Paul Jacobs appointed to Oregon Bach Festival

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

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

Bach lectures by Christoph Wolff

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

The Global Bach Community

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

Lectures—Innig, Hamilton, and Barone

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

Organ concerts—Hamilton, Disselhorst and Innig

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

Student recitals

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

Church music at the conference

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

A tribute to Robert Glasgow

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

125 years of music at Michigan
1880–2005

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

Marijim Thoene received a 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.

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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. ■

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.

The Diapason’s second annual “20 under 30” selections came from a field that included over 130 nominations, a response that exceeded the previous year’s. The nominees were evaluated based upon information provided in the nominations; we selected only from those who had been nominated. We looked for evidence of such things as career advancement, technical skills, and creativity and innovation; we considered a nominee’s awards and competition prizes, publications and compositions, and significant positions in the mix. Our selections were not limited merely to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves and about their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

Since we had to decline multiple nominees for each one we chose, selecting only 20 from a field of very worthy nominees was quite a challenge. We encourage you to participate in the “20 under 30” awards next year—a person must be nominated in order to be selected.

The Diapason’s inaugural “20 under 30” selections came from a field that included over 100 nominations, a response that surprised and delighted us. The nominees were evaluated based upon information provided in the nominations; we selected only from those who had been nominated. We looked for evidence of such things as career advancement, technical skills, and creativity and innovation; we considered a nominee’s awards and competition prizes, publications and compositions, and significant positions in the mix. Our selections were not limited merely to organists but reflect the breadth of our editorial scope, which includes the organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. Here we present the winners’ backgrounds and accomplishments, and then have them tell us something interesting about themselves, and about their achievements, goals, and aspirations.

Since we had to decline multiple nominees for each one we chose, selecting only 20 from a field of very worthy nominees was quite a challenge. We do urge you to participate in the “20 under 30” awards next year—a person must be nominated in order to be selected.