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

Handout

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

Handout

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

Handout

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

———-

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

———-

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.

An Overview of Russian Organ Music

Handout

This presentation includes an historical overview of organ development, composers, repertoire, and major organ schools in Russia, from the Middle Ages through the present. Participants are also introduced to specifications and façades of important Russian pipe organs, including Cavaillé-Coll’s last instrument, located in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The session concludes with a short performance featuring organ masterworks by Russian composers such as Mikael Tariverdiev and Valeri Kikta.

Katya Gotsdiner-McMahan

Katya Gotsdiner-McMahan, born in Russia, holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in organ and musicology from the Moscow Conservatory, and a Master of Music from the University of Kansas. She has performed at concert halls and churches in Moscow and throughout Russia, and in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States. She has been featured on Russian state radio and television, and has performed and lectured about Russian organ music at UCLA, the University of Kansas, and in Amsterdam. She is currently organist at First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo, California where she is a founder and director of an organ concert series. On the Central Coast of California, she performs piano, organ, harpsichord, and celesta with the Lompoc Valley Master Chorale, North County Chorus, Symphony of the Vines, Santa Maria Philharmonic, San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra, and San Luis Obispo Opera.

The Kotzschmar Organ: The Road to the Centennial Renovation

John Bishop, chair of the Organ Committee of Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ in Merrill Auditorium, City Hall, Portland, Maine, describes the history of the Centennial Renovation of the beloved, iconic instrument from awaking realization that the instrument was in failing condition, through the process of requesting proposals and choosing an organbuilder, establishing a campaign to raise funds, and overseeing the actual renovation.  In August of 2012, FOKO hosted a Centennial Festival of workshops and concerts played by many “Old Friends” of the organ, culminating with a Gala Concert on the evening of the actual anniversary.  The following morning, the staff of Foley-Baker, Inc. of Tolland, CT began dismantling the organ for shipment to their workshop.  The first phase of installation of the renovated organ was completed in the summer of 2013.  In September of 2014, the renovated organ will be re-dedicated in a Festival Concert.

John Bishop

John Bishop has been involved in the design, building, maintenance, and playing of pipe organs for more than thirty years. He holds a degree in organ performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. He has served as director of music for large parishes in downtown Cleveland and suburban Boston, the latter for more than seventeen years. He served a nine-year apprenticeship with an organ builder in Ohio and as shop foreman for a New England firm before founding the Bishop Organ Company in 1987. The Bishop Organ Company has focused on the restoration and rebuilding of distinguished vintage pipe organs throughout New England. Principal clients have included Trinity Church in the City of Boston; The First Church of Christ, Scientist (The Mother Church); Boston University; Church of the Covenant; and First Church of Boston.

Gregorian Chant in the Diocese of Turku in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

The Finnish language came into being as a written language at the beginning of the sixteenth century, though it had existed as a spoken language for a considerable time before this. Due to the influence of the Reformation, the Finnish and Swedish languages began to be used alongside Latin in the Diocese of Turku. This paper explores the few dozen manuscripts of liturgical sheet music in Finnish archives from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that contain chants in Latin, Swedish, and Finnish, modified from the original Latin chants, all unique with their own distinctive characteristics.

Jorma Hannikainen

Jorma Hannikainen, D.Mus., head of the church music department at Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland, where he supervises and tutors doctoral students at the DocMus (Doctoral School). His dissertation, Suomeksi suomalaisten tähden (“In Finnish for the Finns” [2006]) observed the relationship between text and melody in Michael Bartholdi Gunnaerus’ collection of Introits (1605), adapted to Finnish translations. Until 2007, he served as a church musician and a choir leader.