The Diapason is pleased to partner with the Chicago and Fox Valley Chapters of the American Guild of Organists and the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the Organ Historical Society in presenting a Midwinter Pipe Organ Conclave, Sunday and Monday, January 18–19, 2015. The event will be held in La Grange, Illinois, a near suburb of Chicago. La Grange is conveniently located to Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International Airports, usually a twenty- to thirty-minute drive. La Grange is conveniently close to Interstate 294, with easy connections to Interstates 55, 57, 65, 80, 88, 90, 94, 290, and 355. There are several hotels less than three miles from the conference.
The conclave opens Sunday evening with a recital by David Schrader in First Presbyterian Church. Termed a “Chicago favorite,” by the Chicago Tribune, Schrader performs frequently not only on organ, but also harpsichord, piano, and fortepiano. In addition to solo performances, Schrader has made frequent appearances with the likes of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony. At First Presbyterian Church, he will perform on the 1962 Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1390, a three-manual, forty-rank organ from the period of Joseph Whiteford as tonal director.
Monday morning opens with a lecture by Stephen Schnurr at First Presbyterian Church. Editor-at-large for The Diapason and director of music for St. Paul Catholic Church of Valparaiso, Indiana, Schnurr will discuss interesting organs, past and present, of La Grange and nearby suburbs of Chicago.
From First Church, we will travel a short distance to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, where Jonathan Rudy will perform on Berghaus Organ Company Opus 215, finished in 2003. The exquisite building in the Italian Renaissance style was built to the designs of Chicago’s Joe W. McCarthy in 1930 and 1931. Originally home to a Geo. Kilgen & Son organ, the present 34-rank Berghaus organ has a commanding position in a free-standing case in the rear gallery. Rudy, the first prize and audience prize winner of the American Guild of Organists 2014 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP), is a doctoral student in organ and sacred music at Indiana University.
Returning to First Presbyterian for a catered luncheon, we will then hear a presentation by Phillip Kloeckner, lecturer in the department of music and associate university organist of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago. He will speak about organs in post-colonial South America. Many of these instruments were imported from builders such as Cavaillé-Coll, Tamburini, and Walcker. Kloeckner will also discuss the Italian immigrant to Peru, Innocente Foglia, apparently the only person to attempt to establish an organ building tradition in that country in that period. Foglia’s organs present a unique blend of European tonal traditions.
Karen Brunssen, co-chair of the department of music performance, Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University, Evanston, will then present “Tried, True, and Teachable Vocal Techniques.” Brunssen will focus on quick fixes that make the point, stick with the singer, and improve vocal and choral quality for those who have little time in rehearsal to stress vocal technique.
The final event will occur across the street in Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Scott Montgomery will present a recital on the church’s 1970 Casavant Frères, Limiteé Opus 3062, a three-manual, 63-rank organ from the late period of tonal director Lawrence Phelps. Montgomery has also performed for national conventions of the AGO and OHS, and, like Rudy, was first prize and audience prize winner of the (2006) AGO NYACOP. Director of music ministries and organist for Holy Cross Catholic Church, Champaign, Illinois, he has several compact disc recordings to his credit, as well.
Registration for the entire conference, including luncheon, is only $50. We are sure you will want to join us for this winter respite and refreshment! Visit midwinterconclave.org to register.
