Tag Archives: Central Arkansas Chapter of American Guild of Organists

Nathan Laube is featured in first 2020 CACAGO organ concert

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Tonight at 8pm, Nathan Laube will present an organ concert at Christ Episcopal Church.  It is presented by the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Nathan Laube is a leading performer and pedagogue who is beloved around the world. His extensive recital career includes major venues spanning four continents, with appearances at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Cathedral, and the Sejong Center, Seoul. Highlight performances in the USA include Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles; The Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas TX; Washington National Cathedral; Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall in Kansas City, MO; and Spivey Hall in Morrow, GA. His recent appearances have included the first inaugural recital of the restored Harrison & Harrison organ of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, as well as performances at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

He has two CD recordings available: the Stephen Paulus Grand Concerto on the Naxos label recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero, conducting, for which the Nashville Symphony received a GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium; and a more-recent solo recital recording on the Ambiente label recorded at the Stadtkirche in Nagold, Germany.

An Associate Professor of Organ on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and International Consultant in Organ Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, Nathan is frequently asked to teach master classes and workshops in connection with his concerts, and often serves on the faculty for Pipe Organ Encounters in the USA—clinics presented by The American Guild of Organists designed to introduce young keyboardists to the pipe organ and its vast repertoire. He has also taught at the Oberlin Summer Organ Academy in Ohio and at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Summer Organ Academy in Philadelphia, and regularly presents masterclasses in the United States and in Europe.

Janette Fishell organ concert tonight at 8pm at Christ Church

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The Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents Janette Fishell in concert tonight. The program will begin at 8pm at Christ Episcopal Church.

Janette Fishell holds degrees with honors in organ performance from Indiana University and Northwestern University, and is Professor of Organ and Chair of the Organ Department at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, where she has taught applied organ and Organ Pedagogy since 2008. A recitalist with a wide repertoire and interest in music of all periods, she has an especially keen interest in the organ works of J.S. Bach and Petr Eben, both of whose organ works she has performed in their entirety. Her collegiate studies included work with Wilma Jensen and Wolfgang Rübsam; sabbatical study with Ludger Lohmann focused on performance practices of the German Baroque and Romantic periods, as well an exploration of historic European instruments.

Named Young Organist of the Year by Keyboard Arts, Inc. while still an undergraduate, Dr. Fishell is a recitalist and teacher of international standing. She regularly performs in many of the greatest concert venues throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Her numerous compact disc recordings include performances of the music of Marcel Dupré, Petr Eben and J.S. Bach. Pas de Dieu: Music Sublime and Spirited, a recording of French Romantic repertoire released by Loft Recordings in July, 2006, is the premiere recording on the C.B. Fisk Opus 126. She has been featured in live radio broadcasts worldwide, including recital broadcasts for BBC London, NHK Tokyo, and Czech Radio, and is a frequent lecturer and adjudicator. The author of numerous articles, a book on service playing published by Abingdon Press, and composer of several works for choir and solo organ, she is widely recognized as a leading authority on the organ music of Czech composer Petr Eben.

Her two solo recitals on the C.B. Fisk Opus 55 organ of historic Old West Church, Boston at the 2014 National Convention of the AGO were hailed as convention highlights, “a precious jewel … the perfect match between performer, organ and music. Fishell has emerged as one of the best Bach performers on the planet.”

Organist Henry Webb highlights 16th Robert Young Ellis Concert

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The Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents The Sixteenth Annual Concert Celebrating the Life of Robert Young Ellis. Featuring Henry Webb, organist, it will take place tonight (April 5) at Christ Episcopal Church.  There is no admission cost.

Henry Webb is a Sophomore at the Eastman School of Music, studying Organ Performance with Nathan Laube. For the year following his high school graduation, Henry served as Organ Scholar at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, Texas under the guidance of Graham Schultz and Scott Dettra. Henry began his music studies in late 2010 and his teachers have included Christina Harmon and Scott Dettra.

In 2012, Henry received first prize in the Oklahoma City University High School Organ Competition. He has been featured as a recitalist in Texas and beyond, notably as part of the dedicatory series at the parish of Christ the King, Dallas, the Baylor University’s Pipedreams Live, and the 2016, 2017, and 2018 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

Henry has participated in numerous organ academies including the Oberlin Organ European Winter Term and Summer Academy, the Leipzig Europäische Orgelakademie, French and Spanish Organ Music Seminars, various Pipe Organ Encounters, and Curtis Institute Organ Camps. Henry also enjoys Astronomy, hiking, photography, and playing tennis.

Robert Young Ellis was Professor of Organ at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia for 35 years from 1952 to 1987. It is hoped that this series will inspire musicians young and old, as Ellis, through his teaching and playing, influenced innumerable students and colleagues who remember him as a musician of genius and as one who brought both wit and sophistication to the lesson and to the classroom.

William Trafka presents organ concert tonight

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The Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents William K. Trafka in concert tonight.  The program starts at 8pm at Trinity Episcopal, 310 West 17th Street.

From 1995-2018, William K. Trafka was the Director of Music and Organist at St. Bartholomew’s Church, having served as Associate Organist beginning in 1985. At St. Bartholomew’s, he directed music for three diverse services each Sunday and oversaw a choral program which included a professional choir, a volunteer choir and an extensive program for boy and girl choristers. He has directed St. Bartholomew’s Summer Festival of Sacred Music.

He was the Artistic Director of the Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation, a corporation presenting Great Music at St. Bart’s, a concert series, which included performances by St. Bartholomew’s Choir and Boy and Girl Choristers as well as a host of guest artists and ensembles, which included Jessye Norman, Sylvia McNair, Betty Buckley and the Empire Brass. At St. Bartholomew’s, he conducted the premieres of works by such notable composers as James MacMillan, David Conte and Ēriks Ešenvalds.

He is a magna cum lauda graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he was a student of David Craighead and was awarded the Performer’s Certificate in organ performance. As a recitalist, he has performed on concert series throughout the US, Europe and Central America. Recently, he served as Adjunct Professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. As a composer, he has had works performed by St. Bartholomew’s Choir, The Washington Bach Consort, The National Cathedral Choral Society and Cerddorian.

His recording credits include several collaborations with the American Boychoir on the Angel and MusicMasters labels and with the Brass of the English Chamber Orchestra on the RCA label. Additionally, he has conducted St. Bartholomew’s Choir on three recordings on the Ethereal label. He also can be heard playing works of Leo Sowerby at St. Bartholomew’s on a 4-CD set entitled Great Organs of New York on the B&V label. His CD, entitled The Symphonic Organ, which includes his transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, was released on the Pro Organo label and has been critically acclaimed by such publications as the American Record Guide, The Diapason and The Living Church.

He presently serves as the Director of Music and Organist for Christ Church in Ridgewood, NJ, where he was appointed in November of 2018.

Organist Jonathan Ryan in concert tonight

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Acclaimed as “one of the brightest younger artists in the field today” (The Diapason), Jonathan Ryan will be presenting a concert at 8pm tonight at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. It is sponsored by the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Mr. Ryan has the rare distinction of holding six First Prize awards from major international and national organ competitions. He most notably entered the international spotlight when awarded First Prize in the 2009 Jordan II International Organ Competition, one of the most substantial First Prize awards of any organ competition at the time.

He was additionally awarded the only auxiliary prize at the Jordan Competition, the LeTourneau Concerto Prize, given for the best performance of a newly commissioned work for organ and percussion ensemble. Additional First Prize awards include the 2006 Arthur Poister National Organ Competition, the 2006 John Rodland Scholarship Competition, the 2004 Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition (Young Professional Division), and the 2003 Augustana Arts-Reuter National Organ Competition.

Jonathan Ryan’s newest recording entitled Influences, recorded on the Stahlhuth-Jann organ at St. Martin’s Church, Dudelange Luxembourg, was released in December, 2015 on the independent boutique label, Acis. The recording features major works by Dupré and Willan, a premiere recording of Ad Wammes, and a commissioned piece by renowned English composer Philip Moore.

Mr. Ryan’s current performance projects include recitals of J.S. Bach’s monumental Clavier-Übung III in a tour on historically-based organs throughout the United States, including Stanford and Pacific Lutheran universities, St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus OH, St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston TX, Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale AZ, Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas TX, Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland OH, and Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington DE.

Born into a musical family in Charlotte NC, Ryan first started playing the organ at age eight. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree with academic honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied organ, improvisation, and church music with Todd Wilson. During his undergraduate studies, he was awarded the Henry Fusner Prize for outstanding achievement in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s organ department, and also assisted Todd Wilson at The Church of the Covenant as Student Intern in Music. As a student of David Higgs, Ryan received a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where he also studied improvisation with William Porter and conducting with William Weinert. Additionally, he holds the highest-ranking professional certification from the American Guild of Organists, the revered Fellow certificate, as well as the Choirmaster certificate for which he received the Choirmaster Prize.

Ryan serves as Director of Music and Organist at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, TX where his passions for conducting, performing and teaching combine with his love of sacred music at the country’s second largest Episcopal church.

Organ recital by Patrick A. Scott tonight at 8pm

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cacago Scott-Photo-NCOIThe Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents Patrick A. Scott tonight (February 19).

The recital will take place at St. James United Methodist Church at 8pm.

Patrick A. Scott is Assistant Organist-Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, appointed beginning in September 2014. A native of Picayune, Mississippi, he holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Birmingham-Southern College where he studied with Dr. James Cook. As a student of world-renowned organists, Drs. Judith and Gerre Hancock, Patrick earned the Master of Music in Organ Performance and Sacred Music and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance, both from the University of Texas at Austin. His other major teachers have included Betty Polk, Kathy Vail, and Betty Breland.

Dr. Scott is quickly becoming one of the nation’s prominent young organists having been awarded the first prize as well as the audience prize in the American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation held at the 2014 AGO National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston, he was also awarded second prize in the Schoenstein Hymn Playing Competition, making him the only organist to be a finalist in multiple competitions at one convention.

An active recitalist and accompanist, Dr. Scott has appeared in concert throughout the United States, as well as in France, Prague, Austria, Scotland, England, and Ireland. Prior to his appointment in Atlanta, Dr. Scott served Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, University Christian Church in Austin, Texas, and First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Jonathan William Moyer organ recital tonight

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cacago moyerThe Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists welcomes Jonathan William Moyer for a recital tonight.  It starts at 8pm at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church and is free.

Jonathan William Moyer maintains a dynamic career as an organist, pianist, singer, and conductor. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, including such venues as Washington National Cathedral, the Musashino Civic Cultural Hall in Tokyo, and at the Dvôrák Spring Festival in Prague and Vienna. He is a member of the critically acclaimed early music vocal ensemble Quire Cleveland.

At the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, Moyer oversees a music program consisting of a professional and amateur choir, children’s youth and handbell choirs, one of Cleveland’s largest pipe organs (E.M. Skinner/Aeolian Skinner/Holtkamp), the Newberry baroque organ (Richards Fowkes), and a 47-bell Dutch carillon.

In 2008, Moyer performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in four recitals at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, celebrating the centenary of the composer’s birth and the renovation of the cathedral’s organ. Also that year, he received second prize in the Sixth International Musashino Organ Competition in Tokyo, Japan. In 2005, he was one of four finalists in the St. Albans International Organ Competition. He has served on the executive committee of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.