While past AGO conventions have included workshop selection in the registration process, we acknowledge that many folks did not follow through by attending their chosen workshops. Indeed, in a given time block, some chose to attend another workshop and some chose to not attend any workshop at all. This reality left many fully booked workshops half-full in actuality. Similarly, many half-booked workshops were overflowing upon arrival.

Since the workshop registration process is quite time-consuming for the registrant, and since much of the pre-registration data is fundamentally flawed, we have decided to allow open access to all workshops and scholarly papers.

Each workshop and scholarly paper presentation is described in detail on our website, and its time, location, and room capacity are clearly indicated. All sessions (except for master classes) are centrally located in the convention hotel, adjacent to each other.

Convention attendees will be encouraged to arrive expeditiously to guarantee a seat in a desired workshop, but with so many choices, there will always be another great option even if a specific workshop fills up quickly!

For those signed up to attend the Group B, C, or D trips on Friday, chartered buses are provided for the entirety of these journeys to Wellesley, Groton, and/or Methuen.

There is no extra charge for this, although you will need to buy a boxed lunch (the registration system will guide you through this process).

For those who cannot comfortably walk a distance of three blocks, accessible van transportation can be requested in the registration form.

Only those who register for this service in advance will have ADA accessible transportation.

For those who prefer to travel in groups, we will have volunteers guiding groups from hotel to venues and back. Volunteers will lead groups onto the subway and to each venue. Meeting points and departure times will be published in the daily materials.

Throughout the convention program book, you will find QR codes that are easily scanned by your smartphone or tablet. Simply scan the QR code to access customized directions from your current location to the next venue.

QR Code Example

Harnessing the power of GPS and Google Maps, you can choose to see these personalized, step-by-step directions displayed in a number of formats, including instructions and timings for travel by public transit, or the best walking route.

Of course, there will be old-fashioned maps in the program book as well.

We will walk or take public transportation.

Boston is a beautiful city and very friendly to pedestrians. It has an easy, efficient mass transit system nicknamed the “T.” A weeklong, unlimited-ride transit pass is included in everyone’s convention registration.

If you simply need that door-to-door service, we estimate that shared taxi fares for the entire week will still cost less than the typical AGO bus package.

While we recognize that waiting in long lines to board cramped buses has long been a treasured AGO Convention tradition, the realities of Boston demand we buck this trend:

1. The circuitous former cow paths that, over time, have transformed into Boston’s roads and streets are not exactly conducive to large fleets of chartered buses. Narrow, curvy roads do not pair naturally with dozens of large, fifty-fife-person vehicles traveling together.
2. Even if the armies of buses could efficiently and effectively traverse the streets, many of the venues cannot load buses immediately nearby. Indeed, at several venues, buses would have to load and unload a couple blocks away. Since our venues are so close together, one might as well walk!
3. Even if these hurdles were surmounted, we would still be able to load only one or two buses at a time in most locations. When you consider the number of buses needed to move many hundreds of people, that is a very long time to wait in line. Better to use this time experiencing wonderful music!

The convention schedule has been organized to maximize programmatic time while making travel as efficient as possible. Many activities are centralized in the Back Bay neighborhood, near the convention hotel.

When travel to other parts of the city is necessary, we have strived to ensure that:

1.  The trip is worthwhile, by scheduling multiple events in that location;
2. There is adequate time to make the transfer; and
3. When appropriate, there is also time to eat en route.

Allowing folks to travel without the confines of a chartered bus enables maximum personal flexibility for each convention attendee and also reduces overcrowding at critical establishments—namely restaurants, coffee shops, and bars—immediately adjacent to the convention hotel. Finally, it’s simply the “green” thing to do.

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 Saint John the Divine in 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 the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and holds Fellowship certificates from both the American Guild of Organists (AGO) 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 first National Competition in Organ Improvisation, held at the AGO’s 1990 national convention in Boston—he is also a published composer of organ and choral music. He has performed and taught at many AGO regional and national conventions. He is represented by Truckenbrod Concert Artists.

Renee Louprette

Renée Anne Louprette is organist and director of music at L’Église de Notre Dame in New York City; lecturer in organ at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University; and adjunct professor of organ at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Formerly organist and associate director of music and the arts at Trinity Wall Street, she also served for six years as associate director of music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York.

Ms. Louprette is in frequent demand as organ recitalist and masterclass teacher throughout the United States and has concertized widely in Europe and Australia. She has performed with acclaimed New York City ensembles including Voices of Ascension, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, and the Dessoff Choirs. She holds degrees from the Centre d’Études de Musique et de Danse de Toulouse, France, and from the Hartt School, University of Hartford, Connecticut.

FINAL ROUND

Finalists:

Kirk Rich

Kirk M. Rich

Jonathan Rudy

Jonathan D. Rudy

HyeHyun Sung

HyeHyun Sung

The American Guild of Organists promotes the highest level of organ performance through its National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP). The competition is intended to serve as a springboard for emerging organists to develop their performance ability by participating in various demanding stages. Underwriting of expenses is provided in part by the Nita Akin Competition Fund.

Prizes – First Place: $3,000, the Lilian Murtagh Memorial Prize, funded by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc., plus career development assistance from Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc. and a CD recording on the Pro Organo label; Second Place: $3,000, funded by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders; Third Place: $2,000, funded by Kegg Pipe Organ Builders; Audience Prize: $1,000, funded by Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company Inc.

Three finalists perform in the culmination of the AGO’s biennial National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance.

NYACOP, long considered this country’s preeminent organ playing contest, encourages young artists in their pursuit of excellence through participation in its four demanding performance rounds.

The three finalists each perform the following works:

Nikolaus Bruhns: Praeludium in G Major

J. S. Bach: “Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele,” BWV 654

Charles-Marie Widor: II. Moderato cantabile, from Symphony No. 8

Pamela Decker: A new work commissioned for the 2014 Boston AGO Convention

The competition results, determined by a panel of three distinguished jurors, will be announced soon after the performance round concludes.

Those in the audience who hear the entirety of the competition round will be invited to vote for the “Audience Prize,” a $1,000 cash award presented to the competitor who earns the most votes from the assembly.