Paul Jacobs under new management

Paul Jacobs, chair of the organ department at the Juilliard School, is now under the full-time management of Colbert Artists Management in New York City (www.colbertartists.com), an agency closely affiliated with Juilliard and whose roster includes celebrated musicians such as the Juilliard String Quartet, soprano Dawn Upshaw, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, and the ensemble Tafelmusik.

Jacobs launched his concert career in 2000 under the guidance of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists and during that time performed well over 500 solo organ recitals and organ concerto performances throughout the United States. As of February 1, all future organ recital bookings should be made by contacting Charlotte Schroeder at 212/757-0782 or [email protected].

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AGO National Convention, Washington, D.C., July 5–8, 2010

Marijim Thoene, Francine Maté, Thomas Marshall

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.

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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 Class of 2015: 20 leaders under the age of 30

THE DIAPASON Staff
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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. 

Joe Balistreri, 28, a proud citizen of Detroit, Michigan, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance at the University of Michigan, studying with James Kibbie. His organ performances include an AGO convention, university conferences, and orchestral collaborations. 

Since 2011, Balistreri has been the director of music for the Archdiocese of Detroit, serving as a resource and community facilitator for parish musicians and clergy. He created an annual “Chant Bootcamp,” a down-to-earth crash course week that enables parish musicians to read, understand, and enjoy plainchant, and developed an annual marathon organ recital, showcasing parish organists from across Southeast Michigan in a whirlwind series of 25-minute recitals. The marathon also includes a fundraising competition, supporting the music ministries of each organist.

As Episcopal Music Director at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Balistreri co-directs the parish adult choir, directs the Archdiocesan Chorus, and leads the Cathedral Cultural Series (CCS), a non-profit concert series of organ and choral music, which features music for two organs at least annually, showcasing the cathedral’s 1925 Casavant and 2005 Austin organs.

In his spare time, Joe Balistreri enjoys cycling, cooking, surveying architecture, Detroit politics, and composing. He is particularly proud of starting a choral program at Detroit’s Loyola High School, a school serving at-risk inner-city youth. 

Interesting fact: Seven years ago, infamously scandalous Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick planted a maple tree in front of my house before he went away to prison.

Proudest achievement: I’m most proud of restoring the Archdiocesan Chorus of Detroit as a permanent resident ensemble for the archdiocese three years ago. In early March, the chorus received an invitation to sing for Epiphany Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with Pope Francis! Most importantly, the chorus has fostered a wonderful network of friendships and professional connections.

Goals and aspirations: I’m interested in making and promoting passionate, beautiful, spirit-lifting sacred music and have a strong interest in promoting the Gregorian propers as a transcendent pathway to God. I’d like to explore the relationship between centonization in the Gregorian repertoire (especially in graduals and alleluias) and newer African-American improvisatory idioms . . . possibilities exist for creative fusion of the two traditions in Catholic music programs. Finally, I’m very interested in developing a small choral ensemble/composer forum that focuses on early sacred music and new sacred writing.

Thomas Bowers, 26, received his bachelor’s degree in music and philosophy from Florida State University. While studying piano at FSU, he developed an interest in the harpsichord and organ and in instrument construction. In 2008, he took time away from school to complete an internship in harpsichord building at Zuckermann Harpsichords, where he focused on voicing and regulation, completing the construction of his first instrument, a copy of an Italian harpsichord originally built in 1665, in 2009.

Bowers earned a master’s degree in harpsichord performance from the Longy School of Music, where he studied with Avi Stein and participated in masterclasses with Vivian Montgomery, Martin Pearlman, David Schemer, and others. He currently serves as organist and choir director for St. Chrysostom’s Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. With artist Kendyll Hillegas, he organizes the Hive Gallery at St. Chrysostom’s, a seasonal art opening and early music concert to promote the work of young artists and musicians in the Boston area.

Thomas Bowers performs regularly in Boston as a chamber musician and soloist and works as a technician for the Harpsichord Clearing House; a founding member of the Baroque ensemble Incendium Novum, he seeks to bring early music repertoire to new audiences.

Interesting fact: I am an avid rock climber. I find this a compelling sport because it challenges both the physical and problem-solving abilities of the climber.

Proudest achievement: My greatest achievement thus far is convincing my wife, Kellie, to marry me!

Goals and aspirations: I have been working to build a career that combines performance, teaching, and instrument work. I plan to pursue a doctorate, and am interested in conducting research on the historical building practices of harpsichord and organ makers.

Joey Brink, 26, a carillonneur and engineer, began carillon studies at Yale University in 2007 with Ellen Dickinson, receiving a B.S. in mechanical engineering with a thesis on the design of realistic-touch practice carillon keyboards. He received a Belgian-American Educational Foundation (BAEF) fellowship to study with Eddy Marien, Koen Cosaert, and Geert D’hollander at the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, where he graduated with “greatest distinction” in June 2012. Brink went on to win first prize and audience prize at the 7th International Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition in Mechelen in 2014.

Brink received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Utah in collaboration with NASA in December 2014. Since January 2015, he has been studying carillon performance and composition with Geert D’hollander at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, as a Bok Tower Carillon Fellow. Brink currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, carillonneur Vera Brink. The Brinks spend much of their free time immersed in the nearby Wasatch Mountains hiking, mountain biking, camping, and skiing.

An active member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and the World Carillon Federation, Joey Brink will play more than 30 carillon concerts in seven countries in 2015; he also composes for carillon. As a mechanical engineer, he has presented research on carillons at a 2012 symposium. 

Interesting fact: Each fall I coach a FIRST Lego League team of boys that build Lego robots and compete in Lego tournaments.

Proudest achievement: I am most proud of receiving first prize at the 7th International Queen Fabiola Competition for Carillon Performance in Mechelen, Belgium. The competition hosts the highest-level upcoming carillonneurs, and in June 2014 I became the first North American to ever take the first prize.

Goals and aspirations: I aspire to continue performing worldwide on the carillon and compose for the instrument. I hope to devote much of my career to teaching carillon, as well as apply my engineering background to influence the design of future carillons and practice carillons.

Nicholas Capozzoli, 22, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a fourth-year student at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying organ with James David Christie and harpsichord with Webb Wiggins. A first-place winner in several competitions, most recently the 2013 Region III American Guild of Organists/Quimby Competition, he has performed in venues including St. Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh; St. Patrick Catholic Church, Washington, D.C.; Church of the Covenant, Cleveland; Old South Church, Boston; and the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France. Capozzoli presented recitals at the 2013 National Association of Pastoral Musicians Convention in Washington, the 2014 AGO National Convention as a “Rising Star,” and at the 2014 Piccolo Spoleto Festival “L’Organo Series” in Charleston, South Carolina. He has served as a sacred music intern at New York City’s Brick Presbyterian Church and Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville, Illinois, working under the direction of Keith Tóth and Matthew Sprinkle, respectively. He currently serves as organist at Bethesda-on-the-Bay Lutheran Church in Bay Village, Ohio. Nicholas Capozzoli is also an active solo harpsichordist and continuo player, and in his fifth year at Oberlin, he will pursue a master of music degree in historical performance.

Proudest achievement: Presenting a “Rising Star” recital at the 2014 AGO Convention in Boston for a full capacity audience of organists.

Career goals: In addition to working in the field of church music, I hope to have an active performance career in both organ and harpsichord—including continuo, working with many instrumental early music ensembles.

An interesting fact: When I was little, I really wanted to be either a priest or a pirate . . . but who knows, maybe one of those career paths can still happen!

Katelyn Emerson, 23, presents concerts and masterclasses throughout the United States on interpretation, repertoire, and sacred music. She has received top prizes in such organ competitions as the 2011 Region 5 AGO/Quimby Regional Competition, the Fifth International Organ Competition “Pierre de Manchicourt” in Béthune and Saint-Omer, France, and the VIII Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition in Kaliningrad, Russia, and will make her Russian and French concert debuts in the 2015–16 season. 

Emerson graduates with high distinction this May from Oberlin College and Conservatory with double bachelor’s degrees in organ performance and French as well as minors in historical performance and music history. Her teachers have included James David Christie, Olivier Latry, Marie-Louise Langlais, Ray Cornils, and Abbey Hallberg-Siegfried. She has been sacred music intern at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City and the Church of the Advent in Boston. The recipient of a J. William Fulbright Study/Research Grant, she will study at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional in Toulouse, France in 2015–16 with Michel Bouvard, Jan Willem Jansen, and Yasuko Uyama-Bouvard. For more information, visit www.katelynemerson.com.

Interesting fact: A challenge I’ve had to work with is my rather small hands and short stature. Playing Franck, I constantly thumb between manuals in order to get the perfect legato. When competing and performing, I frequently struggle to reach the pedals or top manuals. While competing on the beautiful 1855 Cavaillé-Coll organ in Saint-Omer, France, I remember having to write “scoot back” in several places in my score so I would not slide forward off the bench while playing Vierne’s Impromptu on the highest manual!

Proudest achievement: One of my fondest achievements was playing the 1791 François-Henri Clicquot organ in Poitiers. Truly, French Classical music, which had never sounded terribly fascinating to me before, came to life when reunited with this instrument.

Goals and aspirations: I have always dreamed of living abroad and experiencing diverse cultures through immersion. It is through the small moments of enjoying an espresso in a corner cafe while watching passersby that I feel the true spirit of an unfamiliar surrounding. I most appreciate forging connections with people and this will comprise a large part of my future career, as I love teaching and communicating with others, be it on the subjects of church music, performance, and musicology, or even French literature, psychology, and philosophy.

Jillian Gardner, 22, is working towards her bachelor of music degree in organ at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying organ with James David Christie, as well as receiving instruction from Jack Mitchener and Marie-Louise Langlais. In Oberlin, Ohio, she serves as organist for Grace Lutheran Church.

Gardner began her study of organ at age fourteen with Stephen Best of Utica, New York. As part of her studies at Oberlin, she was able to tour the magnificent instruments in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Versailles, and Paris, France. She won the first place award in the Buffalo, New York, AGO/Quimby chapter-level competition in 2013, and first place in the 2014 Tuesday Music Club Association Scholarship competition in Akron, Ohio.

Jillian Gardner recently lived in New York City for a month, working as an organ scholar at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, gaining experience in choral accompaniment and direction, improvisation, and general service playing. She has presented recitals in such venues as Grace Episcopal Church, Utica, St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, and the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford, Connecticut, and at the 2014 Organ Historical Society Convention in Syracuse, New York. She looks forward to a 2016 UK concert tour. 

Interesting fact: Jillian’s dress sense reflects her colorful personality—her organ shoes are bright pink. Outside of the organ loft, Jillian enjoys daily sessions in the gym, and arts and crafts. 

Proudest achievement: Jillian originates from Lee Center, New York, population 2,500. She is proudest of getting to where she is today purely by hard work and a determination to soak up knowledge from every possible source, while still remaining a well-rounded person outside of the organ world. Through all of this, she has been encouraged by an extremely supportive family of non-musicians. 

Goals and aspirations: My goal as a performer is to make the organ accessible to people without compromising musical standards or watering down programs. I am passionate about presenting interesting concerts that are performed musically to take away the bad name the organ has inherited as being dull and mechanical, in the hope of increasing audiences and attracting younger listeners.

In my career, I would like to balance my time between a good church position and performing as a freelance recitalist. I next wish to develop my experience in choral accompaniment, which I hope my move to Baylor University will enable.

Christopher Houlihan, 27, has performed in major cities across North America and Europe, as well as at numerous conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. In 2014, he made his Disney Hall debut, performing with the principal brass of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the 2015–16 season will see his debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the release of a new all-Bach organ CD. Houlihan’s “Vierne2012” tour—marathon performances of Louis Vierne’s six organ symphonies—attracted international attention and critical acclaim.

Houlihan studied with Paul Jacobs (Juilliard), John Rose (Trinity College), and Jean-Baptiste Robin (Versailles Conservatoire). His recordings on the Towerhill label include music of Duruflé, Alain, Widor, and Vierne (Symphony No. 2). He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is artist-in-residence at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. More information can be found at christopherhoulihan.com.

An interesting fact: My biggest passion outside of music is for cooking, and in my free time I’m usually busy preparing for a dinner party. My Instagram feed  is filled with a unique combination of organs and food
(@houliorganist).

Proudest achievement: I’m especially proud of my “Vierne2012” project. My goal in organizing the marathon tour was to bring some attention to the Vierne symphonies, which are obviously some of the most important compositions in the organ repertoire but are virtually unknown beyond the organ world, and even unfamiliar to some organists. It was an exhausting summer, but ultimately incredibly satisfying to see audiences and critics respond so positively to Vierne’s music.

Career aspirations and goals: I want to continue to perform, and hope to find ways to broaden the organ’s position in the world of classical music.

Simon Thomas Jacobs, 28, read music as organ scholar at Clare College, University of Cambridge. Following graduation, he moved to the United States to take up the post of associate director of music at Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut, and in 2011 became associate organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis. He was awarded a full scholarship to the artist diploma program at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with James David Christie and was a teaching assistant for the organ department.

In 2013, Jacobs won first prize and audience prize at the St. Albans International Organ Competition, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary that same year. Under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, Jacobs has performed at venues throughout the United States and this summer will return to Europe to perform concerts in the UK and France. He will also record his debut CD on the new Richards, Fowkes and Co. instrument (Opus 18) at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London—one of only a handful of American-built organs in England, and the first by an American builder in London. His website is www.simonthomasjacobs.com.

Interesting fact: During my final semester at university I spent my Saturday mornings learning to ride a motorcycle. I passed my test and am licensed to ride any motorcycle in the UK.

Proudest achievement: Winning St. Albans. The city is not far from where I grew up, and so I was always familiar with the magnificent cathedral and the summer organ festival, not to mention the many organists I admire who were previous laureates. It had always been an ambition of mine to enter the competition but I could never have imagined that I’d actually win!

Goals and aspirations: My work as a church musician is incredibly important to me, and having taken a year to focus on my playing and work as a soloist, I would now like to lead my own music program in a large parish. As a parish musician, a great deal of one’s work is as a teacher, and this too is something I wish to build on, as well as continuing to promote the organ and its music through concerts and recordings.

Dexter Kennedy, 24, won the Grand Prix d’Interprétation at the 24th Concours International d’Orgue de Chartres. Kennedy has also won other prizes and awards, including first prize in the 2009 AGO region V Quimby competition. He is instructor of organ and harpsichord at the College of Wooster. As a result of winning the Grand Prix de Chartres, he will perform over 30 concerts in Europe, including stops in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Russia, and Iceland. He is also the assistant organist at Christ Church (Episcopal), Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where he serves as principal organist for all choral services and concerts. This summer he will perform at two regional AGO conventions and in Europe.

Kennedy has presented recitals at such venues as Washington National Cathedral, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York City, and the University of Calgary. He holds a master’s degree from the Yale University School of Music and is currently pursuing an artist diploma at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music under the guidance of James David Christie. Additional studies have been with Martin Jean, Olivier Latry, and Jeffrey Brillhart (improvisation). More information can be found at his website, www.dexterkennedy.com.

Interesting fact: I enjoy golfing and am an avid fan of the professional sports teams in Detroit, particularly the Detroit Tigers.

Proudest achievement: Being the first American organist to win the Grand Prix de Chartres since 1996. This competition has a great history of American winners during its early years in the 1970s that have gone on to have remarkably successful careers, and I hope that it is the start of similar success in my own career. It is such an honor to be distinguished on an international scale of over 60 organists from 20 different countries. I have been invited to play recitals in great venues throughout Europe, many in countries that I would never have dreamed of visiting. I’m particularly excited to visit Reykjavik, Iceland, this summer!

Goals and aspirations: I hope to have a diverse career consisting of university teaching and as much solo performing as possible. I also love high-caliber church music, and if the opportunity to serve at one of the country’s elite church programs was presented to me, I could be very happy in such a scenario.

Colin Knapp, 23, a native of Battle Creek, Michigan, is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where he studied organ performance, music theory, and performing arts management. His primary organ teachers have been Jacqueline Stilger in Battle Creek, Thomas Bara at Interlochen Arts Academy, and James Kibbie at the University of Michigan. Currently serving as director of music and organist at First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti, he is also director of the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival, staff coordinator for the University of Michigan’s Annual Conference on Organ Music, and is co-sub dean of the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Knapp recently moved to the downtown Detroit riverfront and is enjoying all that the city has to offer.

As director of the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival, he has established himself in arts management, audience development, fund raising, and community engagement. For the festival, he has created theme programs such as for St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween, and has presented artists such as Daniel Roth and Vincent Dubois. The sponsorships and partnerships with other organizations that he has developed have underwritten the total costs of the series and generated a surplus, so that all the festival’s concerts will remain free of charge.

Interesting fact: I love the art of collaboration. For part of my senior recital, I presented Jean Langlais’ Suite Médiévale with modern dance, choreographed by Maddy Rager. 

Proudest achievement: I am most proud of my work as director of the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival. Through strategic fundraising, innovative programming, and partnering with area organizations such as the Ann Arbor AGO chapter and the organ department at the University of Michigan, the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival has become one of the most successful and accessible free organ series in Michigan. 

Goals and aspirations: I plan to continue my work in both church music and arts administration to share my passion and commitment to classical music, especially organ and sacred music, with the community. I plan to return to graduate school to study business and hope to one day become executive director of a large arts organization.

Nathan Laube, 26, assistant professor of organ at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, has performed on many historic European instruments, at such festivals as the Smarano Organ Academy and Torino Festival Organistico Internazionale di S. Rita (Italy); Naumburg Orgelsommer, 300th Anniversary Festival of the Silbermann organ in Freiberg Cathedral, and Dresden Music Festival (Germany); Orléans (France), and Lahti and Lapua (Finland) and at many UK cathedrals, including York, Canterbury, Exeter, Ely, Hereford, Truro, Southwark, and Southwell. Recent performances include such major venues as Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Dortmund Konzerthaus, Walt Disney Concert Hall (CA), Verizon Hall (PA), and the Sejong Center, Seoul (Korea).

A featured performer at numerous conventions of the OHS and AGO, Laube has recorded two new CDs: Stephen Paulus’s Grand Concerto with the Nashville Symphony under Giancarlo Guerrero (NAXOS) and a solo recording made at the Stadtkirche in Nagold, Germany (Ambiente). 

Nathan Laube earned a bachelor of music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying organ with Alan Morrison and piano with Susan Starr, and a master’s degree in organ from the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany, studying with Ludger Lohmann. A William Fulbright scholar, Laube studied with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse where he earned Prix de Spécialisé. From 2011–13, he served as artist-in-residence at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France. 

Interesting fact: I was born with a sixth finger on my right hand, one that was removed just shortly before I turned one year old. It was not, however, fully formed, but it certainly invites some wishful thinking of “what if?!” With relatively small hands (I can only reach a minor tenth on a good day with my right hand), each moment spent with Franck’s Prière reminds me of this long-lost digit!

Proudest achievement: I have tried to “get inside” of as many of the great traditions of instruments and repertoire-playing as possible, so as to feel equally “at home” at any instrument (be it Schnitger, Skinner, Cavaillé-Coll, or Willis), and to learn the “dialect” of each. Having started this in Philadelphia, with its early 20th-century American-Symphonic pipe organs, the next step was to go to France and Germany and surrounding countries. After much immersion in these sounds and sensations, aided by some of the great pedagogues of our time, I feel that I trust myself to get the best out of any instrument by bringing together amassed knowledge of instrument building and first-hand experience on many different historic instruments. I feel particularly blessed to work at a place like Eastman, where these questions of sound, style, and related technique are always at the front of the mind, whether we are sitting at an 18th-century Italian organ or a 1920s Skinner! 

Goals and aspirations: I had always aspired to become a church musician, and I do miss this immensely in my musical life: accompanying psalms, playing hymns, working out elaborate oratorio reductions, etc. I also look forward to increasing my teaching—a part of my musical life that brings me immense joy and ever-broader perspective. Performing and traveling is one thing, but those wonderful “epiphany moments” that occur in lessons (or in an ecstatic text message from a student who has finally “gotten it!”), are really what it’s all about!

Katie Minion, 24, won the Poister Competition in 2012 and received a Jacobs Scholar award (the highest honor given to an undergraduate in the school of music from Indiana University) in 2011. Winner of the Fox Valley AGO RCYO competition in 2013, the Indianapolis AGO Chapter RCYO in 2011, and second in the Region V competition in 2013, she has performed on Chicago classical radio station WFMT’s program, Introductions, and received the Music Institute of Chicago’s highest level certificate in organ playing, with honors, in 2010. She has been presented in recital at Central Synagogue in New York City, and at Loyola University’s Madonna Della Strada Chapel, Chicago.  Minion recently received a Fulbright research grant through the Marillonet Foundation to study organ in Toulouse in 2016 with Michel Bouvard. 

Interesting fact: I joined the fencing club at IU and competed nationally on the women’s épée team.

Proudest achievement: Winning the Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition during my first year as an undergraduate at Indiana University.

Goals and aspirations: I want to combine research and performance interests as I work towards earning a master’s and a doctorate in organ performance. After spending more time studying in both Europe and in the United States, I’m planning on a career that combines teaching and performing.

Tom Mueller, 29, is assistant professor of church music and university organist at Concordia University in Irvine, California, where he teaches organ, jazz, and composition. Mueller also serves as assistant organist at St. James’ Church in Los Angeles, where he accompanies the Choir of St. James’ under the direction of James Buonemani. In 2014, Mueller won first place in the Schoenstein Competition in Hymn-Playing, held in conjunction with the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mueller maintains an active performance schedule. In 2010, he performed the complete organ works of J. S. Bach in his native state of Maine. An avid composer, he has received numerous commissions for new liturgical works. He is also an accomplished guitarist and toured the country as a member of The Muellers, a family bluegrass band.

He has presented workshops, masterclasses, and lectures for numerous organizations, including several chapters of the American Guild of Organists, and has served as a faculty member for the AGO’s Pipe Organ Encounters program.

Mueller holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (organ), and the University of Maine at Augusta (jazz composition), and earned the DMA degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Higgs. His former teachers include Craig Cramer and Alan Wingard.

Interesting fact: I was born into a family of traditional bluegrass musicians and learned several stringed instruments by ear. This is a great experience—everyone should try it!

Proudest achievement: As a young teacher, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to train a new generation of organists and church musicians. I am grateful to all of the fine teachers and musicians who have influenced me over the years, and I strive to be a good musical role model for my own students.

Career aspirations and goals: I love everything that I do—teaching and playing organ, playing jazz, composing, and doing research—and I hope that I can keep doing it all for as long as I possibly can.

Raymond Nagem, 28, is associate organist at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York, and a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at the Juilliard School, where he is a student of Paul Jacobs. Winner of the AGO/Quimby Competition in 2007, he gave a Rising Star recital at the 2008 AGO national convention in Minneapolis. His first CD, Divine Splendor (2014, Pro Organo), includes his own transcription of excerpts from Prokofiev’s Music for Children. At St. John the Divine, he has primary responsibility for service playing, and works regularly with the cathedral’s several choral ensembles. He teaches courses in organ literature at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music.

A native of Medford, Massachusetts, Nagem began organ lessons with John Dunn while attending the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School. As the recipient of the first American Friends of Eton College Scholarship, he spent a year studying music in England with Alastair Sampson. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, where he studied with Thomas Murray, and a master of music degree from Juilliard. He has served as assistant organist at the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, Massachusetts, organ scholar at Trinity Church, Southport, Connecticut, and organ scholar at Christ Church, New Haven. At St. John the Divine, Nagem presented recitals devoted to works of Olivier Messiaen. 

Interesting fact: My last name (from the Lebanese side of my family) is Arabic for “star.”

Proudest achievement: Performing Messiaen’s La Nativité this past fall was a highlight, as was recording a CD at St. John the Divine in 2013, but music doesn’t let you stand still—it pushes you to go further. That’s what’s exciting about it!

Career aspirations and goals: My first reaction is: to have a job in 20 years! I say that with a laugh, but it needs to be said, since artists and academics can’t necessarily make a living wage in our society, and organists our age know that we can’t take the survival of the instrument for granted. Selfish considerations aside, I’d like to increase the number of people who appreciate the organ, to show that the instrument and its repertoire are capable of real excellence in both service and recital, and to teach what I’ve learned to another generation after me.

Stephen Price, 27, is a native of Buffalo, New York, where he was appointed organ scholar at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral during his senior year of high school. He graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a bachelor of music degree in organ performance in 2009, after which he received a Fulbright grant to France and studied organ at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse where he earned the Diplôme d’Études Musicales, in addition to the Prix François Vidal from the city of Toulouse. 

In 2012, Stephen Price earned a master of music degree in organ performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; he is currently enrolled in the DMA program, in the studio of Janette Fishell. He has also studied with Andrew Scanlon, Stephen Roberts, Michel Bouvard, and Jan Willem Jansen. Price was awarded the Robert Fuchs Prize in the Franz Schmidt 4th International Organ Competition (Austria) and advanced to the final round in the André Marchal 14th International Organ Competition (France). He will serve as a faculty member at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music’s 2015 Sacred Music Intensive Workshop. 

Interesting fact: In my spare time, I assist Great Dane owners with new litters and puppy sales. 

Proudest achievement: My proudest achievement is being awarded a Fulbright Grant.

Career aspirations and goals: I aspire to become an active church musician, teacher, and performer.

Andrew Schaeffer, 26, a Chicago native, holds degrees from St. Olaf College and Yale University where he studied with John Ferguson and Thomas Murray, respectively. He is currently working on a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at the University of Oklahoma, studying with John Schwandt. In addition to his academic studies, Schaeffer is director of music at the 2,300-member First United Methodist Church of Edmond, Oklahoma, where he conducts their 40-voice choir, serves as principal organist, and plans three liturgies each Sunday. Active as a recitalist and hymn festival leader, he has presented programs throughout the United States and appeared as an accompanist for the National Lutheran Choir. In 2011 he was presented with the “Officium ad Ducere” (Leadership By Service) Alumnus of the Year award from his alma mater, Luther North College Prep in Chicago, for his contributions to Lutheran church music.

Proudest achievement: A 2014 holiday Christmas CD recorded on the 1926 Casavant (Opus 1130) at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, which included a complete performance of Fred Hohman’s transcription of The Nutcracker.

Interesting fact: I’m an avid collector of all things Alfred Hitchcock.

Career goals and aspirations: Many of us in this profession lament the apparent decline of the importance of the pipe organ, particularly within religious contexts. While it is important to educate people on the great body of literature the organ affords and its complex and beautiful construction, I don’t think we can underestimate the power of renewed congregational song in raising awareness of the need for pipe organs.

Therefore, while I hope to maintain an active career as a performer, my primary musical passion lies in promoting and engaging people in congregational song. Following in the footsteps of two of my mentors, Paul Manz and John Ferguson, I aim to continue to develop and promote hymn festivals around the country. I also desire to be involved in developing resources for congregational song at the denominational level, all while serving as a full-time church musician.

Benjamin Straley, 29, is organist and associate director of music at Washington National Cathedral. He previously served as organ scholar at Trinity Church (Episcopal), New Haven, Connecticut, and as director of music for the Episcopal Church at Yale. After completing his undergraduate studies with Marilyn Keiser at Indiana University, he entered the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in 2008, where he studied with Martin Jean and Jeffrey Brillhart. In 2010, he became one of the few Americans in the history of the Haarlem Organ Festival invited to compete in its world-renowned contest in improvisation. He holds master’s degrees in music and divinity from Yale, as well as a certificate in Anglican studies from Berkeley Divinity School, and is now a Postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church.

Interesting fact: I really enjoy cooking, and am an avid chef and baker at home—in fact, the cathedral music staff have grown quite fond of my cranberry orange scones.

What I am most proud of achieving: I suppose I hope it is yet to come! But I will say that when the Cathedral Choristers have a particularly good Evensong, when perhaps the path there in rehearsals was a bit rocky (particularly for the younger boy choristers), then I am very proud. And any time I hear the fervor of hymn singing intensify in tandem with what I’m doing at the console, there is a deep sense of gratification.

Career aspirations and goals: I hope that I can contribute to the field of church music, and to the church in general, in some small but lasting way. When I think about what Gerre Hancock meant for church music in America, or what Erik Routley did for hymnody, I am awed by the legacy left to us, and yet am keenly aware that it is imperative that we carry on that work into the future.

Andrew Szymanski, 26, a Chicago native with a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, works in organ restoration. His first project was the restoration of a Kimball organ he rescued from a condemned church building, which he installed in his home. He was an E. Power Biggs Fellow for the 2011 convention of the Organ Historical Society, which afforded him exposure to a number of historic instruments of various vintages and builders in the Washington, D.C., area.

Szymanski’s interest in the historic organ has led to fruitful work throughout the Chicago area. He has rediscovered several long-silent Kimball organs (built in Chicago), and has dedicated much of his time bringing them back to life. Several of these projects have won the praise of metropolitan architectural groups.

As a co-founder of City Organ Works, LLC (website: CityOrganWorks.com), he has been a leader in projects of ongoing restoration of some of the region’s notable organs, including the four-manual Wiener Bros. organ at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Techny, Illinois, featured at the 2012 OHS Convention, and a 1924 Skinner Organ Company four-manual instrument at United Church of Hyde Park. Szymanski’s second organ purchase, a Kimball tubular-pneumatic player organ, will be brought to the Chicago region this spring, likely a one-of-a kind extant instrument.

Interesting fact: For my twentieth birthday, I purchased my first pipe organ, a historic 1938 W. W. Kimball of six ranks. For my twenty-first birthday, I bought my first 1928 Ford Model A.

Proudest achievement: Being able to travel, repair, and restore so many historic organs that were previously unplayable. Giving derelict organs a new life is something that not many people are willing to put the effort into, yet I find to be incredibly rewarding.

Aspirations and goals: To continue to make my mark in the organ world and inspire other young people to pursue their passion as their career.

Halden Toy, 21, organist and harpsichordist, has been playing the organ since age 10. He has studied with Norma Aamodt-Nelson and Douglas Cleveland. In 2009 he took first place at the American Guild of Organists Region VIII competition, and was featured in 2010 as a “Rising Star” at the American Guild of Organists National Convention in Washington, D.C. In 2014 he was awarded the Nona C. Hunter music scholarship. Currently studying organ performance at BYU-Idaho with Daniel Kerr, Toy performs frequently as an accompanist on both organ and harpsichord. Recently, he was one of eight finalists in the Fifth International Organ Competition Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, which took place at St. Bavo, Haarlem, and in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam. Halden Toy currently serves as organist of First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls. His website is haldentoy.com.

Interesting fact: I serve as a moderator for an online forum specializing in small Isuzu diesels and enjoy working on them in my spare time.

Proudest achievement: Making it to the final round of the Sweelinck competition this last fall. 

Aspirations and goals: I hope to become a leading expert in the performance of Dieterich Buxtehude’s music: to record the complete keyboard, choral, and chamber works utilizing authentic performance practices in all aspects from the style of playing to using period instruments including the use of the main organ in the church with the orchestra and choir. I plan to get a master’s degree in historic performance and a doctorate in organ performance.

Nicholas Wallace, 28, holds a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance graduating magna cum laude from the University of Southern Maine School of Music. He is currently an organ student of Harold Stover. While in college, he worked with C. B. Fisk, Inc., in Gloucester, Massachusetts, both in the shop and on the road for the installation of their Opus 130 in Costa Mesa, California.

After graduating from college, Wallace joined his father’s pipe organ building and restoration company, David E. Wallace & Co., LLC, full time. He assumed more responsibilities during the restoration and installation of the three-manual 1854 E. & G. G. Hook organ at the Church of Our Lady and St. Rochus in Boom, Belgium. He completed the major work on the three-manual 1893 Hook & Hastings organ for the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Nicholas Wallace’s work also includes the construction of new mechanical-action pipe organs for St. Paul’s Anglican Parish in Brockton, Massachusetts, and for Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He recently designed and built a traditional-style portable organ that was first displayed at the 2014 AGO convention in Boston. Wallace is a member of the American Institute of Organbuilders and the International Society of Organbuilders.

Interesting fact: I enjoy camping, backpacking, and fly fishing in some of the more remote areas of Maine and around the world. I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Australia to go hiking and backpacking in some of the national parks in Tasmania while visiting some friends. 

Proudest achievement: My favorite achievement is the restoration and installation of the 1854 E. & G. G. Hook organ in Boom, Belgium. It was a very thorough and historically sensitive restoration that, even despite the extreme distance of the relocation, went very well. The organ now serves as a shining example of 19th-century American organbuilding in Europe.

Career aspirations and goals: I plan to continue to build and restore tracker organs to the best of my ability with a focus on historically informed techniques. In my experience with older organs, I have noticed that they were most often built with a great deal of care and with excellent materials. This enduring quality of the finest old organs is one of the aspects that I hope to emulate. By studying the techniques used in older organs, I hope provide versatile new instruments and thoughtfully restored vintage instruments, as well.

 

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