Skip to main content

Primary tabs

Edit Events Frederick Swann - Kotzschmar Organ Orgelfest16

Event Date
Leave blank to use trimmed value of full text as the summary.

Configure the meta tags below.

Use tokens to avoid redundant meta data and search engine penalization. For example, a 'keyword' value of "example" will be shown on all content using this configuration, whereas using the [node:field_keywords] automatically inserts the "keywords" values from the current entity (node, term, etc).

Browse available tokens.
Basic tags Simple meta tags.
The text to display in the title bar of a visitor's web browser when they view this page. This meta tag may also be used as the title of the page when a visitor bookmarks or favorites this page, or as the page title in a search engine result. It is common to append '[site:name]' to the end of this, so the site's name is automatically added. It is recommended that the title is no greater than 55 - 65 characters long, including spaces.
A brief and concise summary of the page's content that is a maximum of 160 characters in length. The description meta tag may be used by search engines to display a snippet about the page in search results.
A brief and concise summary of the page's content, preferably 150 characters or less. Where as the description meta tag may be used by search engines to display a snippet about the page in search results, the abstract tag may be used to archive a summary about the page. This meta tag is no longer supported by major search engines.
A comma-separated list of keywords about the page. This meta tag is no longer supported by most search engines.
Advanced Meta tags that might not be needed by many sites.
A location's two-letter international country code, with an optional two-letter region, e.g. 'US-NH' for New Hampshire in the USA.
A location's formal name.
Geo-spatial information in 'latitude, longitude' format, e.g. '50.167958, -97.133185'; see Wikipedia for details.
Geo-spatial information in 'latitude; longitude' format, e.g. '50.167958; -97.133185'; see Wikipedia for details.
Robots
Provides search engines with specific directions for what to do when this page is indexed.
Use a number character as a textual snippet for this search result. "0" equals "nosnippet". "-1" will let the search engine decide the most effective length.
Use a maximum of number seconds as a video snippet for videos on this page in search results. "0" will use a static a image. "-1" means there is no limit.
Set the maximum size of an image preview for this page in a search results.
Do not show this page in search results after the specified date
A link to the preferred page location or URL of the content of this page, to help eliminate duplicate content penalties from search engines.
Used for paginated content by providing URL with rel='prev' link.
Used for paginated content by providing URL with rel='next' link.
An image associated with this page, for use as a thumbnail in social networks and other services. This will be able to extract the URL from an image field if the field is configured properly.
Define the author of a page.
Used to indicate the URL that broke the story, and can link to either an internal URL or an external source. If the full URL is not known it is acceptable to use a partial URL or just the domain name.
Describes the name and version number of the software or publishing tool used to create the page.
The number of seconds to wait before refreshing the page. May also force redirect to another page using the format '5; url=https://example.com/', which would be triggered after five seconds.
Indicate to search engines and other page scrapers whether or not links should be followed. See the W3C specifications for further details. Note: this serves the same purpose as the HTTP header by the same name.
Details about intellectual property, such as copyright or trademarks; does not automatically protect the site's content or intellectual property.
This meta tag communicates with Google. There are currently two directives supported: 'nositelinkssearchbox' to not to show the sitelinks search box, and 'notranslate' to ask Google not to offer a translation of the page. Both options may be added, just separate them with a comma. See meta tags that Google understands for further details.
Used to rate content for audience appropriateness. This tag has little known influence on search engine rankings, but can be used by browsers, browser extensions, and apps. The most common options are general, mature, restricted, 14 years, safe for kids. If you follow the RTA Documentation you should enter RTA-5042-1996-1400-1577-RTA
Tell search engines when to index the page again. Very few search engines support this tag, it is more useful to use an XML Sitemap file.
Used to control whether a browser caches a specific page locally. Not commonly used. Should be used in conjunction with the Pragma meta tag.
Control when the browser's internal cache of the current page should expire. The date must to be an RFC-1123-compliant date string that is represented in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), e.g. 'Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:12:56 GMT'. Set to '0' to stop the page being cached entirely.
Used to control whether a browser caches a specific page locally. Not commonly used. Should be used in conjunction with the Cache-Control meta tag.
These Open Graph meta tags are for describing products.

The Facebook Sharing Debugger lets you preview how your content will look when it's shared to Facebook and debug any issues with your Open Graph tags.
The ID of the product as provided by the retailer.
The condition of the product.
The price amount of the product.
The availability of the product.
The price currency of the product.
Open Graph The Open Graph meta tags are used to control how Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social networking sites interpret the site's content.

The Facebook Sharing Debugger lets you preview how your content will look when it's shared to Facebook and debug any issues with your Open Graph tags.
The word that appears before the content's title in a sentence. The default ignores this value, the 'Automatic' value should be sufficient if this is actually needed.
A human-readable name for the site, e.g., IMDb.
The type of the content, e.g., movie.
Preferred page location or URL to help eliminate duplicate content for search engines, e.g., https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117500/.
The title of the content, e.g., The Rock.
A one to two sentence description of the content.
The URL of an image which should represent the content. The image must be at least 200 x 200 pixels in size; 600 x 316 pixels is a recommended minimum size, and for best results use an image least 1200 x 630 pixels in size. Supports PNG, JPEG and GIF formats. Should not be used if og:image:url is used. Note: if multiple images are added many services (e.g. Facebook) will default to the largest image, not specifically the first one. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically. This will be able to extract the URL from an image field if the field is configured properly.
The URL of an video which should represent the content. For best results use a source that is at least 1200 x 630 pixels in size, but at least 600 x 316 pixels is a recommended minimum. Object types supported include video.episode, video.movie, video.other, and video.tv_show. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
A alternative version of og:image and has exactly the same requirements; only one needs to be used. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically. This will be able to extract the URL from an image field if the field is configured properly.
The secure URL (HTTPS) of an video which should represent the content. Any URLs which start with "http://" will be converted to "https://".
The secure URL (HTTPS) of an image which should represent the content. The image must be at least 200 x 200 pixels in size; 600 x 316 pixels is a recommended minimum size, and for best results use an image least 1200 x 630 pixels in size. Supports PNG, JPEG and GIF formats. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically. This will be able to extract the URL from an image field if the field is configured properly. Any URLs which start with "http://" will be converted to "https://".
The type of video referenced above. Should be either video.episode, video.movie, video.other, and video.tv_show. Note: there should be one value for each video, and having more than there are videos may cause problems.
The type of image referenced above. Should be either 'image/gif' for a GIF image, 'image/jpeg' for a JPG/JPEG image, or 'image/png' for a PNG image. Note: there should be one value for each image, and having more than there are images may cause problems.
The width of the above image(s). Note: if both the unsecured and secured images are provided, they should both be the same size.
The height of the above video(s). Note: if both the unsecured and secured videos are provided, they should both be the same size.
The height of the above image(s). Note: if both the unsecured and secured images are provided, they should both be the same size.
The height of the above video(s). Note: if both the unsecured and secured videos are provided, they should both be the same size.
The length of the video in seconds
A description of what is in the image, not a caption. If the page specifies an og:image it should specify og:image:alt.
The date this content was last modified, with an optional time value. Needs to be in ISO 8601 format. Can be the same as the 'Article modification date' tag.
URLs to related content Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
The locale these tags are marked up in, must be in the format language_TERRITORY. Default is 'en_US'.
Other locales this content is available in, must be in the format language_TERRITORY, e.g. 'fr_FR'. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
Links an article to a publisher's Facebook page.
The primary section of this website the content belongs to.
The date this content was last modified, with an optional time value. Needs to be in ISO 8601 format.
The date this content will expire, with an optional time value. Needs to be in ISO 8601 format.
Links a book to an author's Facebook profile, should be either URLs to the author's profile page or their Facebook profile IDs. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
The Book's ISBN
The date the book was released.
Appropriate keywords for this content. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
The URL to an audio file that complements this object.
The secure URL to an audio file that complements this object. All 'http://' URLs will automatically be converted to 'https://'. Any URLs which start with "http://" will be converted to "https://".
The MIME type of the audio file. Examples include 'application/mp3' for an MP3 file.
The first name of the person who's Profile page this is.
The person's last name.
Any of Facebook's gender values should be allowed, the initial two being 'male' and 'female'.
Links to the Facebook profiles for actor(s) that appear in the video. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
A pseudonym / alias of this person.
The roles of the actor(s). Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
Links to the Facebook profiles for director(s) that worked on the video. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
The TV show this series belongs to.
The date the video was released.
Tag words associated with this video. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
Links to the Facebook profiles for scriptwriter(s) for the video. Multiple values may be used, separated by `,`. Note: Tokens that return multiple values will be handled automatically.
A set of meta tags specially for controlling advanced functionality with Facebook.

The Facebook Sharing Debugger lets you preview how your content will look when it's shared to Facebook and debug any issues with your Open Graph tags.
A comma-separated list of Facebook user IDs of people who are considered administrators or moderators of this page.
Facebook Instant Articles claim URL token.
A comma-separated list of Facebook Platform Application IDs applicable for this site.
A set of meta tags specially for controlling the summaries displayed when content is shared on Twitter.
Notes:
  • no other fields are required for a Summary card
  • Media player card requires the 'title', 'description', 'media player URL', 'media player width', 'media player height' and 'image' fields,
  • Summary Card with Large Image card requires the 'Summary' field and the 'image' field,
  • App Card requires the 'iPhone app ID' field, the 'iPad app ID' field and the 'Google Play app ID' field,
The page's title, which should be concise; it will be truncated at 70 characters by Twitter. This field is required unless this the 'type' field is set to 'photo'.
The @username for the website, which will be displayed in the Card's footer; must include the @ symbol.
A description that concisely summarizes the content of the page, as appropriate for presentation within a Tweet. Do not re-use the title text as the description, or use this field to describe the general services provided by the website. The string will be truncated, by Twitter, at the word to 200 characters.
The numerical Twitter account ID for the website, which will be displayed in the Card's footer.
The numerical Twitter account ID for the content creator / author for this page.
The @username for the content creator / author for this page, including the @ symbol.
The URL to a unique image representing the content of the page. Do not use a generic image such as your website logo, author photo, or other image that spans multiple pages. Images larger than 120x120px will be resized and cropped square based on longest dimension. Images smaller than 60x60px will not be shown. If the 'type' is set to Photo then the image must be at least 280x150px. This will be able to extract the URL from an image field if the field is configured properly.
The alternative text of the image being linked to. Limited to 420 characters.
If your application is not available in the US App Store, you must set this value to the two-letter country code for the App Store that contains your application.
The name of the iPhone app.
String value, should be the numeric representation of your iPhone app's ID in the App Store.
The iPhone app's custom URL scheme (must include "://" after the scheme name).
The name of the iPad app.
String value, should be the numeric representation of your iPad app's ID in the App Store.
The iPad app's custom URL scheme (must include "://" after the scheme name).
The name of the app in the Google Play app store.
Your app ID in the Google Play Store (i.e. "com.android.app").
The Google Play app's custom URL scheme (must include "://" after the scheme name).
The full URL for loading a media player, specifically an iframe for an embedded video rather than the URL to a page that contains a player. Required when using the Player Card type.
The width of the media player iframe, in pixels. Required when using the Player Card type.
The height of the media player iframe, in pixels. Required when using the Player Card type.
The full URL for an MP4 video (h.264) or audio (AAC) stream, takes precedence over the other media player field.
The MIME type for the media contained in the stream URL, as defined by RFC 4337.
Schema.org: Article See Schema.org definitions for this Schema type at https://schema.org/Article. Also see Google's requirements.
REQUIRED. The type of article.
Globally unique id of the article, usually a url.
Name (usually the headline of the article).
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. Headline of the article.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. A description of the item.
Comma separated list of what the article is about, for instance taxonomy terms or categories.
image
Whether this image is representative of the content of the page.
Absolute URL of the image, i.e. [node:field_name:image_preset_name:url].
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The primary image for this item.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. Use for Paywalled content.
hasPart
True or False, whether this element is accessible for free.
List of class names of the parts of the web page that are not free, i.e. '.first-class', '.second-class'. Do NOT surround class names with quotation marks!
The name of the work.
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page for the work.
Urls and social media links, comma-separated list of absolute URLs.
Publication date. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. Use for Paywalled content.
author
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. Author of the article.
speakable
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Separate xpaths by comma, as in: /html/head/title, /html/head/meta[@name='description']
Separate selectors by comma, as in: #title, #summary
Speakable property.
publisher
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. Publisher of the article.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. The canonical URL of the article page. Specify mainEntityOfPage when the article is the primary topic of the article page.
aggregateRating
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The numeric rating of the item.
The number of ratings included.
The highest rating value possible.
The lowest rating value possible.
The overall rating, based on a collection of reviews or ratings, of the item.
review
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The actual body of the review.
The actual body of the review. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
author
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
The author of this review.
reviewRating
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The numeric rating of the item.
The number of ratings included.
The highest rating value possible.
The lowest rating value possible.
The rating of this review.
Reviews of this item.
See Schema.org definitions for this Schema type at https://schema.org/VideoObject. Also see Google's requirements.
REQUIRED. The type of VideoObject
The transcript of the video.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The thumbnail URL(s) of the video(s).
Globally unique @id, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The description of the video.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The title of the video.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The date the video was first published, in ISO 8601 format. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. The video duration in seconds or ISO 8601 format, i.e. PT1H30M. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. A URL pointing to the actual video media file. This file should be in .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .m4v, .mov, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .ra, .ram, .rm, .flv, or other video file format. All files must be accessible via HTTP. Metafiles that require a download of the source via streaming protocols, such as RTMP, are not supported. Providing this file allows Google to generate video thumbnails and video previews and can help Google verify your video.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. If applicable, the date after which the video will no longer be available, in ISO 8601 format. Don't supply this information if your video does not expire. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. The number of times the video has been viewed.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE. A URL pointing to a player for the specific video. Usually this is the information in the src element of an tag.
review
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The actual body of the review.
The actual body of the review. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
author
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
The author of this review.
reviewRating
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The numeric rating of the item.
The number of ratings included.
The highest rating value possible.
The lowest rating value possible.
The rating of this review.
Reviews of this video.
aggregateRating
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
The numeric rating of the item.
The number of ratings included.
The highest rating value possible.
The lowest rating value possible.
The overall rating, based on a collection of reviews or ratings, of the item.
Schema.org: WebPage See Schema.org definitions for this Schema type at https://schema.org/WebPage. Also see Google's requirements.
REQUIRED. The type of web page.
Globally unique @id, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
A description of the item.
Add the breadcrumb for the current web page to Schema.org structured data?
author
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
Author of the web page.
publisher
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
Publisher of the web page.
hasPart
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
True or False, whether this element is accessible for free.
List of class names of the parts of the web page that are not free, i.e. '.first-class', '.second-class'. Do NOT surround class names with quotation marks!
The name of the work.
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page for the work.
Urls and social media links, comma-separated list of absolute URLs.
Publication date. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
Speakable
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Separate xpaths by comma, as in: /html/head/title, /html/head/meta[@name='description']
Separate selectors by comma, as in: #title, #summary
Speakable property.
The language of the content
The website id that this is a direct translation of
Translation(s) of this work
See Schema.org definitions for this Schema type at https://schema.org/WebSite. Also see Google's requirements.
REQUIRED. The type of web site.
Globally unique @id, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
The name of the web site.
The url of the web site.
potentialAction
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
target
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
An url template (RFC6570) that will be used to construct the target of the execution of the action, i.e. http://www.example.com/forrest_gump?autoplay=true.
Comma-separated list of the high level platform(s) where the Action can be performed for the given URL. Examples: http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform, http://schema.org/MobileWebPlatform, http://schema.org/IOSPlatform, http://schema.googleapis.com/GoogleVideoCast.
The BCP-47 language code of this item, e.g. 'ja' is Japanese, or 'en-US' for American English.
Indicates a target EntryPoint for an Action.
result
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Globally unique @id of the thing, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the thing.
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page for the thing.
The result produced in the action. e.g. John wrote a book.
expectsAcceptanceOf
Combine and pivot multiple values to display them as multiple objects.
Globally unique ID of the item in the form of a URL. It does not have to be a working link.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE for Offer. The numeric price of the offer. Do not include dollar sign.
RECOMMEND BY GOOGLE for AggregateOffer. The number of offers.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE for AggregateOffer. The lowest price. Do not include dollar sign.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE for AggregateOffer. The highest price. Do not include dollar sign.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE. The three-letter currency code (i.e. USD) in which the price is displayed.
The URL where the offer can be acquired.
RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE for Product Offer. The condition of this item. Valid options are https://schema.org/DamagedCondition, https://schema.org/NewCondition, https://schema.org/RefurbishedCondition, https://schema.org/UsedCondition.
REQUIRED BY GOOGLE for Product Offer. The availability of this item. Valid options are https://schema.org/Discontinued, https://schema.org/InStock, https://schema.org/InStoreOnly, https://schema.org/LimitedAvailability, https://schema.org/OnlineOnly, https://schema.org/OutOfStock, https://schema.org/PreOrder, https://schema.org/PreSale, https://schema.org/SoldOut.
The end of the availability of the product or service included in the offer. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
Date after which the item is no longer available. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
The date when the item becomes valid. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
The date after which the price will no longer be available. Use a token like [node:created:html_datetime].
Values like: 'rental', 'purchase', 'subscription', 'externalSubscription', 'free'.
eligibleRegion
The country. For example, USA. You can also provide the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.
The region where the offer is valid.
ineligibleRegion
The country. For example, USA. You can also provide the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.
The region where the offer is not valid.
An Offer which must be accepted before the user can perform the Action. For example, the user may need to buy a movie before being able to watch it.
The query used on this action, i.e. https://query.example.com/search?q={search_term_string}.
The placeholder for the query, i.e. required name=search_term_string.
Potential action that can be accomplished on this site, like SearchAction.
publisher
Globally unique @id of the person or organization, usually a url, used to to link other properties to this object.
Name of the person or organization, i.e. [node:author:display-name].
Absolute URL of the canonical Web page, like the URL of the author's profile page or the organization's official website, i.e. [node:author:url].
Comma separated list of URLs for the person's or organization's official social media profile page(s).
The publisher of the web site.
The language of the content
The website id that this is a direct translation of
Translation(s) of this work

Related Content

Dave Wickerham - Kotzschmar Organ Orgelfest16

Host Facility
Merrill Auditorium
Location
Portland, ME
Time
7:30pm
Event Month & Year

Theatre organist, Dave Wickerham, shows the Kotzschmar’s versatility beyond the classical concert organ setting!

Dave was awarded the prestigious American Theatre Organ Society “Organist of the Year” award in 2011, has toured Australia and New Zealand in 2003 and 2012 to rave reviews, and received accolades after his concert at the American Theatre organ Society 2015 Convention.

Program to feature many popular selections. More info and tickets at www.foko.org.

Catching up with Stephen Tharp

Reflections ten years later

Joyce Johnson Robinson

Joyce Johnson Robinson is editorial director of The Diapason. 

Default
An interview with Stephen Tharp appeared a decade ago in The Diapason (“A conversation with Stephen Tharp: Catching up with a well-traveled recitalist,” January 2004). At that time, Tharp’s discography included six recordings, and he had made over twenty intercontinental tours. Among the topics discussed were Tharp’s many concert tours, his advocacy of new music, and interest in transcriptions. In the decade since, Tharp has continued his travels and performances, and received many accolades. He presently resides in New York City, where he serves as associate director of music at the Church of Our Saviour. Stephen Tharp will be the featured performer at the closing recital of 2014’s American Guild of Organists national convention in Boston.
 
 
Joyce Robinson: Our previous interview’s title called you a “well-traveled recitalist,” and that seems truer than ever today. Tell us about your concert tours (and how you keep track of all those recitals!).
 
My grandfather, who was director of personnel management at Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Chicago for some 40-plus years, and also a lecturer at both Northwestern University and University of Chicago post-World War II, was a real business model for me. He was the ultimate paper hoarder, keeping track of all of his correspondence, lectures, and so forth, throughout his life. For better or worse, he taught me to keep a paper record of everything I’d accomplished. 
 
Of course, I let go of a great deal with time, but, as far as concert programs go, I have saved one copy of everything I have ever played. Consequently, after 1,400 concerts, I am glad I can look back, trace them, and keep track—like keeping a diary. My 1300th solo recital was at St. Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, on their very large Marcussen organ, in November 2008. A few days later, in St. Martin, Dudelange, Luxembourg, was the concert that coincided with my Jeanne Demessieux Complete Organ Works CD set (Aeolus Recordings) “release party,” where the recording was officially made available to the public for the first time. It remains my largest recording project to date, which I will discuss more a little later. The recording led directly to a series of three concerts in October 2010 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, wherein I played the complete organ works of Demessieux.
 
On July 30, 2013, I performed my 1400th solo concert, for the organ festival in La Verna, Tuscany (some of which is up on YouTube). This is the place, on top of a mountain and a 90-minute drive from Florence, where Francis of Assisi spent his later years on land that was bequeathed to him. It is a picturesque spot surrounded by forests untouched for some 900 years; in the center is a basilica where there is a regular summer festival of organ concerts catering to an immense tourist crowd that packs the house for recitals starting at 9 p.m. (when the temperature cools down enough for a full church to be tolerable). A small group of friends and colleagues celebrated afterwards with a private meal that included regional wines.
 
What is awesome for the organ in central European culture is that festivals like this, well attended, grow on trees. In Germany alone, you could hit a series every weekend for two years without repeating yourself—funding in place, quite often new organs, and audiences that support its continuation. There seems something about Old World culture that’s founded in the deepest roots, centuries of traditions under them, that maintains a thriving life no matter what the come-and-go cultural shifts of any given generation—a kind of condensed richness around which you can build an entire life. 
 
As for my own tours, 1,400 concerts means too many to name. Standouts include the Gewandhaus, Leipzig; the Igreja de Lapa in Porto, Portugal; Victoria Hall, Geneva; the Frauenkirche, Dresden (which was only recently reconstructed); the inaugural organ week of the new Seifert organ at the Cathedral in Speyer, Germany, with its 14-second acoustic—a whole new character for Alain’s Trois Danses; Ben van Oosten’s glorious festival in The Hague; twice at the Berlin Cathedral, with another concert set for summer 2015; Cologne Cathedral (with its 5,000 regular concertgoers during the summer Orgelfeierstunden, encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs if necessary and seat themselves in the aisles, which they do, going wild over a program of Guillou, Alain, Dupré, and Litaize); the summer festival at St. Bavo, Haarlem (there are no words for the experience of playing this organ); playing the de Grigny Messe on the Dom Bedos at Ste. Croix in Bordeaux, and so on. In addition to that, my one and only action-packed trip without jetlag adjustment, over six days, for concerts in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Riga. Twice to Hong Kong, twice to Korea, twice to Australia. Every memorable moment outside the box would take a book. But connect all the dots over time and it’s the richest and most diverse menu of experiences I could ever have imagined. And as an American, it is seeing the forest from outside the trees, in spades, and that has determined a great deal for me.
 
 
You’ve also been busy with recordings. Would you summarize these, and tell us about your experiences making them? 
 
This is a discussion of but a few of my projects. Ultimately, audio and video recordings are one’s most powerful tools. How one can spread the word on Facebook, iTunes, or YouTube puts global exposure at your fingertips, which is wonderful. Listening as a child to LPs of many organs, I often fantasized about getting to these instruments one day, either to perform on them or record them myself. One of my greatest battery chargers, the kind that continues to inspire in the long term, has been recording a number of these landmark instruments, both for JAV Recordings and the Aeolus label in Germany. 
 
The first opportunity like this was St. Sulpice, Paris, where I recorded in October 2001, a somewhat nervous traveler given the horrific events of September 11 the month before—and amplified by a flight over to Paris on a plane that was mostly empty. In 2005 I was back in St. Sulpice for two more projects. A large choir, comprising several groups, was assembled to record the Widor Mass, op. 36, for choir and two organs (main and choir organ), which was never before recorded in St. Sulpice. With Daniel Roth at the grand orgue, Mark Dwyer and I played musical benches with the orgue de choeur in the front of the church. In the two days that followed that project, I had the great pleasure of recording Dupré’s Le Chemin de la Croix there. Dupré recorded this years before in St. Sulpice on LP, which went out of print. So, my recording is the only one available of this entire work on the organ most associated with the composer.
 
In the summer/early fall of 2008 I made two more recordings for JAV within a month of each other, which were released at different times. One is my organ adaptation of J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Paul Fritts’s stunning magnum opus instrument at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio, and the other a mixed repertoire recording on the Christian Müller organ of St. Bavo, Haarlem, the Netherlands. My first experience with this famous organ was as a student when, at age 20, I spent three weeks at the Haarlem International Organ Academy as the result of a generous scholarship from Illinois College. That experience was life-changing in that it turned my thinking upside down and, consequently, permanently re-directed the way I would conceive performance as it is informed by music history and aesthetics, standards that remain in place to this day. I can’t fully express how thankful I am that this was an experience I had at a young age, when these influences had the chance to be the most powerful.
 
On this side of the pond is the first commercial recording of the Casavant organ Opus 3837 at the Brick Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. This instrument, a cooperative design between director of music Keith Tóth and Jean-Louis Coignet, is a masterpiece. A synthesis between the French symphonic and American orchestral, the organ covers music from Jongen to Tournemire to Hakim to Guilmant, in a warm acoustic environment. There is also my Organ Classics from Saint Patrick Cathedral in New York City—all somewhat lighter fare, some organ solo, some organ plus trumpet, aside from a few heftier pieces by Cook, Vierne, and Widor. It was a great pleasure to have been able to make these two recordings.
 
All of my commercial CD releases from St. Sulpice thus far are on JAV, and all engineered by the outstanding Christoph Frommen, who also owns the Aeolus label in Germany. It was with Frommen, and for Aeolus, that I embarked upon my biggest recording project to date: The Complete Organ Works of Jeanne Demessieux. I had played much of her music starting as early as my college years, but to document all of her organ solo works on recording was an exciting and challenging prospect. Too many stereotypes were also floating around about this music: that it was a language worth little more than an extension of Dupré’s harmonic idiom, more cerebral than communicative, and not worth the effort. I sought to prove this very wrong. 
 
At the time of the recording, several pieces remained unpublished, and so Chris Frommen and I sought copies of these in manuscript form from Pierre Labric, one of Demessieux’s more famous students, who generously shared the scores with us for this project. These are, specifically, Nativité, Andante, and the Répons (the one for Easter being the only score from the set previously published), now printed by Delatour in France. 
 
We needed an electric-action organ for certain pieces, most importantly the treacherous Six Études, so some of the recording was done on the Stahlhuth/Jann instrument at the Church of St. Martin, Dudelange, Luxembourg, an organ of great color and strength. For the remainder of the release, we chose the great Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Ouen, Rouen, France, an instrument closely associated with Demessieux’s life. This is such a splendid oeuvre that was too long overlooked. If you don’t know the music, investigate it.
It is with Aeolus that I will release my next recording, the Symphonies 5 and 6 of Louis Vierne. Symphonies 1–4 are now available with Daniel Roth, and my release will complete the set, hopefully later this year. All were recorded again at St. Sulpice.
 
One additional recording must be mentioned, as it appears as a single track on iTunes and is not part of any CD. In September 2010, as a part of one of Michael Barone’s Pipedreams Live! concerts, I played the world premiere of a work I’d commissioned for the occasion from George Baker, Variations on ‘Rouen.’ It is also composed in memory of Jehan Alain, and so there are harmonic and motivic nods in that direction, very much on purpose. That first performance was played at the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; my recording of the piece, made as well at St. Sulpice, is what is available on iTunes. There is also a YouTube concert video of my live performance of it at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica in Missouri from the summer of 2013.
 
 
You are also a composer and arranger, creating both transcriptions and original compositions. Are any of these published? Do you have any plans for future works?
 
I have only one published organ work, my Easter Fanfares, composed in 2006 as the result of a commission from Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Two new high-pressure en chamade Tuba ranks had been added to the instrument at the west end of the cathedral, which they wanted to play for the first time at Easter in 2006. My work was composed to be the postlude for that occasion. It is structured, at surface level, like an improvised sortie with the architecture of a written composition, with all melodic and motivic material throughout derived from only two sources: Ite Missa est, Alleluia, the dismissal at the conclusion of the Mass, and the Easter sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes. The piece is dedicated to the Cologne Cathedral organist Winfried Bönig, and is published in a collection of organ music specifically written for the Cologne Cathedral organ called Cologne Fanfares. It is published by Butz Musikverlag of Bonn. There is a JAV YouTube video of me playing the work at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, made a few years ago. 
My only other fairly recent solo organ work was occasion-specific, my Disney’s Trumpets, written for the organ at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, where I premiered it in concert in March 2011. It is a short, agitato fanfare designed to highlight the various powerful reed stops of this particular instrument, heard both separately by division and, at times, altogether. I kept the unique visual design of the façade in mind. In musical terms, this is reflected in short riffs, which appear rapidly, flinging gestures into many directions at will. And as with the organ’s façade, which appears random to the eye amidst an underlying cohesive structure, so is true in this work, where an overall architecture gives proportion to what seems irregular. As an added layer of tongue-and-cheek, I used as the model for the riffs a motive from a song by David Bowie, of all things. (I don’t remember the name anymore.) I have only played Disney’s Trumpets that one time.
 
I also have an ongoing list of organ transcriptions, which I’m getting to little by little. Those are premiered here and there from time to time; Chopin, Dukas, Stravinsky, Bartók, Mussorgsky, Liszt. I have also toured quite a bit with David Briggs’s colorful transcription of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and two rather demanding organ adaptations by a gifted Italian colleague, Eugenio Fagiani, namely J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Ravel’s La Valse.
 
 
You have received several awards in recent years. Tell us about those.
 
There are two particular awards about which I feel especially honored. One is the 2011 International Performer of the Year award from the New York City chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the only award of its kind specifically for organists from any professional music guild in the United States. It is a recognition of long-standing accomplishment whose list of recipients is truly global, and I tie with Dame Gillian Weir for the youngest in the award’s history (received, respectively, at the same age in our early 40s). The other is the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Germany’s highest critic’s award for recordings, which I received for The Complete Organ Works of Jeanne Demessieux release on Aeolus. Imagine some 140 judges looking at an assortment of releases and ripping apart everything from sound quality to performance to graphic design to music notes scholarship. This is the prize. The recipients are chosen under great scrutiny, more so than voted for (and there is a big difference). It is, for me subjectively, the ultimate compliment. Other recipients at that time include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Marc-André Hamelin, and Cecilia Bartoli.
 
 
Beyond your solo career, you have also worked as a church musician. Are you presently doing so?
 
In September 2013 I was offered the position of associate director of music and organist at the Church of Our Saviour (Roman Catholic) in Manhattan by the newly appointed music director and organist, Paul Murray, a long-time friend and colleague in the city with whom I have collaborated on many previous occasions. Ironically, it was in this very church that my wife Lena and I had our son Adrian (born January 5, 2013) baptized. This music program embodies high standards of choral singing—we have an all-professional choir—use of chant, a rich palette of choral and organ repertoire, and no-nonsense liturgical organ improvisation, something I was not doing in New York City since my days at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The mission statement of the church has been beautifully summarized by Mr. Murray as follows:

 
In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, it was made clear that the Church’s musical heritage, namely chant and polyphony, was to be preserved. At the Church of Our Saviour in New York City, it is my goal to build a liturgical music program that is in concurrence with the admonition of the Second Vatican Council, by developing a professional music program offering music of the highest caliber to the Greater Glory of God.
 
Paul and I have a great rapport as professional colleagues, devoid of the drama that all too often accompanies working relationships. In this regard, I’ve struck gold. The church is also very supportive of my travels. Everything about this position is a match, the kind one hopes to find but rarely does. It is a special centering for me that provides a constant in my artistic life as other things continue in different directions.
 
I must also make mention of post-Easter April 2008, when I was asked to be the official organist for the New York City visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. I was contacted by the current director of music at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Jennifer Pascual, who was in charge of music for all events for the Pope’s visit. The organist at the cathedral had been taken ill, and I was asked to cover all televised events from St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Yorkville (in Manhattan), St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and, yes, Yankee Stadium, which took place outdoors. I was struck primarily with how this church leader in his 80s, not some young pop star, captivated these massive gatherings with an energy that was palpable. Music for each of the three occasions was different, involving soloists, choirs, and instrumental ensembles, rehearsals for all of which occurred in under two weeks. It was quite moving to be in the center of the energy that radiated from these huge events. And my days at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the mid-1990s had prepared me for live television, which is always exhilarating.
 
 
What are your thoughts about the future? 
 
Becoming the father of a little boy who is now 1-1/2 years old has become the ultimate filter. My shifts in priorities have been herculean, in a way that a parent understands. I am very sensitive to the passage of time one doesn’t see again, so there is this intolerance for the irrelevant, the counter-productive and the trivial.
 
The most important thing for me to remember is why I have always done what I do, as that unshakably justifies how I must continue. It is critical for me to remember that I was never media-constructed at a young age. In fact, that approach in this country during my 20s, under management, completely failed. I have, however, taken decades to build where I am, and am one who is given the respect on a global platform that I probably sought above all else. It’s an Old School approach to achievement—and it stems from the kind of teaching I had—the kind that leaves you a library of references, not just a membership, and that you don’t accomplish overnight. It must be earned.
 
This all underscores one aspect of my musical life that has become even more pronounced. I consider myself a very serious artist, not an entertainer, one who believes that an audience knows the difference between putting before them a substantial product and just celebrity. If what you speak reaches people profoundly, they remember not only you as the vehicle but the statement, the music itself, and musical memories that matter. You see, this is what will actually save our instrument. Popularity alone is not enough. Actually moving an audience is vital, as this instigates a curiosity for more, which has direct impact on literacy, not merely fascination. It is not possible to produce book after book without addressing the literacy of your readers and then claim you have “saved the book.” There is a big difference between selling an audience tickets and keeping them there. That said, every teacher has to make decisions: one cannot build rockets by continuing to play with blocks. And if nobody curates the collection, what will all of the newly schooled have to hear beyond Concerts 101? 
 
It is no great secret that I have a mostly European career. My own passion for the lineage of such long-rooted, historically aware and layered culture seems to be a marriage with the demand for it from the large (and multi-aged) audiences that continue to want programs of real meat and substance. I feel that I am most inspired engaging an environment wherein, no matter what other globalization invades, the baby isn’t simply discarded with the bathwater. This will continue as my direction for the future, regardless of what else happens. It’s taken me years to evolve to this point, but this article documents part of the journey.
 
 

Stephen Tharp's Discography

 
Naxos Recordings 8.553583
 
Ethereal Recordings 108
 
Ethereal Recordings 104
 
Capstone Records 8679
 
Ethereal Recordings 123
 
 
JAV Recordings 130
 
JAV Recordings 138
 
JAV Recordings 161
 
JAV Recordings 160
 
JAV Recordings 162
 
Aeolus Recordings 10561
 
JAV Recordings 178
 
JAV Recordings 172
 
JAV Recordings 185
 
JAV Recordings 5163
 
 
Christopher Berry (cond.); Stephen Tharp (org.); the Seminary Choir of the Pontifical North American College, Vatican City State
Duruflé Messe “cum Jubilo”; sung chants; organ improvisations
JAV Recordings 181
 
Christopher Hyde (cond.); Camille Haedt-Goussu (cond.); Daniel Roth (Grand Orgue); Stephen Tharp (Orgue du Choeur); Mark Dwyer (Orgue du Choeur); Choeur Darius Milhaud; Ensemble Dodecamen
Widor Mass, Op. 36 plus motets; choir/organ works by Bellenot and Lefébure-Wély; organ improvisations by Daniel Roth
Recorded at St. Sulpice, Paris, France
JAV Recordings 158
 
Richard Proulx (cond.); Stephen Tharp (org.); The Cathedral Singers
Recorded at St. Luke’s Church, Evanston, Illinois
GIA Publications, Chicago
 
Maxine Thévenot (cond. and org.); Stephen Tharp (org.) 
The Choirs of the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Raven OAR-926
 
Maxine Thévenot (cond. and org.); Stephen Tharp (org.); Edmund Connoly (org.) 
The Choirs of the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Raven OAR-954
 
Maxine Thévenot (cond. and org.); Stephen Tharp (org.); Edmund Connoly (org.) 
The Choirs of the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Raven OAR-955

 

Thomas Heywood - Kotzschmar Organ

Host Facility
Merrill Auditorium
Location
Portland, ME
Time
7:30pm
Event Month & Year

The world renowned Thomas Heywood returns to the Kotzschmar! Australian organist Heywood performs regular international solo tours in concert halls, town halls, cathedrals and churches throughout the UK, North America and Europe.

Program to include as well as Eugene Gigout, Louis Vierne, and more as well as Heywood's transcriptions of Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Strauss, and others. Full program listing and tickets at www.foko.org.

Current Issue