Pescado, Paella, Piripiri: Contrasts of Taste in Seventeenth-Century Iberia

Until partway into the seventeenth century, there existed three sub-styles of organs on the Iberian Peninsula: 1) Castilian; 2) Catalunyan/Aragonese; and 3) Portuguese. Differences were slight and gradually amalgamated into a broadly recognizable style, but resulted in subtle influences on compositions from each of their environs. This presentation highlights slight regional variants among these three strands. Life travels of some organ builders working on the Peninsula are traced, sample stop lists facilitate comparisons, and musical examples from the three regions are examined.

Andre Lash

André Lash studied Spanish baroque organ music with José-Luis Gonzalez Uriol in Zaragoza, Spain. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music, studio of Russell Saunders; his dissertation topic was “The Facultad Orgánica of Francisco Correa de Arauxo: Certain Aspects of Theory and Performance.” Earlier studies were at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Pittsburg State University (Kansas), and privately with Arthur Poister. An American Guild of Organists Fellow, he has contributed a list of editions of early Iberian organ music for the Guild’s website and been active as chapter, state, and regional officer. He is adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and organist at Christ United Methodist Church, Greensboro. He has performed at solo venues in the United States, Russia, and Korea, and has presented for Guild regional conventions, Music Teachers National Association, and Festival Internacional de Música de Tecla Española.

The Liturgical Organist: Strategies for Supportive and Creative Service Playing

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As organists, we are invited to enter the lives of our churches and synagogues as worship leaders. This workshop explores the many of the avenues to enriching both our personal musical skills and the musical components of our communal worship experiences. Using figured bass and hymnody as a basis for developing our improvisatory skills, we look at ways in which those same skills can be used to enliven our musical liturgies through registration, re-harmonization, chordal re-voicing, and improvised organ solos.

Bruce Neswick

Bruce Neswick is associate professor of organ at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, having come to that post from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City, where he served as director of music and conducted the Choir of Girls, Boys and Adults. He is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and holds Fellow certificates from both the American Guild of Organists and the Royal School of Church Music. His teachers included David Dahl, Margaret Irwin-Brandon, Gerre Hancock, Robert Baker, and Lionel Rogg. A winner of three improvisation competitions (including the Guild’s first National Competition in Organ Improvisation, held at the 1990 national convention in Boston), he is also a published composer of organ and choral music. He has performed and taught at many regional and national conventions of the Guild and is represented by Truckenbrod Concert Artists.

The Clavichord: The Organ Teacher You Wish You Had

This workshop generously sponsored by the Greater Hartford Chapter of the AGO

Bach’s first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, claimed the clavichord was Bach’s favorite keyboard instrument. Certainly his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann were well-trained on the instrument, and composed extensively for it. It is an ideal practice instrument, a revelatory teaching instrument, and an exquisite performance instrument. This workshop, in the format of a lecture-recital, demonstrates the versatility of the clavichord, using an instrument of two manuals and pedal. The program features organ works, including Bach’s Trio Sonatas, works of the generation after Bach, and yes, even the Widor Toccata.

Henry Lebedinsky

Henry Lebedinsky performs on historical keyboards across the United States and the United Kingdom. He currently plays with Consortium Carissimi, The Minnesota Bach Ensemble, The Vivaldi Project (Washington, D.C.), Quince (Boston), and Ensemble Vermillian (Berkeley), and directs the period instrument ensemble The Seicento String Band. He has also performed with The Charlotte Symphony, The Oratorio Society of Minnesota, Seraphic Fire and the Firebird Chamber Orchestra, Boston Revels, and the Harvard Baroque Orchestra. He is the founder of the Music @ St. Alban’s concert series in Davidson, North Carolina, and served as interim artistic director of Charlotte Chamber Music, Inc. and director of Rochester’s The Publick Musick. His sacred music is published by Carus-Verlag Stuttgart. He holds degrees from Bowdoin College and the Longy School of Music. He serves as music minister at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church and directs the WaterMusic Concert Series.

Christa Rakich

Concert and recording artist Christa Rakich directs the music program at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in West Hartford. She is also artist-in-residence at the Congregational Church of Somers, Connecticut, home to a new organ by Richards-Fowkes. She has served on the faculties of New England Conservatory, Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut, and as assistant university organist at The Memorial Church, Harvard University. With keyboardist Peter Sykes, she performed a complete cycle of Bach’s keyboard works in a series of thirty-four concerts between 2003 and 2005, aptly named Tuesdays With Sebastian. The concerts raised a total of $20,000 for Boston-area charities. The series repeats in 2013–2015. With keyboardist Susan Ferré, Ms. Rakich is a founding performer of the Big Moose Bach Festival in Berlin, New Hampshire. Her recordings include Bach’s Clavierübung, Part III, Leipzig Chorales, and Trio Sonatas.

The New Editions of Bach’s Complete Organ Works

This workshop focuses on the Bach Complete Organ Works Editions recently launched by Breitkopf & Härtel in Germany and Wayne Leupold Editions in the United States. David Schulenberg, editor of the Preludes and Fugues in the Breitkopf edition, and George B. Stauffer, general editor of the Leupold edition, compare notes and discuss issues raised by early manuscript sources, past editorial traditions, “Bach circle” works, and modern performance expectations. In the course of the workshop, the true composer of the Eight Short Preludes and Fugues is revealed.

David Schulenberg

David Schulenberg is a musicologist and performer, specializing in the works of the Bach family. Author of The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach and the textbook Music of the Baroque, he is also a contributor to the new complete edition of the works of C.P. E. Bach. His book The Music of W.F. Bach was published in 2010, and The Music of C.P.E. Bach is forthcoming in 2014. His chamber music recordings on harpsichord and fortepiano are issued on the Naxos and Hungaroton labels. He has taught at Wagner College and in the historical performance program at The Juilliard School.

George Stauffer

George B. Stauffer is dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts and distinguished professor of music at Rutgers University. Educated at Dartmouth College, Bryn Mawr College, and Columbia University, he is known for his writings on the music of the Baroque era and the life and works of J.S. Bach, in particular. He has published eight books, including, most recently, J.S. Bach: The Mass in B Minor and The World of Baroque Music. He is currently at work on the volume Why Bach Matters for Yale University Press. As an organist, he studied with Robert Elmore, John Weaver, and Vernon de Tar, and served as Chapel Music Director and University Organist at Columbia University from 1977 through 1999. He is a past president of the American Bach Society and currently general editor for the Wayne Leupold Edition of the complete organ works of J.S. Bach.

Empowering Directors to Work with New Ringers

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Members of Back Bay Ringers guide participants through basic ringing techniques that empower directors to work with new ringers, understand handbell notation, and ensure healthful and musical ringing.

Norah Piehl

Norah Piehl is executive director of the Back Bay Ringers. She was introduced to handbells in middle school, but took a long hiatus before joining the handbell choir at Trinity Church, Boston in 2001. She joined Back Bay Ringers in the fall of 2005, and quickly assumed a leadership role, publishing the ensemble’s e-newsletter and participating in marketing campaigns. In early 2007, she was named the organization’s executive director, following the departure of co-founding director Peter Coulombe. She has also become a leader in Handbell Musicians of America Area 1, presenting workshops on marketing, branding, and treble bell techniques at directors’ seminars and at the Area 1 Festival/Conference. She currently serves as secretary on the Area 1 Board of Directors and has served as registrar for the Festival/Conference. Her professional background is in the publishing industry. Currently, she is deputy director of the Boston Book Festival.

Repertoire by American Composers for the Beginning Organist

Many of the method books in use today contain Eurocentric teaching repertoire for the beginning organist. While this has introduced important European composers and traditions to organists at early stages of development, we must broaden our perspective by increasing our knowledge of teaching repertoire by American composers.  This workshop examines works by composers from the late eighteenth-century through the twenty-first century. Repertoire is presented in categories (e.g., manuals-only, trios, homophonic textures, works requiring console technique, and contrapuntal works for hands and feet). It also includes a discussion on ways to integrate this repertoire into lessons.

David Heller

David Heller is professor and chair of the Department of Music at Trinity University in San Antonio, where he also holds the title of university organist. He holds degrees from Lawrence University and the Eastman School of Music, where he was also awarded the Performer’s Certificate. His teachers have included Miriam Duncan and Russell Saunders, with post-doctoral study with Gerre Hancock and David Craighead. He is the author of the acclaimed Manual on Hymn Playing (G.I.A. Publications), and numerous reviews of organ literature for Cross Accent. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, and internationally in Canada, England, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Scandinavia, and South Korea. He has four solo recordings in distribution on the Calcante and Pro Organo labels. He serves as associate organist for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio.

Passages: Tools for Finding Your Way Through Conflicts

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Degreed church musicians are academically and artistically trained to serve as worship leaders. In many cases, they do not command the same respect, status, authority or support as ordained ministers. Consequently, church musicians are vulnerable when conflict situations occur.  Whether we like to admit it or not, our competitive natures affect our ability to respect each other, leaving ordained and music ministers vulnerable to painful, or abusive conflict situations.

This workshop focuses on conflict resolution. Topics include: A scriptural basis for conflict resolution; Mediation; Contemplative practices; Making your position understood; Setting boundaries; Cross relationships and Healing, or reconciling broken relationships.

Tamara Albrecht

Tamara Makdad Albrecht serves Emory University as adjunct professor of music history, university worship organist and choirmaster, church music graduate colloquia presenter, and organ and harpsichord instructor. She holds bachelor’s degrees in music and music education from Wittenberg University, a Master of Music from Northwestern University, and a Doctorate of Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute of Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Florida. She is a registered mediator in Georgia, which compliments her workshops: Developing Conflict Resolution Tools, for music and ordained ministers and laypeople; Developing Children’s Choirs; and Training Classroom Teachers To Implement Music as an Academic Skill-Building Tool. Her one-hundred-fifty-page children’s choir resource book, Singing Through the Church Year, published by Morningstar Music, includes original compositions with built-in opportunities to incorporate conflict resolution life-skills into each season of the liturgical year.

Music of Integrity for Small Choirs

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Do you serve a small congregation? Does your choir have inconsistent attendance? Are you frustrated with trying to find accessible repertoire possessing inspiring texts and melodies that are durable and memorable? Do you struggle with a small choir during the summer months? If any of these questions resonates, you will find solutions at this workshop. A packet of resources and repertoire are available; tips for locating repertoire that stands the test of time are discussed; and strategies for adapting anthems to make them work in varied situations are suggested. Attendees participate in singing through the anthems.

Andrew Scanlon

Andrew Scanlon, FAGO, is an organ professor at East Carolina University. He is organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Greenville, and artistic director of the East Carolina Musical Arts Education Foundation. He previously taught organ at Duquesne University, and has held positions at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo; Christ & St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, New York; and Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. He has performed at national conventions of both the American Guild of Organists and Organ Historical Society, and throughout the United States and in Canada, England, Italy, France, Germany, and Croatia. He has been a faculty member for three Pipe Organ Encounters, and serves on both the National Board of Examiners and the National Committee on Professional Certification of the Guild. He holds degrees from Duquesne University and Yale University. His principal teachers have been John Skelton, Ann Labounsky, David Craighead, John Walker, and Thomas Murray.

Pipe Organ Projects for Youngsters (POPs for KIDs)

This workshop generously sponsored-in-part by the Wichita Chapter of the AGO

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Workshop Information

We would be pleased for others to review the online teaching program in advance, and happy for word on any new and special programs other chapters are using to interest young people in the organ.  To review the program, please go to http://kids.agowichita.org/education.php

For advance contact with the discussion leader about any such programs, please e-mail Carrol Hassman, chas4345@cox.net

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How does your chapter introduce young people to the pipe organ? The Wichita (KS) AGO Chapter’s POPs for KIDs program give’s a hands-on demonstration of its new Online Teaching Unit, and facilitates discussion among other chapters about their own programs for young people. The Wichita Chapter welcomes your participation and word of your own chapter efforts.

Carrol Hassman

Long-time Guild member Carrol Hassman (Salina, Wichita, Boston) is currently dean of the Wichita chapter of the AGO. He has been active on the Wichita chapter’s Scholarship Committee for many years, and was part of the POPs for KIDs committee that developed the new Online Teaching Unit. He looks forward to demonstrating the Teaching Unit for other chapters, and hearing about their own efforts to attract young people to the pipe organ. The POPs for KIDs program began in 1991, led by the pioneering work of chapter member Irene Shaw. POPs has arranged pipe organ demonstrations and special concerts for school children and developed pipe organ teaching materials for use by grade school teachers. Now in its third decade, POPs has recently released a new Online Teaching Unit, usable by individuals or in classrooms.

Organ Articulation, Part II: Grammatical Articulation: Making Bach Dance!

Part two of back-to-back workshops on organ articulation, or “the space between the notes,” covers how to notate articulation in musical scores and the presenter’s own guidelines for interactive participation. It also includes a demonstration, using the work of J.S. Bach, of the effects of applying grammar-like rules to articulation.

Fred Hohman

Frederick Hohman, an American organist based in greater Chicago, has toured internationally as a concert organist since 1984, is presently one of the most viewed of organists on YouTube, and is in demand as a recording and music video producer with the Pro Organo label. With the recent publication of his music scores and instructional articles, he is gaining attention as a composer and organ pedagogue. He earned the Performer’s Certificate, Bachelor and Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts in the organ class of David Craighead at the Eastman School of Music between 1974 and 1990. In 1984, he won First Prize in both the Clarence Mader and Arthur Poister organ playing competitions. He has performed at American Guild of Organists regional and national conventions, and currently serves as a co-director of the Guild’s Committee on Continuing Professional Education. His musical life is chronicled at www.frederickhohman.net.