Accompanying the Divine: Dramatic Improvisation in Liturgy and Silent Film

We often search for relevant meaning in our musical contributions to the liturgy we serve. In this hands-on workshop, we connect the dramatic musical expression found in successful silent film accompaniment and the dramatic meaning so hungered for by our congregations. In the silent film era, directors were often concerned with presenting stories that stirred audiences’ emotions. Across film genres, themes of social justice and the general state of the human condition are portrayed with great skill. How can we make similar and appropriate connections with our congregations through our music-making and, in particular, through musical improvisation?

Peter Krasinski

Peter Edwin Krasinski currently serves as organist of First Church of Christ, Scientist in Providence and as accompanist at Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, Massachusetts. He is on the faculty of the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School, Cambridge and serves as organ consultant on a number of high-profile projects. He holds both a Bachelor of Music in music education and organ performance and a Master of Sacred Music from Boston University. A winner of the first prize in improvisation in the American Guild of Organists National Competition, he has played in concert at many of the world’s most important organ venues. He has premiered the art of silent film accompaniment at many distinguished venues, including Saint Paul Church, Cambridge; National City Christian Church, Washington, D.C.; Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford; Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Montreal; Second Congregational Church, Holyoke; and major halls in Yokohama, Fukui, Miyazaki, and Kanazawa, Japan.

Richard Purvis Centennial: Character, Compositions, Contributions, and Controversies

Handout

Richard Purvis (1913–1994), Alexander McCurdy’s star student and a classmate of Leonard Bernstein’s at Curtis, elevated American service playing, compositional style, registration, and interpretation as San Francisco’s celebrity organist-choirmaster for twenty-five years. His tempestuous tenure as “Master of Grace” became untenable under Bishop Pike, an equally stormy figure. But Purvis, who wrote his famous setting of Greensleeves while a prisoner of war in Germany, went on to fame, influence, and legend as a performer, teacher, and composer with a passion for programmatic music, a habit of high drama, and a lively disdain for organ orthodoxy.

Welch, James

James Welch is university organist at Santa Clara University and organist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance from Stanford University, with further studies in France and Austria. His concert career includes performances at Notre-Dame Paris, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the National Cathedral, and the Mormon Tabernacle. He has also performed and taught in Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Jerusalem. A specialist in Latin American organ music, he received a Fulbright to perform and conduct research in Brazil; he also concertized in Mexico and edited three volumes of organ music by Mexican composers. Author of a major new biography, Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace, he has performed at conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the International Congress of Organists, written extensively for The American Organist and The Diapason, and released numerous recordings on a variety of organs.

 Pipe Organ Encounters: Growing and Changing

Andrew Peters & Nicole Marange

Pipe Organ Encounters (POE) is an educational outreach program of the AGO. Since its beginnings in 1988, it has grown to include POE for teens, POE Advanced for teens, POE+ for adults, and POE Technical for teens and young adults. If you are interested in hosting a POE, or simply wish to learn more, please join us to find how these programs are growing, and for details on the newest addition, POE Improv for teens.

Andrew Peters

Andrew Peters is pastoral musician at Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. He holds degrees from St. Olaf College and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and studied with John Ferguson and Todd Wilson. He has won numerous awards, including the Manz Scholarship, Rodland Competition, first place in the Twin Cities AGO Competition, second place in the Region VI AGO Young Artists Competition, second place in the San Marino Competition, second place in the Rodgers North American Organ Competition, and semi-finalist in AGO NYACOP. He has performed throughout the United States at venues including St. Philip’s Cathedral, Atlanta; St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City; DePauw University; and the Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago. He is a member of the AGO Committee on the New Organist, directed the 2010 POE in St. Louis, and is coordinator for the 2015 regional convention in St. Louis.

Nicole Marane

Australian-born Nicole Marane, DMA, is director of the Committee on the New Organist and the associate director of music/associate organist at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student of David Higgs and the recipient of a Graduate Teaching Assistant Prize for excellence in teaching. She earned her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honors at the Australian National University. She won First Prize in the Miami International Organ Competition and the John Rodland Memorial Scholarship Competition. An accomplished performer, she has given solo recitals throughout the world at prestigious venues such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, (New York City); and Sydney and Melbourne town halls, Australia.

Stretching the Skills of Church Choirs

Handout

Working with amateur singers in church choirs is a different world than working with professional singers. Auditioned choirs weed out singers with problems, but church music should be more inclusive than exclusive. Some singers hurt the sound of our choirs—what can we do about it? This session presents accessible paths to solving common vocal problems, using simple analogies to explain often-mysterious vocal terms, such as breath support, tone placement, and open throat. By following these suggestions, most of the vocal concerns of your singers will simply disappear. In addition, this session covers effective choral warm-ups, offering fresh, new exercises.

Michael Kemp

Michael Kemp, conductor, lecturer, and author, is conductor of the Academy Chorale and Academy Chamber Society in Philadelphia. He led prestigious church music programs in Texas, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, and served as both choral and orchestral director for Germantown Academy in Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania. While in Texas, he founded the Arlington Choral Society, which critics placed “on the top rung of choral music in the Dallas Metroplex,” and was church music lecturer at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. He built, from ground up, two adult community choruses, one community symphony orchestra, four church youth choirs, and two academic high school choirs. A respected choral clinician, he has taught in almost every state and Canadian province, and at national music conferences of fourteen different denominations. He authored The Choral Challenge: Practical Paths to Solving Problems (G.I.A.), with a second book on amateur choirs and aging singers available soon.

Side Dishes for the “Hymn and Sermon” Sandwich

Blended, or creative, worship—the church musician today sooner or later meets a request from a pastor, committee member, or congregant to “liven up” the service. Where is Julia Child when we need her? How do we design a service menu that satisfies the variety of tastes at the worship table? This workshop explores ideas to enrich worship using traditional music seasoned with a pinch of spice to add depth of flavor to the experience. Bring your ideas and experiences that have led your congregation to a richer sense of spirituality through worship.

Paul & Rebecca Schnells

Paul and Rebecca Schnell are both graduates of Westminster Choir College. They share a music ministry together at South Congregational Church UCC in Kennebunkport, Maine, where Rebecca is the choir director and Paul is the organist. They have served together in music ministry in Methodist, American Baptist, and Congregational (UCC) churches in Maine and Ohio. Rebecca enjoys the process of planning creative worship experiences, and has worked with liturgical arts groups in the design and production of banners, bulletin covers, and art projects to enhance worship, and in the production of adult and children’s musicals, drama, and dance. She has directed and coordinated children’s choir festivals and American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR)workshops. She has been soprano soloist with the Portland Maine Choral Art Society and the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Paul is a music educator in the Bonny Eagle School District in Standish, Maine. He is an active member of the Portland chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and has been coordinator of conventions for the Guild and the United Church of Christ Musician Association. When time permits, during the summer months, Rebecca and Paul can be found outdoors, caring for their many gardens including a wide variety of roses, perennials, vegetables, and a G-scale train garden.

Do Negro spirituals have a place in my church?

Handout

This hands-on workshop provides strategies to incorporate spirituals into congregation and church choir repertoires, and presents seminal works, key composers, and historic recordings to illustrate compositional and performance practices. Genres that grew out of the spirituals are also be discussed, including hymn composition begun around 1900, and the quartet and historic Gospel traditions begun around 1930. Vocal technique, diction, authenticity, and other practical matters are addressed in an open forum designed to confront apprehensions and eradicate misconceptions. Participants are introduced to a range of resources available for further learning.

Genithia Hogges

Genithia L. Hogges is a music teacher, choral conductor, singer, pianist, and flutist. From Harvard University, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature (English and Spanish) and a Master of Education in arts in education. She also holds a Master of Arts in music with a specialization in historical musicology from Boston University. She has taught English, general music, instrumental ensemble, chorus, gospel choir, and close-harmony/a cappella gospel ensemble at the middle, high school, and college levels. She has also conducted adult community choirs and church choirs. As a workshop facilitator, she has developed programs related to the African American sacred music tradition for Massachusettspublic schools in Lynn, Boston, and Newton. She has sung in operas and as a featured soprano soloist in the area.

Engaging the Twenty-First Century with the Oldest Organ Music

This workshop generously sponsored by the Central Arizona Chapter of the AGO

This workshop provides an overview of early repertoire and gives examples of how it can be integrated into organ recital programs to provide variety and perspective. Special techniques in performance can bring the music alive on the most seemingly inappropriate instruments. Understanding the contexts in which this music was created reveals interesting parallels with the issues facing us today. The earliest organ music can help create overarching themes that engage twenty-first-century audiences that have them coming back for more!

Kimberly Marshall

Kimberly Marshall is known worldwide for her compelling programs and presentations of organ music. She is an accomplished teacher, having held positions at Stanford University and the Royal Academy of Music, London. Winner of the Saint Albans International Organ Playing Competition in 1985, she has been a recitalist, workshop leader, and adjudicator at seven national conventions of the American Guild of Organists. Acclaimed as a specialist in early music, she has performed on many of the most significant historical organs in Europe. She is also a noted authority on contemporary organ repertoire, especially the music of György Ligeti. Her recordings and videos display the breadth of her interests, from Arnolt Schlick and sixteenth-century Italian composers to Chen Yi’s Dunhuang Fantasy. She currently holds the Patricia and Leonard Goldman Endowed Professorship in Organ at Arizona State University.

Error: Contact form not found.

Intermediate Choral Conducting Masterclass

Three conductors will be accepted into the intermediate category. They should be able to conduct standard sacred choral works a cappella or with keyboard accompaniment. Masterclass repertoire may include:

• Mozart: Ave verum corpus
• Mendelssohn: The Lord is a Mighty God
• Thompson: Alleluia
• Tallis: If ye love me

Advanced Choral Conducting Masterclass

Six conductors will be accepted into the advanced category. They should be able to conduct movements of large works with orchestra, including recitatives. Masterclass repertoire may include:

• Mozart: Coronation Mass (any movement)
• Handel: Messiah excerpts, nos. 14–16 (soprano recitatives: “There were shepherds” through “And suddenly there was with the angel”)
• Pinkham: Christmas Cantata (any movement)
• Britten: Festival Te Deum
• Bach: St. John Passion excerpt, no. 1 (“Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm in allen Landen herrlich ist!”)

Ann Howard Jones

Professor Ann Howard Jones is known throughout the country for her skill as a choral conductor and pedagogue; her ability to elicit technical and musical mastery from singers and conductors is unparalleled. She will lead conducting master classes focused on repertoire and appropriate conducting technique. Participants will be selected in two categories, advanced and intermediate, with one participant conducting during each of three fifteen-minute slots in each workshop.