jet age. It seemed perverse, as well, to be hearing this beloved Romantic work on such unforgiving sounds, when directly before us stood the sanctuary’s other organ, an 1878 instrument by Merklin, created in exactly the same year and country as Franck’s composition.
Like most fine instruments, the Fisk took on the character of its player and served her especially well in her own composition Vent Oblique. After hearing an abundance of bright upperwork, it gave pleasant aural relief to encounter warm and lovely 8-foot sounds in the mid section of Jean Langlais’ Jésus, mon Sauveur béni, based on a hymn popular in his native Brittany. The program concluded with a set of well-crafted short variations on Pange lingua by husband Naji Hakim, and an improvisation that seemed to be based on the Ave Maris, but with an unexpected appearance, near the end, of the hymn tune Ein’ feste Burg as an offering, apparently, to the many Lutherans who call Minnesota their home.

English visitors
From St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, the choir of men and boys was in residence for three convention appearances, repeating a highly successful visit to the 1980 national meeting in the Twin Cities. Mark Williams, a former assistant sub-organist and director of music at the Cathedral School, stood in as the choir’s conductor, replacing an indisposed Andrew Carwood. Visually arresting in black cassocks, with bright red stoles and music folders, all seemed in good shape chorally (save for the occasional trumpeting tenor), and organist Tom Winpenny displayed his sensitive musicianship over and over again, both as soloist and impeccable choir accompanist.
The Monday evening concert took place in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul—the most apt of venues, a magnificent 1907 Wren-like domed structure blessed with ample reverberation. Major offerings of early English motets by Weelkes, Peter Phillips, Orlando Gibbons, and the Mass for Five Voices by William Byrd were interspersed with organ works: Fantasia in G by Byrd, and the Fantasia of Foure Parts from Parthenia by Orlando Gibbons. The cross relations in these Tudor pieces sounded forth pungently from the three-stop portative organ in the chancel.
Employing the cathedral’s gallery and chancel organs for maximum surround sound, the second part of the concert offered Judith Bingham’s Cloth’d in Holy Robes (2005), an entirely engrossing and striking setting of a poem by Edward Taylor, with spinning wheel-evoking accompaniment supporting both the opening lines and subsequent allegorical references to clothing in this beautiful text. Anthems by Gerald Hendrie (Ave Verum Corpus, sung by the men of the choir) and Stephen Paulus (Arise, My Love) were separated by Paulus’s challenging Toccata for Organ, given an absolutely flawless and viscerally exciting performance by young Mr. Winpenny, who then returned to his accompanying duties for Benjamin Britten’s cantata Rejoice in the Lamb, a performance made particularly memorable by the male treble soloists in the fourth and fifth sections “For I will consider my cat Geoffrey” and “For the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour.”
Is there anything more sublime in Britten’s choral output than the quiet “Hallelujah” that ends this memorable setting of Christopher Smart’s idiosyncratic poetry? It provided an inspired conclusion to an enchanting concert.
Back on the other side of the river, the choir sang both Matins and Evensong in the Minneapolis Basilica of St. Mary. The afternoon program on Tuesday gave us baroque music of John Blow (Cornet Voluntary in D Minor) and his prize pupil Henry Purcell (Hear My Prayer, the anthem Jehova Quam Multi Sunt Hostes Mei, and Evening Service in G Minor) with responses by Thomas Tomkins. The hymn, Bishop Thomas Ken’s 1695 text “All praise to Thee, my God, this night” was sung to the familiar Tallis’ Canon tune (for one retrospect of the Renaissance), the psalm to a 20th-century chant by Walford Davies, and the closing voluntary brought us back to the baroque with music by Purcell’s Danish contemporary, Dieterich Buxtehude, his oft-played Praeludium in G Minor, BuxWV 149, in a stylish, virtuoso performance by Winpenny. The basilica was overflowing with rapt conventioneers who had arrived by bus before our walking group made it to the church. Seated in a far rear pew that was probably in another zip code, it was difficult to hear much except a soothing, but beautiful, wash of reverberated sound.
Matins, early the next day, was quite another matter (conventioneers like to party till the wee hours, so there were only a third as many worshipping at this morning service). I found a pew with good sight lines only several rows back from the chancel; both sound and repertory were worth the early rising! A full program of British 20th-century cathedral music, from Herbert Howells’s Rhapsody in D-flat, complete with a seamless decrescendo at its conclusion; Edward Bairstow’s I Sat Down Under His Shadow, the ecstasy of Bernard Rose’s responses, one of William Walton’s most inspired canticle settings, Jubilate Deo for double chorus (who would not be joyful in the Lord with such music as this?), and the somewhat less inspired, but serviceable Te Deum in G of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Elgar’s The Spirit of the Lord was the anthem, its extended organ introduction beautifully rendered, and the service concluded with organist Winpenny’s brilliant traversal of Fernando Germani’s Toccata, opus 12. That evening the Londoners flew back to Britain, these three convention appearances their sole purpose for the trip across the Atlantic.

Otherworldly Holst
What a gem of an organist is Peter Sykes! Perhaps even better, what a fine musician, whatever instrument he plays or music he chooses to program!3 His own transcription of Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets was beautifully made and impeccably realized in a Wednesday recital at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. From the lowest rumblings of the opening movement (Mars, the Bringer of War), with growling reeds and a flawless quick crescendo, to the final Vox Humana above strings (a most satisfactory sound for evoking Holst’s wordless female chorus) as Neptune, the Mystic subsided in echoes of the spheres, Sykes missed nary a nuance with his clever use of organs fore and aft (perhaps most fittingly in Mercury, the Winged Messenger). The Welte/Möller/Gould and Sons organ was an apt partner (continuing this convention’s fine record for careful pairing of instruments and players), but then, how could one go wrong with an instrument possessing a Divine Inspiration stop?4

A welcome German recitalist and some Americans playing
German music
My second recital of the convention introduced an outstanding German artist new to me, Elke Voelker (whose U.S. connections include study with Wolfgang Rübsam at the University of Chicago). Ms. Voelker is the first to record the complete organ works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Her program in the Basilica of St. Mary utilized a good-sounding four-manual Wicks organ (1949), greatly enhanced by the spacious six-second reverberation of this domed, marble-interior building, America’s first basilica (according to pew cards in the church). Two major works by Karg-Elert, his Symphonic Chorale: Ach, bleib’ mit deiner Gnade and the monumental Passacaglia (55 Variations) and Fugue on BACH, opus 150, were flanked by Wagner’s Festival Music from Die Meistersinger and Bach’s celebrated Air from Suite in D, BWV 1068, both in arrangements by Karg-Elert: so, in essence an entire program of music by the German impressionist.
Elke Voelker made convincing music from these many notes, handling the organ with panache and ease, managing her own page turns, and giving us many thrilling moments. The opening Wagner brought chills to the spine at the pedal entrances in familiar music from the opera, and the addition of the Chamade Trumpet to the final chord was a capping effect. The Symphonic Chorale, one of the composer’s better-known works, is of a reasonable length and very appealing. As for the lengthy BACH work, I am pleased to have heard it, but would not seek to repeat the experience in the near future.
Further musical highlights of this “German theme” were provided by the sterling American artist Stewart Wayne Foster (winner of the first Dallas International Organ Competition). I have never heard Foster play poorly, and his concert for the convention (heard in its second iteration on Thursday) was another example of superb results made possible by his carefully calibrated articulation always employed in service to the musical line. Foster’s attention to each voice, including the bass, reflects his extensive background in harpsichord continuo playing.
Partnered with the 2004 Glatter-Götz/Rosales two-manual organ of 50 stops, Foster showed what a small number of keyboards could be made to accomplish with skillful use of a sequencer coupled to an ear for color and utilizing stops in various octaves. Karg-Elert again, this time three of his lovely Pastels from the Lake of Constance (not necessarily what one would expect to be played so idiomatically on a two-manual tracker instrument) were prefaced by an attention-gripping reading of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 535, and a rhythmically infectious treatment of Buxtehude’s baroque dance-based chorale fantasy on Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, brightened with two appearances of the Zimbelstern, the second as counterpart to an improvised cadenza leading into the final cadence.
Three North American works, especially Rising Sun by Brian Sawyers, provided the “wow” factor for this program. It was good also to hear two of Samuel Adler’s Windsongs, and the winning work of the AGO organ composition competition, Canadian Rachel Laurin’s Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, with its reminiscence of the Dupré opus 7 work in the same key. Foster’s overall theme for the program, “Atmospheres: A Prayer for the Environment,” demonstrated his special affinity for unusual thematic programming. The organ, with both 16-foot flues and reeds on all divisions, and added 102⁄3 flue and 32-foot reed in the pedal, possessed a gravitas that was welcome in the favorable acoustic of Augustana Lutheran Church, St. Paul.
More German offerings were, of course, to be found in various convention programs. One could characterize Carla Edwards’s program as Germanic (Buxtehude, Bach), or German-inspired (Planyavsky’s lively Toccata alla Rumba, neatly dispatched on the recent two-manual Fisk organ in Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Shoreview; and Petr Eben’s astringent take on the ubiquitous Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C, his Hommage à Dietrich Buxtehude). A non-Teutonic exception was provided in Triptych of Fugues, an early work by Gerald Near. Though Minnesota-born, Near seems often to be curiously under-represented in programs featuring Minnesota composers. His three lovely contrapuntal movements were played here without the requisite suppleness of line needed for this composer’s idiosyncratic amalgam of lyricism with strict fugal form.
And, of course, the convention buzzed about Cameron Carpenter’s version of THE Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, an arrangement using selected added material from Romantic-era transcriptions by Busoni, Friedman, Godowsky, Grainger, Liszt, Tausig, Stokowski, and Sir Henry Wood, that turned the possibly-not-by-Bach work into a “ . . . sort of cumulative celebration flinging wide the gates of possibility.”5 I did not hear Mr. Carpenter’s program (there were simply too many concerts in one day), but his awesome technical prowess and showman’s style may mark a return to ”the good old days” of the Virgil Fox versus E. Power Biggs opposites in America’s concert life. Carpenter’s popularity seems a positive development if it signals a healthy resurgence of bankable diversity in organ playing. Anyone who can attract more people to organ concerts has my admiration and support. And having fun at a recital? What a great concept!

Final concert: Siegfried Matthus’s Te Deum (2005)
At 8:40 trumpets from the rear gallery sounded the opening fanfare to the ten-minute opening movement of Matthus’s monumental work, composed for the dedication of the reconstructed Frauenkirche in Dresden. One hour later the same trumpets signaled the start of the final movement (Amen), with most of the same music, though some appeared in different sequence. Most magical of all, the cathedral tower bells were used in the very last measures, gently dying away as the chorus quietly intoned over and over again Te Deum laudamus.
English visitors having departed, it was left to local singers to provide the choral forces for this great work. Magnum Chorum, the Minnesota Boychoir, the National Lutheran Choir, and VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus, each group garbed distinctively, comprised the voices assembled under the confident baton of conductor Philip Brunelle. There were six vocal soloists, plus John Scott (ex London St. Paul’s) playing the significant organ part, not the least of which was his fine rendition of the Bach Toccata in D Minor, above which composer Matthus had set a text from The Organ by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae, beginning “Listen to the rushing wind in the silently expecting organ which it is preparing for its sacred song.” Herr Matthus was in attendance for this highly successful first American performance. Ovations were lengthy, loud, and deserved.
The first third of this closing concert united the three European national strands together with a fascinating selection of choral music: the Messiaen motet mentioned earlier and an excerpt from Dupré’s early De Profundis; the curiously moving avant garde work by John Tavener (“Verses Written on an Ecstasy” from Ultimos Ritos) in which four soloists in the chancel, the Magnum Chorum behind us in the nave, with larger forces split on both sides of the transepts, provided a cruciform arrangement of choral forces. The singers mused in ever more significant phrase fragments based on an underlying taped performance of the Crucifixus from Bach’s B-Minor Mass, at first barely audible, but ultimately overwhelming by the end of this effective work. An intense rendition of Stephen Paulus’s modern choral masterpiece, the Pilgrims’ Hymn that concludes his church opera The Three Hermits, realized the exquisitely chosen harmonies that find the simplest of resolutions in the work’s octave unison Amens.
John Scott played a convincing first performance of an appealing organ work commissioned for the convention. Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi took his inspiration from a poem by Emily Dickinson, And Hit a World, at Every Plunge. In program notes the composer mused, “. . . it is certainly not a comfortable piece. At some point I realized that I was . . . harking back to the very first time I heard an organ piece by Messiaen.” Organized as variations on an underlying twelve-tone row, the piece is “restless.” In a disarmingly honest description the composer noted that “the variations are very different in character and length, from funeral march to moto perpetuo. Although [the piece] aspires to a triumphant ending, it never quite seems to get there.” Indeed the work ended with three tonal chords, interrupted by cluster-crashes, leading to an ultimately quiet culmination. I found it engrossing, a work I would definitely want to hear again.6
Another convention choral commission, The Love of God by Aaron Jay Kernis, suffered from pitch problems in its first performance. The pre-Matthus part of the concert ended with an audience sing-along of Hubert Parry’s O Praise Ye the Lord (1894), cementing the English choral music arc of the week.

Organ concertos, American and “Jacobean”
Benson Great Hall of Bethel University was the site of this convention’s organ concerto program: four works for organ and instruments, conducted by Philip Brunelle, with organists Stephen Cleobury and James Diaz. A fine American eclectic three-manual 67-stop instrument by Blackinton Organ Company dominated the ample stage and was well balanced in this large, yet intimate-feeling, auditorium.
Ron Nelson’s Pebble Beach, commissioned for the 1984 AGO national convention in San Francisco, opened the program. Diaz’s sparkling playing was abetted by brass and percussion in this loud, lively curtain-raiser. Winner of the 2000 Dallas International Organ Competition, Diaz was also the brilliant soloist for Stephen Paulus’s Grand Concerto (Number 3), a Dallas Symphony commission first heard in 2004 (with the most recent Dallas Competition winner, Bradley Hunter Welch, as soloist).
Paulus is a composer who not only knows his craft, but one who has something to say with that facility. This major work has many impressive moments from its beginning with the organ and lower strings, through a second movement featuring the organ’s Harmonic Flute, then orchestral flute and strings, and finally the organ’s strings—a lovely blend of timbres. Building to a climax, the movement ends with a reference to the hymn Come, Come Ye Saints (a favorite of the composer’s father) and pizzicato lower strings. In the final movement (marked Jubilant) there is joy in virtuosity, especially in the rapid jumping between manuals, a lovely bit of lyricism when the high strings introduce the folk melody O Waly, Waly, and a knock-your-socks-off pedal cadenza. The audience loved this piece, the only one requiring a complete symphonic complement of instruments. Woodwinds and brass having joined the strings, the orchestra made its best showing of the day in this culminating performance. Cheering and ovations were deserved.
The other two concertos were in the capable hands of Stephen Cleobury, who had a rather thankless assignment in Calvin Hampton’s Concerto for Organ and Strings. Understandably, the program committee chose this work commissioned for the previous Twin Cities national meeting in 1980. Preparing at that time for my own concerto program in Orchestra Hall, I did not hear this work by a dear friend from undergraduate days at Oberlin, although subsequently I learned that Calvin himself did not regard the piece highly. Hearing it now I did not find the string writing particularly apt, and I am sad that this was the only piece to represent such a gifted American composer during this 2008 convention. The ending, at least, is memorable, with organ arpeggios providing a bit of filigree above orchestra strings, which were, unfortunately, not well tuned.
Cleobury’s second stint on the organ bench was as soloist in Judith Bingham’s convention commission, Jacob’s Ladder—Concerto for Organ and Strings. (In her notes for the program book, she wrote that her inspiration was derived from the first view of a photograph showing the laddered effect of the attractive organ façade.) Four brief movements bearing programmatic titles showed a fine correlation of component parts to produce an appealing ensemble work. Once again the upper strings were quite messy.
Hindsight is, of course, always more successful than foresight, but it did seem as if three ensemble works rather than four could have allowed more rehearsal time for each, and in a day jam-packed with musical events, would have been quite enough for the audiences as well.
Pipedreams Live (and program long)
We all owe much to Michael Barone for his continuing contributions to the public awareness of the pipe organ, its wide range of literature, and many diverse styles of instruments, as heard weekly in the successful Minnesota Public Radio series. The service he renders to the profession is unparalleled in today’s media. That said, it was fortunate that this Wednesday evening audience in Wooddale Church consisted almost exclusively of the already convinced. Anticipatory at the beginning, fatigued or comatose after a two-hour and fifteen minute program without intermission, many of us would have appreciated an earlier employment of the organ’s cancel button.
As for repertory, it was a program in which the oldest piece heard was Joseph Jongen’s 1935 Toccata, opus 104, the program opener, given a brilliant rendition by this year’s NYACOP winner Michael Unger. Then followed a steady stream of new and unfamiliar pieces played by first-rate players who slid on and off the bench either of the movable console or of the attached mechanical-action one of the large Visser-Rowland organ: Herndon Spillman, Calvin Taylor, Barone himself, splendid jazz player Barbara Dennerlein, Ken Cowan, Aaron David Miller, and Douglas Reed (who brought the marathon to an end with William Albright’s Tango Fantastico and Alla Marcia, aka The AGO Fight Song!).
Along the way, Jason Roberts, winner of the National Competition in Organ Improvisation, perhaps sensing the encroaching weariness, gave a brief example of his art in a French Classic idiom; well-loved Lutheran church musician Paul Manz was warmly applauded after the playing of his chorale-improvisation Now Thank We All Our God by Scott Montgomery; and Isabelle Demers, in the penultimate program slot, played with consummate musicianship a gentle and moving Prelude in E Minor by Gerald Bales and Paulus’s As if the whole creation cried.

AGO business/The business of music
The business meetings of the Guild during national conventions have been fun and musically rewarding during the six years of outgoing president Fred Swann’s administration. This time the afternoon event was held at Central Lutheran Church, where Marilyn Keiser gave first performances of a prize-winning work and a commissioned movement to be featured at the Organ Spectacular (officially scheduled for 19 October 2008) during this International Year of the Organ: Bernard Wayne Sanders’ Ornament of Grace for organ and solo melody instrument (published by Concordia Publishing House) and Stephen Paulus’s Blithely Breezing Along, a seven-minute solo organ piece (available from Paulus Publications).
An impressive number of exhibitors (102) displayed their wares in the exhibition spaces of the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel. From Nada-Chair back slings (for organists with “Bach Pain”) one could wander to composer Stephen Paulus’s booth, often manned by father and son Andrew; or stop by the AGO national headquarters table, where a newly released compact disc of Conversations and Lessons with David Craighead preserves some taped lessons with Judith Hancock as well as more recent responses to queries about various pedagogical topics as posed by an unidentified interviewer. (Buzz has it that the interlocutor is Richard Troeger.) The purchase of this disc also triggered the bonus gift of “A Grand Occasion,” an AGO cookbook from the past. This brought on extreme nostalgia for several familiar figures who contributed some favorite recipes: Robert Anderson [caramelized carrots], Howard (Buddy) Ross [Shrimp Howard], and L. Cameron Johnson [Philly-Miracle Whip Dip]!
Some random items of interest found in various publishers’ displays: the recently republished Distler organ works in an “Urtext” edition at Bärenreiter; a reminder via a special brochure from Breitkopf that 2009 will mark the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth; Calvert Johnson’s valuable new edition of Frescobaldi’s Fiori musicali (with variant chromatic alterations from the Torino Manuscript) at Wayne Leupold; from ECS Publishing, free copies of their prize-winning anthem heard at the opening celebratory service, Stephen R. Fraser’s Rejoice, the Lord is King (SATB and organ), with its especially haunting, chromatic shift from a melodic F-sharp to F-natural between the second and third measures of the idiomatic and very effective organ accompaniment; from Oxford University Press, a special brochure on the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, in commemoration of this year’s 50th anniversary of his death.
A pre-convention mailing had brought advance word of a special recording titled Real French Sounds to be had at the convention, the promotional gift from the Association of French Organ Builders. This two-compact disc set comprises an elegant set of performances by various French organists, including such well-known players as Olivier Latry, Daniel Roth, Thierry Escaich, and Pierre Pincemaille, playing fifteen historic instruments (restored by the firms Atelier Bertrand Cattiaux, Jean-Baptiste Gaupillat, Michel Jurine, Patrick Armand, Giroud Successeurs, Nicolas Toussaint, and Jean-Pascal Villard). It is, overall, a useful demonstration of some lovely organs.
American pipe organ builders were well represented here, as were makers of digital instruments. The Twin Cities provided good examples of outstanding organs from many of the exhibitors, as identified throughout this report. Happily, I acquired only one new trinket, a black stop knob key chain from the Wicks Organ Company. It joins useful previous white ones, giving my collection some needed diversity. A year’s worth of compact discs and DVDs were available for purchase, and all this commerce, especially that transacted during late night hours, was made more pleasant by an accessible cash bar.

Summary thoughts
I heard it expressed several times that “this was Philip Brunelle’s program.” The wide-ranging, often challenging exploration of new music (seventeen commissions and competition prize-winning works were listed on the Convention Evaluation Form), plus the programming of other recent works surely new to a majority of the convention goers, reflected both appetite and taste of the prodigious program chair, this year celebrating his 40th anniversary as organist-choirmaster of Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Brunelle certainly generated a great deal of musical excitement, not only as planner, but also as conductor for the two major orchestral and choral/orchestral programs.
That the music of Stephen Paulus held such a prominent place at this convention was particularly gratifying. Currently AGO’s composer of the year, the Minnesotan is one of America’s finest, an artist who consistently produces challenging music for organ and for choral forces as part of his ongoing artistic efforts. He is also a genuinely kind person whose many interactions with convention-goers was much appreciated.
A personal regret was that there was not at least a tad more celebration of Hugo Distler’s centenary, which actually occurred on Tuesday, June 24, right in the midst of this gathering. One workshop, one choral composition (the motet Singet dem Herrn, heard on two days at one of four concurrent worship services presented on Monday and Thursday), and that was all. In Lutheran territory? (At least St. Paul’s Luther Seminary had presented a March symposium on the composer’s life and works!)
Appreciated amenities: possibly the easiest to see, least self-destructing name tags of any convention in my experience, and a many-pocketed, multi-zippered convention tote bag with an external water bottle holder, the whole a classy production that also ranks with the best ever: no expense spared here, and usable at home, too.
And, certainly not least, a smoothly functioning hospitality/information center at the hotel, staffed by Twin Cities AGO chapter volunteers. There one could find nibbles, coffee and water, transportation schedules, gay pride guides, and the occasional leftover workshop handouts, among which two of the more interesting were on Latin American Organ Literature from Cristina Garcia Banegas and Organ Music from Czech Composers from Anita Smisek.

And finally . . .
A tally of convention events from Saturday afternoon through Thursday evening gave these numbers: three open performance and improvisation competition rounds; four evening concerts plus two performances of the daytime concerto program; fifteen organ recitals, each performed twice, plus two carillon concerts and nine Rising Stars organ programs; sixty-six workshops including choral reading sessions; an opening evening church service, four individual daytime worship opportunities, each given twice, plus Evensong and Matins services. [For complete details, refer to the convention website <www.ago2008.org&gt;.]
My apologies to artists whose programs I was not able to attend. Many are friends, or friends of friends, or students of friends. It must be obvious that no one person, not even the proverbial little old one in tennis shoes, could cover as large and event-filled a gathering as this national convention. The time in the Twin Cities remained enjoyable primarily because I did not attempt to do everything.
Throughout the week there were many cherished meetings with people not encountered often enough, individuals who trigger memories of shared experiences, ones who make such professional gatherings personal. To mention a very few of them: Marjorie Jackson Rasche, FAGO, now of Galveston, TX, whom I met at my very first AGO regional convention 52 years ago when both of us were young Ohioans; Carl and Kathy Crozier, of happy Honolulu memories; professional colleagues Jim Christie, Susan Marchant, and Cal Johnson; and new acquaintance, Alexander Schreiner’s son John.
Of memorable chats while traveling on the buses two stood out in particular: one with West Point organist Craig Williams; and another with Patricia Scace from Maryland, who told of acquiring a John Challis instrument that turned out to be the first harpsichord I ever played.
And finally, the realization that as the Twin Cities 2008 national convention became part of AGO history on Friday June 28, there remained only 735 days until the July 4 opening of the 2010 meeting in our nation’s capital city. Start saving up for it now!

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.

Marijim Thoene received a DMA 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.

Francine Maté has lived in Washington, D.C. for 26 years. She has been organist/choirmaster and director of the Bach Festival at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. since 1998.

Thomas Marshall is instructor of organ and harpsichord at the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia, where he also serves as organist/associate director of music at Williamsburg
United Methodist Church. He holds degrees in organ/harpsichord performance from James Madison University and the University of Michigan. His teachers include Carol Teti, Richard McPherson, Marilyn Mason, and Edward Parmentier.

It was sad to see four days of music-
making in which each performer invested every fiber of his or her being into producing sounds that dazzled, soothed, and transported the listener come to an end; however, as the poet Kenneth Rexroth said, “It is impossible to live in a constant state of ecstasy!” Certainly the four days of the AGO national convention provided the listener with the opportunity to be swept up in ephemeral and fleeting beauty that can be recalled as sacred moments in time.
There were several pre-convention programs that set the stage for the opening program at the National Cathedral, two of which were the organ recitals on July 4 at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown by Thomas Marshall, who played the complete organ concertos of J. S. Bach, and at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by Roland Maria Stangier of Essen, Germany.

July 4
Thomas Marshall
In his performance of J.S. Bach’s complete organ concerti, Thomas Marshall gave us a glimpse of a young Bach, a brilliant organ virtuoso and composer who filled his organ concerti with scintillating, pyrotechnical dances and lyrical melodies. This pre-convention event was part of the Seventeenth Bach Festival at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown, directed by Francine Maté, organist and choirmaster at Grace. Marshall made this music his own by adding eloquent ornaments, shaping and moving tempi. All of the concerti were played with a rhythmical vitality.
However, it was the seldom-heard Concerto in C Major, BWV 594, an arrangement of Vivaldi’s “Grosso Mogul” Concerto in D Major (op. 7, no. 5, RV 285a), which was the most riveting and tantalizing. Here the forces of the concerto form, tutti vs. soli, become a new genre for the organ—all of the movements are expanded to new dimensions and the dialogue between soli divisions are more intense. In the slow movement, Marshall added a few ornaments to the already ornamented coloratura melody and seamlessly bound the melody to the accompaniment. In the third movement, he reflected the contrasts between the formal and mannerly tutti section and the soli sections with registration that recalled full ensemble vs. gossamer strands of birdsong. Marshall’s formidable technique and sense of drama made the voices within this transparent texture shimmer. His CD, The Organ Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach, is available through Arts Laureate, <A HREF="http://artslaureate.com">http://artslaureate.com</A&gt;.

July 5
Opening Convocation
On July 5 at 7:30 am, tour buses pulled away from the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, carrying over 2,000 organists and organ music enthusiasts to the opening convocation at the National Cathedral, featuring the Washington National Cathedral Choir, Cathedral Voices, Michael McCarthy, director of music, Scott Dettra, organist, and the Washington Symphonic Brass with Phil Snedecor, music director. The prelude music was riveting in its grandeur and freshness: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3 (Passacaglia and Air di Corte) by Ottorino Respighi; Symphony No. 3, op. 27 (I. Finale: Allegro) by Carl Nielsen, featuring the Washington Symphonic Brass and A. Scott Wood, conductor; and a commissioned work, Theme and Variation on “Le P’ing,” by Michael Bedford, winner of the 2010 AGO/Holtkamp award in organ composition. Bedford incorporated a variety of compositional styles in his poetic interpretation the text of Psalm 19:4b–5: bird song, elements of jazz, a fiery toccata, and floating arabesque figures. The television screens that focused on the performers, especially the feet and hands of Scott Dettra, gave a welcome immediacy to the performance.
The processional hymn, Lasst uns erfreuen, was sung with great gusto as the pageantry began. Eileen Guenther, president of the American Guild of Organists, commented that the convention was really international in scope, for it included performers, lecturers, and guests from many countries. Ronald Stolk, the AGO 2010 convention coordinator, thanked all of the many volunteers who gave generously of their time and worked tirelessly in planning the convention. The commissioned hymn, Great Voice of God (music by Mary Beth Bennett, words by Shirley Erena Murray), aptly expressed the text: “Great voice of God in all your good creation, make us your instruments of blessedness.” It was introduced by a brass ensemble and percussion, and the hymn verses were sung in alternatim with the instrumental ensemble.
The Reverend Dr. Thomas H. Troeger, AGO national chaplain, spoke of his own profound love of J. S. Bach, and said there are things technology cannot solve—the need for a discerning heart and a mind to be attuned to the spirit of the living God. He concluded saying: “Every time you make music you are calling people back to the better spirit—to beauty, wonder and joy.”
The commissioned anthem, Exultate iusti by Rihards Dubra, like Michael Bedford’s anthem, is an exemplar of text painting. Here the texts of Psalm 33:1–6, 8–12, 18, and 20–20 are exquisitely reflected in multiple resources and textures: an orchestra with solos for chimes, muted trumpets, a counter tenor, a children’s choir, full chorus, kettle drum, xylophone, and organ. This score is a great addition to the repertoire of sacred music.
The service closed with the joyous and triumphal hymn, As Newborn Stars Were Stirred to Song, introduced by a brass choir, with words by Carl P. Daw, Jr. and music by John Karl Hirten. The organ voluntary, Festival Fanfare by Kenneth Leighton, was deftly played by Scott Dettra. The energy and stamina of the cathedral organist is amazing, for later in the day he would play at the Bach Vespers as well as at the opening concert at the National Cathedral, where he played Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva, op. 36 and the demanding organ part in Paul Paray’s Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc.

Workshop, Dr. Leo Rozmaryn
The workshop “From Brain to Fingertips: Neuro-Muscular Control,” given by Dr. Leo Rozmaryn, addressed the physiological processes involved in organ playing and gave some helpful advice on how to avoid injuries. Dr. Rozmaryn, a surgeon, has worked in the field of what he calls “Music Medicine” for thirty years. He pointed out how the brain of a professional keyboard musician is different from a non-musician’s brain. A keyboard player has more gray matter: the “corpus callosum”—the division between the right and left parts of the brain—is much bigger than in a non-musician. He defined the debilitating injury of focal dystonia, saying that it is a neurological disorder originating in the brain that causes loss of coordination and motor control in the hand, and that some of the following has been effective in its management: retraining, i.e., changing one’s technique by way of the Dorothy Taubman method; instrument modification; botulinum injection; and physical therapy. He praised the work of Sandy Austin, a physical therapist at Arlington Hospital, for her success in working with injured musicians.
Dr. Rozmaryn began his second session by recommending Janet Horvath’s award-winning book, Playing Less Hurt, for musicians on how to avoid injuries. He admonished organists to pay attention to their bodies, saying that when injured musicians come to him, they tell him they don’t have time to eat a balanced diet, to exercise, or to get a good night’s sleep. He advises every organist to remember they are athletes. They should have music in one hand and a gym bag in the other. In music schools in Scandinavia, musicians do aerobics after 40 minutes of practice.
He discussed a number of injuries common to organists and possible treatment modalities. Some common ailments and possible treatment included low back and neck problems due to poor, static posture for long periods of time. He suggested taking frequent breaks and avoiding drooping shoulders. To avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, he advised keeping the wrist in neutral position and to never practice for longer than 30 minutes at a time. If surgical intervention is necessary, you should not use your hands for four weeks following surgery. He suggested Richard Norris’s book on the topic, Return to Play, and the website <A HREF="http://www.theorthocentermed.com">www.theorthocentermed.com</A&gt; for doctors and hand exercises. For cubital tunnel syndrome he suggested sleeping with arms outstretched, and for thoracic outlet syndrome he suggested arm rolls.

July 6
Hymn Festival
The cavernous National City Christian Church was packed with standing room only for the hymn festival, “We Believe in One God,” led by Bruce Neswick. The prelude included five demanding hymn arrangements played by the Virginia Bronze Handbell Ensemble, directed by Carol Martin, the National Brass Quintet, and percussionists Doug Wallace and Bill Richards. Especially memorable was ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, arranged by Cynthia Carlson. Here the handbells were augmented with a marimba and tiny wind chimes. The spirited and energetic commissioned work, Doxology on Conditor Alme Siderum for handbells, brass quartet, and tympani arranged by Hart Morris, set the tone for the entire festival of hymns.
Bruce Neswick’s choice of hymns and organ descants reflected his keen awareness of the best of the repertoire: Christ is made the sure foundation, descant by Richard Wayne Dirksen; The stars declare his glory, descant by Richard Proulx; Of the Father’s love begotten, introduction by Gerre Hancock and descant by David Willcocks; and Lord, you give the great commission, introduction for brass and organ, solo organ, interlude for brass and organ, and descant by Bruce Neswick. The anthem, O risen Christ, still wounded by Bruce Neswick and commissioned by Christ Church Virginia, was performed by the Cantate Chamber Singers directed by Gisèle Becker, and is another great addition to sacred literature.
The final hymn, Lord, you give the great commission, sung exuberantly by over a thousand and joined by brass and soaring organ descant, was truly the most fervent prayer imaginable: “Lord, you bless with words assuring: ‘I am with you to the end.’ Faith and hope and love restoring, may we serve as you intend, and amid the cares that claim us, hold in mind eternity.” The concluding voluntary, Neswick’s improvised toccata, was stunning and a fitting Amen to the festival of readings and hymns of the liturgical year.

Jean-Baptiste Robin and Elizabeth Blakeslee
In the elegant and historical St. John’s of Lafayette Square, Jean-Baptiste Robin, organist of the Royal Chapel in Versailles Palace, and Elizabeth Blakeslee, harpist in the National Symphony Orchestra, performed music by Debussy, Jehan Alain, Robin, and a commissioned work by Rachel Laurin with assurance and remarkable virtuosity. The delicacy and transparency of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune transcribed for harp and organ by Robin were apparent in the dry acoustic at St. John’s. Robin performed Alain’s Trois Danses from memory and gave a meticulous rendering of the score, observing Alain’s fiendishly demanding tempi markings.
I wish Robin had written more about the “23 reflecting modes” that he created and alluded to in his program notes describing his own composition Cercles Réfléchissants (“Reflecting Circles”). The two movements he played from this work reflect his unique compositional vocabulary, which in turn hinted at mysterious shifting wind movements. In her commissioned work, Fantasia for Organ and Harp, op. 52, Rachel Laurin interwove the intimate color palettes of the harp and organ with remarkable dexterity, especially in the second movement when flutes 8′, 4′ and 2′ played in dialogue with the harp. The same balance was present in the third movement in a totally contrasting mood—triumphant chords on the organ vs. powerful chords and flourishes on the harp.

Ezequiel Menéndez
Historic Organs in Argentina
Ezequiel Menéndez gave an informative and intriguing lecture on “Historic Organs in Argentina: A Hidden Treasure” that reflected his many years of research and study on the subject. He began by stating that in Buenos Aires, within one square mile one can see organs from France, Germany, England, and Italy. During the Age of Enlightenment, Argentina was the richest country in the world, and people from all over Europe settled there and brought with them their culture, which included pipe organs from their own countries. The inventory of pipe organs in Argentina built by famous builders is impressive: there were 39 organs from Italy, one built in 1868 by Serassi for the Church of Monserrat; 101 organs from Germany; and a Cavaillé-Coll was shipped in 1885 to a Jesuit church in El Salvador and moved in 1912 to the Basilica Del Santissimo Sacramento in Buenos Aires.

July 7
Morning Prayer
Attending Morning Prayer in the large reverberant sanctuary of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church was a beautiful way to start the day. The Psalms were sung in by the choir (the Countertop Ensemble, directed by Chris Dudley) in alternatim with the assembly. The masterful and thoughtful improvisations on the antiphons played by Ronald Stolk, director of music at St. Patrick, were a welcome contrast to the austerity of the reading of the lessons and the intoning of the Psalms and Canticles. I wished he had played more.

Worship Service for Children
The Worship Service for Children, featuring the Children’s Chorus of Washington directed by Joan Gregoryk, held in the 1860 Calvary Baptist Church, was choreographed with amazing precision. Following the organ voluntary composed and played by 22-year-old Justus Parrotta, the choir of young singers (30 girls and four boys) quietly processed down the two side aisles, and Dr. Gregoryk, without saying a word, motioned her choir to begin singing the canon Dona nobis pacem, then cued each section of the audience to join in singing the canon, which was an effective introit. A portion of the text was repeated as an antiphon throughout the singing of Psalm 85. The program—music from the Taizé Community, Mendelssohn, an African-American spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan, and Jewish song by Allan E. Naplan—was sung with enthusiasm and from memory. Dr. Gregoryk is obviously a strict taskmaster to present such a polished choir with excellent diction, good blend, and good pitch. She also communicates her joy in the music, which was mirrored in the faces of her singers. Parrotta’s spirited playing of the first movement of J.S. Bach’s Concerto in A Minor, BWV 593, was a perfect ending to this program.

Isabelle Demers
For me, Isabelle Demers’ memorized recital was one of the most memorable recitals of the convention. St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church was a perfect venue for her program: Prélude from First Symphony, op. 36 by Rachel Laurin; Three Psalm Preludes, op. 32, Set 1, No. 2, by Herbert Howells; Symphonic Chorale on “Jesu, meine Freude,” op. 87/2, Introduzione (inferno), Canzone, Fuga con Corale, by Karg-Elert; Organ Symphony No. 2, op. 20, by Louis Vierne; Scherzo and Toccata from First Symphony, op. 36 by Rachel Laurin. Demers made each work her own, investing herself in the music, from Howells’s quiet lyricism to Karg-Elert’s diabolical roar. Her brilliant technique served always to make the music soar. This gift was especially apparent in Rachel Laurin’s Toccata. The audience was dazzled by her magnificent performance.

July 8
Nathan Laube
Nathan Laube opened his recital at the National Presbyterian Church with his transcription of Johann Strauss’s Overture to Die Fledermaus. Laube’s deftness at registration was apparent as each section flowed seamlessly into another. He is a gifted dramatist, and succeeded in catching up the audience in the dance. After thunderous applause he announced that the day was his 22nd birthday, and we all promptly sang “Happy Birthday.” His performance of Joseph Jongen’s Sonata Eroïca pour Grand Orgue, op. 94, and Charles Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique, Cycle de Noël, Suite No. 7, op. 55, also showed him to be a master at registration as he moved smoothly from one section to another.
The tour de force of his concert was his performance of Maurice Duruflé’s Suite pour Orgue, op. 5. His playing was flawless, inspired, and for want of a better word, transporting. As an encore he played Chopin’s Etude in C-sharp Minor, op. 10, no. 4, and met with even more thunderous applause.

Isabelle Demers
Max Reger workshop
Isabelle Demers’ workshop on Max Reger’s Orgelbüchlein was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, an elegant, isolated chapel in Rock Creek Parish, surrounded by a cemetery. Ms. Demers gave an overview of Reger’s chorale preludes, alluding to those suited for church services and those better suited for concerts. She discussed aspects of Reger’s life and how events shaped his compositional style, his quirkiness and spirituality. In her handout, she ranked each of the 52 preludes according to difficulty and listed the timing of each. It was enlightening to hear some of Reger’s chorale preludes played from memory by Ms. Demers in this reverberant space on the mechanical action organ II/27 built by Dobson.

Marijim Thoene received a DMA 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.

July 5
Jonathan Biggers
Jonathan Biggers, who holds the Edwin Link Endowed Professorship in Organ and Harpsichord at Binghamton University, began his program with Craig Phillips’s Fantasia on “Sine Nomine” (2007). This work was commissioned by the University of Iowa to honor Professor Delbert Disselhorst’s retirement, and is based on the tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Among the many interesting sections of the piece are octave “D” leaps in the fugue, which refer to Delbert Disselhorst. Dr. Biggers ended his performance of the work with a brilliantly played toccata.
The Passacaglia by Leo Sowerby (from the Symphony for Organ, 1930) is similar to Sowerby’s posthumous passacaglia, which was edited by Ronald Stalford. The earlier passacaglia from the symphony is less tight than the posthumous piece. Biggers’ interpretation, however, provided a convincing musical continuity in the multi-variation work.
National Presbyterian Church is a modern edifice that provided a stark contrast to the Gothic style of Washington National Cathedral, the site of the opening service just 1½ hours before Biggers’ recital. The present building was designed by Harold E. Wagoner, with the main sanctuary seating 1,260. The church’s cornerstone was laid by President Eisenhower on October 14, 1967; the first worship service at this site took place on September 7, 1969. The organ at National Presbyterian Church is an Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1456, IV/115, installed in 1970. From 1987 to the present, the organ has been rebuilt and added to by the Di Gennaro-Hart Organ Company.
Biggers’ recital ended with the Reger Phantasie und Fuge d-moll, op. 135b. It was thrilling and brought the full house to a rousing standing ovation! Biggers repeated this program at 11:30 am on July 5.

Paul Jacobs
Next was a marvelous recital at St. Anne’s Catholic Church by Paul Jacobs, chairman of the organ department at Juilliard School of Music. St. Anne’s is a lovely church located a few blocks north of National Presbyterian Church. Jacobs’ recital was performed by memory, and was absolutely perfect. The 1999 Létourneau three-manual organ is in the rear gallery. I was sitting close to the gallery in the back of the church, and it was relatively easy for me to simply turn around and watch him. However, there was a giant screen in the front of the church, and by watching the big screen, Jacobs was magnified and in full view for the entire audience. The program included the Reger Sonata in D Minor, op. 60 (1901), Prelude in F Major (1912) by Nadia Boulanger, and the Franck Final, op. 21 (1866). Jacobs was treated to a rousing standing ovation at the end of his flawless performance.

Bach Vespers at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
The Washington Bach Consort
The venue for the Bach Vespers at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Washington, D.C., was perhaps similar to what the setting might have been like in the Thomas-kirche during Bach’s tenure in Leipzig. St. Paul’s, like the Thomaskirche, has lovely stained glass. I thought the light illuminating through the stained glass on this day was very similar to the way the stained glass in the Thomaskirche looked the times I have been fortunate enough to be there.
J. Reilly Lewis, director of the Bach Consort, conducted the vespers service. Lewis has been a Bach icon on the East Coast for many years. His performances are always very musical, and his interpretation of Bach’s music is impeccable.
Scott Dettra was the organist for this service. He serves as organist and associate director of music at Washington National Cathedral, as well as assistant conductor and keyboard artist of Washington Bach Consort and the Cathedral Choral Society. Dettra was organist for the opening service at 8:30 am on Monday, organist for this service, and organist for the evening concert back at the National Cathedral. He is an outstanding musician, and his ability to seamlessly go from the cathedral organ to the Johan Deblieck continuo organ for his continuo part in the Bach cantata at St. Paul’s, up to the organ loft at St. Paul’s to play the St. Paul’s Schantz three-manual organ, and then to the cathedral again that evening, was more than remarkable.
The St. Michael’s Day Vespers service began with the organ prelude, Toccata in F, BWV 540/1 of Bach, played splendidly by Lewis. This was followed by the Bach Kyrie, BWV 233A, and the complete Cantata BWV 130, Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir. The Bach Consort, as always, sang with great exhilaration and musical conviction. All chorales in the service were sung in German by the congregation—the singing by the organists at this service was marvelous. The service also included a fine sermon, prepared especially for organists, by St. Paul’s pastor, The Reverend Dr. John Witvliet.

Opening Concert
Washington National Cathedral
The opening concert of the convention was performed at Washington National Cathedral by the Cathedral Choral Society and members of the National Gallery Orchestra conducted by J. Reilly Lewis. This program was a continuation of
J. Reilly Lewis’ 25th anniversary as conductor of the Cathedral Choral Society.
The program began with Scott Dettra performing the Toccata Festiva, op. 36 (1960) by Samuel Barber. Dettra performed this work with excitement and verve as if he had rested and prepared all day in order to wow this audience of 2,000-plus organists.
The second and major work on the program was Paul Paray’s Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc (1931). The acoustics of Washington National Cathedral provided the perfect venue for this monumental work. The lyricism of the Kyrie was quite beautiful, and the Cathedral Choral Society’s superbly blended voices filled the glorious space of the cathedral. Even though the cathedral was full to capacity in both the morning opening service and the concert that evening, one could hear a pin drop due to the intensity of listening that all organists possess, and which we exhibited on this day.

July 6
David Higgs
The United States Naval Academy
The recital by David Higgs was flawless, so very musical, and the audience of organists was so breathtakingly attentive, as was the case at all of the recitals and concerts at the convention. This organ was originally built by the Hutchins Organ Company in 1908, and rebuilt by the Möller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. Many renovations were made this past year, and the organ is currently 268 ranks with two consoles.
I typically would rather hear Bach played on a mechanical action instrument, but Higgs’s playing of the Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582, was a masterpiece of performance and pure musicality. His drive and care given to the monumental work was simply thrilling. The final piece on the programmed portion of the recital, Widor’s Symphony VI in G Minor, op. 42 “brought the house down” with the audience’s immediate standing ovation. How could there be more excitement to come? Ah, yes!! The encore, In a Persian Market by Albert Ketèlbey and arranged by Frank Matthews, just swept us off our feet, literally! “Persian Market” was not only “fun” music, but the magnificent organ at the Naval Academy Chapel has theatre organ stops. The polite, reserved and attentive organists of all the previous recitals and concerts, became “out of control” with enthusiasm for this piece! All the bells, drums, whistles, and stops were pulled out!
The United States Naval Academy Chapel holds 2,000 people, and of the 2,200 attendees at the convention, 2,000 of them attended Higgs’s recital. One of the many marks of great organization came at the end of the concert when the 2,000 organists were bused back to the Marriott in Washington after the concert. Kudos to Dr. Carol Guglielm for orchestrating this important, and most complicated transportation event—there were 35 buses waiting to pick up 2,000 organists after David Higgs’s program!

Pre- and post-convention events
Among the numerous pre-convention events was the first part of the 17th Annual Bach Festival at Grace Church, Georgetown, of which I am the director. My colleague and friend, Roland Stangier from Essen, Germany, performed in our Bach Festival on July 3, and 23 hours later performed a completely different program at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Professor Stangier’s recital in the Bach Festival was entitled “Bach and His European Colleagues.” Grace Church is home to an A. David Moore 1981 two-manual mechanical action instrument. Composers on Stangier’s program included Pablo Bruna (Spain), Samuel Scheidt (Germany), Andreas Kneller (North Germany), Gaspard Corrette (France), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Italy), Charles John Stanley (England), and J.S. Bach (Trio Sonata in D Minor). Professor Stangier, as his usual practice, ended the recital with an improvisation.
Stangier’s program was full of variety and nuance—he is a very energetic and musical performer. His performance of Bach’s trio sonata was full of ornamentation that I had never before considered. This made the work fresh and new, even though the works of Bach rarely need any new performance ideas.
I presented Professor Stangier with two themes on which to improvise that were from the concert I had performed at 3 pm in our festival that afternoon: 1) the “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland” chorale tune, and 2) the lilting flute melody from the famous “Sheep May Safely Graze.” Stangier wove these two themes into a tightly knit piece. I only wish we could have a score of his superb improvisation. However, in today’s world of the instant reproduction of just about anything, it is a nice thought to consider that an improvisation can simply be as ethereal as Washington, D.C.’s cherry blossoms.
Professor Stangier performed his basilica recital on the 172-rank, four-manual electro-pneumatic Möller organ. His program began with the four Schumann Sketches, opus 56, written in 1846. It has been in vogue for several years now for organists to write and perform their own transcriptions of orchestral works. Particularly popular is Gustav Holst’s The Planets, written in 1914. Stangier performed his transcription of “Venus, the Bringer of Peace” and “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity”—what beautiful transcriptions to showcase both the basilica’s organ and Stangier’s playing! And, not to be forgotten as well, the inside of the basilica is breathtakingly beautiful! Following the Holst transcriptions were the Fantasie and Fugue in C Minor by Alexander Winterberger (1834–1914) and the Grand Choeur by Zsolt Gardonyi (b. 1946). Stangier ended the program with another one of his dynamic improvisations. Tonight he was given the Ubi Caritas et amor Gregorian chant and an Irish folk-song as his improvisation themes.
Jeremy Filsell performed all of Vierne’s symphonies at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington D.C. on the church’s 1994 44-rank Lively-Fulcher organ. Although I was back at my job at the Library of Congress on Friday, July 9 and was unable to attend Dr. Filsell’s program, this was indeed a monumental endeavor. Word from colleagues who were able to attend was that Filsell, in his usual style, performed every movement of every symphony with great splendor.
Another notable post-convention event was a performance by Isabelle Demers of her own transcription of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet at Capitol Hill Methodist Church on July 9. From friends I know who attended, it sounds as if I missed another splendid event.

Francine Maté has lived in Washington, D.C. for 26 years. She has been organist/choirmaster and director of the Bach Festival at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. since 1998.

•
July 5
Kimberly Marshall
For her recital at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church on the first day of the convention, Kimberly Marshall played a well-selected program for a 1981 Flentrop organ, displaying the well-balanced specification. Her unique and outstanding knowledge of the remote corners of the literature for the organ produced a recital with great variety and interest. Dr. Marshall is a treasure among us all for her ability to combine brilliant performance with good scholarship in an intelligent and informative way. This was a delightful and perhaps surprising recital.

Jason Roberts and Michael Unger
For some with “first-day-bus-issues” sometimes associated with these very large AGO conventions, the change in order of both performers and pieces being played was confusing to latecomers to the recital at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. Jason Roberts, 2008 winner of the AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation, and Michel Unger, 2008 winner of the AGO National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, together presented a program demonstrating the true art of improvising, whether from score or indeed on the spot. Organ performers are too quick to define “improvisation” at the organ as the art of totally extemporized composition, when much is added to the printed score by the performer who can sense the improvisatory nature that CAN be brought to all music.

July 6
Diane Meredith Belcher
The recital by Diane Meredith Belcher on the Létourneau organ (2000) at the Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes was performed with elegance, showing great attention to careful and tasteful phrase development throughout. Her inclusion of a voluntary by English composer William Russell (1777–1813) was refreshing. Her performance of all six fugues on the name B-A-C-H, op. 60, of Robert Schumann, gave the audience a clear impression of the compositional prowess of this composer, now enjoying the 200th anniversary of his birth. While this music may be a bit too “academic” for the average organ recital audience, this venue gave an “organists only” audience the opportunity to hear all of these pieces well knit together in a fine and exciting performance.

The Woodley Ensemble
The Woodley Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Frank Albinder, presented a fine and varied program of choral music from many lands, including Sweden, Russia, Scotland, Israel, Estonia, England, New Zealand, Indonesia, and, of course, the United States. The ever-growing number of choral ensembles, both amateur and professional, has also given rise to the composition of unusual and wonderful music for all to experience both as performer and listener alike. The featured work for this concert was by American composer Leo Nestor—a large-scale anthem for SATB chorus and organ. While mainly for concert use in its entirety, it would be useful to find some selections from this work excerpted for use during the Pentecost season in churches as well.

This AGO national convention did an outstanding job in making a variety of workshops and seminars available. The Washington, D.C. chapter is also to be commended in its presentation of both pre-convention and post-convention events. Of particular note was the stunning performance by Julie Vidrick Evans of all six organ trio sonatas by J. S. Bach. For most organists, the inclusion of one or two of these technical masterpieces is daunting, let alone ALL of them, performed in this instance with technical mastery. The seventeenth annual Bach Festival presented by Grace Episcopal Church brings fine performances of the works of Bach and other related composers to a steadily growing audience each summer after summer, under the direction of the church’s organist/choirmaster, Francine Maté. ■