Tag Archives: Central Arkansas Chapter of American Guild of Organists

Brian Jones & Bruce Adami present recital tonight for Central Ark. Chapter of American Guild of Organists

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Tonight, the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents a benefit concert for Out of the Woods Animal Rescue of Arkansas.  

The organists are Brian Jones & Bruce Adami.  The concert is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted for Out of the Woods Animal Rescue.
It starts at 8pm at First Presbyterian Church.

Brian Jones, one of America’s most highly regarded church musicians, is Emeritus Director of Music and Organist at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, where he directed a widely acclaimed program from 1984 to 2004. He has since served in three interim positions: Director of Cathedral Music at the Cathedral of St John, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Director of Music at Old South Church in Boston; and Associate Organist of Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is active as an organ solo concert artist, and is in demand as guest conductor and accompanist.
In June, 2009, he was Organist in Residence at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco while the cathedral choir was on tour in Europe. He is Director of the Copley Singers, a Boston-based choir he founded in 2006, and with which he has appeared in the New England area as well as on Bermuda, where the singers collaborated with the Ensemble Singers of Bermuda in a concert in May, 2009 celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of the island. From January through May, 2010, Brian was Visiting Artist at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, Kentucky, where he collaborated with Erich Balling, Director of Music, in the outstanding program which features a choir of girls, boys, and men.

Bruce Adami is organist at Christ Episcopal Church, Exeter, New Hampshire. He has given solo organ recitals throughout New England. For more than thirty years, he has taught organists of all ages. From 1984 through 2004, he was director of music and organist at Brookside Congregational Church, UCC, in Manchester. He holds a Bachelor of Music in organ performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Haskell Thomson.

He is active in the New Hampshire chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), for which he has served as treasurer and dean. In 2009, he was the faculty coordinator for the AGO Pipe Organ Encounter in Manchester. Since 2008, he has taught students through the Young Organist Collaborative, and currently serves on the Young Organist Collaborative Committee.

Monday Musings: Bob Bidewell

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BidewellBob Bidewell is the founder of The Studio Theatre, organist, musical director, musician, singer, actor and theatre director.  In addition to The Studio Theatre, he has long been involved in the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and Little Rock Wind Symphony (both of which have upcoming events this week).  He has served in leadership roles of those and many other arts organizations in Central Arkansas.  As an actor, he has shared the stage with Broadway stars Matt Cavenaugh and Kyle Dean Massey.  Later this month The Studio Theatre will be performing the musical satire Reefer Madness.

-My earliest memory was (age and incident):
1-2 years old. Hearing train whistles and begging my parents to take me to see the trains.
-When I was in high school and imagined my adulthood, I thought I would be…
Band Director.
-Star Wars, Star Trek, Battle of the Network Stars, or Dancing with the Stars?
Star Wars.
-I most identify with the Winnie the Pooh character of…
Owl (not because I’m intelligent and brilliant but that I’m older, somewhat wiser and love to teach).
-The performer I’d drop everything to see is…
Carol Burnett.
-My first paying job was…
Mowing Neighbors Lawns.
-A book I think everyone should read is….
A Time to Kill (John Grisham).
-My favorite season is…
Autumn.
-We are all geeks (or experts) about something. My field is….
Musical Theatre.

Organ recital tonight in downtown

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The Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists welcomes Dr Judith Hancock for a recital this evening.  It begins at 8pm at Christ Episcopal Church. 

Judith Hancock, Senior Lecturer in Organ and Sacred Music, was the Associate Organist of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York.

She has also held positions of Organist and Choirmaster at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Cincinnati, and at churches in Bronxville, New York, and in Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Hancock has played many recitals throughout the United States, including several appearances at conventions of The American Guild of Organists. 

Dr. Hancock established an on-going series of solo organ recitals at St. Thomas Church, performing organ works of various composers. Recent series have included music for trumpet and organ, music for viola and organ, music for cello and organ, “Two Organists at One Keyboard” (performed with Gerre Hancock), “The Great German Tradition,” emphasizing works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Hindemith and Reger, and “The Great French Tradition” featuring works of Tournemire, Vierne and Duruflé and Dupré. 

Violin and Organ recital tonight at 8

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Tonight the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present a recital featuring Lisa Shihoten, violin and Ken Cowan, organ.  It will take place at 8pm at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Little Rock. This evening is a special recital benefiting the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center.

Lisa Shihoten, Violin

Violinist Lisa Shihoten enjoys an active career as a chamber musician, recitalist and teacher. She made her New York solo debut at Avery Fisher Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur and has received top prizes and awards from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the Marcia Polayes National Competition, and the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors National Competition. She has appeared with the ensemble Concertante, the American Chamber Players, the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and has performed at numerous summer festivals including the Caramoor Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the Verbier Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. She has also toured throughout Israel, Greece, and Turkey, and regularly tours this country in duo recital with organist Ken Cowan. Ms. Shihoten received her Bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School and her Master’s degree from the Yale School of Music.

Ken Cowan, Organ

A native of Thorold, Ontario, Canada, Ken Cowan received his Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Thomas Murray. Previous positions have included Associate Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, Associate Organist and Artist in Residence at Saint Bartholomew’s NYC, and Assistant Organist posts at St. James Episcopal Church, Saint Mary the Virgin in NYC, and Saint Clement’s Church in Philadelphia. In 2012 Mr. Cowan joined the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as Associate Professor and head of the organ program.

Mr. Cowan maintains a full studio of organ students and is one of the most sought-after concert organists in North America. He has won numerous awards in the United States and Canada; he has been a featured artist at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society and the Royal Canadian College of Organists; and he has been on the roster of Associate Organists for the famous Wanamaker Grand Court organ in Philadelphia. Mr. Cowan has also recorded several critically acclaimed CDs on the JAV label, and many of his recordings and live performances are regularly featured on the nationally distributed radio show PIPEDREAMS from American Public Media.

Scott Dettra on organ tonight

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CACAGO DetraThe Central Arkansas Chapter of the Arkansas Guild of Organists hosts another recital this evening.

Tonight’s musician is Scott Dettra. He will play at 8pm at First Presbyterian Church.

Scott Dettra has been acclaimed as one of the leading American concert organists of his generation. He combines an active performance schedule with his post as Director of Music and Organist at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, where he leads a vibrant music program in the country’s fifth largest Episcopal parish. Prior to his appointment in Dallas, he was for five years Organist and Associate Director of Music at Washington National Cathedral, where he served as principal organist and assisted with the direction of the Cathedral choirs. Mr. Dettra’s playing is known for its poetry, rhythmic intensity, and musical elegance. His recital at the 2014 national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Boston was widely acclaimed, and The American Organist described it as “music making of absolute authority and sophisticated expression, one of the week’s high points.”

Recent and upcoming performances include appearances in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, San Diego, Phoenix, Kansas City, Barbados, Canada, and Germany. He has performed at national conventions of the American Guild of Organists (2002, 2010, 2014), the Association of Anglican Musicians (1996, 2005, 2012), and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Arizona Bach Festival, the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. In addition to his concert appearances, his performances have been broadcast on American Public Media’s Pipedreams andPerformance Today, the BBC’s Choral Evensong, and The New York Philharmonic This Week.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Mr. Dettra holds two degrees from Westminster Choir College, where he was a student of Joan Lippincott, and has also studied jazz piano at Manhattan School of Music. He has previously held positions as Keyboard Artist of the Washington Bach Consort, Assistant Conductor of Washington’s Cathedral Choral Society, and church positions at St. Paul’s, K Street in Washington; St. Mark’s, Locust Street in Philadelphia; and Trinity Church, Princeton.

Organ Recital This Evening – Scott Dettra

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sdThe Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents Scott Dettra in an organ recital this evening.  It is a benefit for the Pediatric Injury Prevention Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.   The recital takes place at 8pm at Christ Episcopal Church

As the state lead center, the Injury Prevention Center at ACH and UAMS is responsible for developing the master plan of care for children and young adults with brain injuries throughout the entire state of Arkansas.

One of the finest concert organists of his generation, Scott Dettra combines an active concert schedule with his post as Director of Music at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, Texas, where he oversees one of the largest traditional Anglican music programs in the country. Prior to this recent appointment, he was for five years Organist and Associate Director of Music at Washington National Cathedral, where he served as principal organist and assisted with the direction of the Cathedral choirs.

Mr. Dettra’s performances have been praised by audiences and critics alike for their clarity, rhythmic intensity, and musical elegance. Recent and upcoming performances include recital appearances in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix, Austin, Winnipeg, Barbados, and Essen, Germany. He has performed at national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Arizona Bach Festival, the Bermuda Music Festival, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

Majestus, his most recent recording on the Loft label, features large-scale organ favorites performed on the Great Organ of Washington National Cathedral. Tongues of Fire features French music performed on the 325-rank organ of the Cadet Chapel at West Point, and may be found on the Pro Organo label.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Mr. Dettra holds two degrees from Westminster Choir College and has also studied jazz piano at Manhattan School of Music. He has previously held positions at St. Paul’s Parish, K Street in Washington; St. Mark’s Church, Philadelphia; and Trinity Church, Princeton. Additionally, he was accompanist of the American Boychoir for several years. His principal organ teachers have been Joan Lippincott, Dennis Keene, and his father, Lee Dettra.

 

 

Bradley Hunter Welch Organ Recital This Evening

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The Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents a recital by Bradley Hunter Welch tonight.  The recital begins at 8pm tonight at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church.

Hailed as “a world-class virtuoso” and “an expert at defining darks, lights, shadows and colors,” Bradley Hunter Welch is increasingly in demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and collaborative artist. A native of Knoxville, TN,  Dr. Welch holds the Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Musical Arts, Master of Music degrees, and the Artist Diploma from Yale University where he studied with Thomas Murray and Martin Jean.

He also holds the Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude from Baylor University where he studied with Joyce Jones. Dr. Welch has also continued his study of organ and piano technique with Sheila Paige.

Dr. Welch is the 2003 First Place winner of the Dallas International Organ Competition and was also awarded the Audience Prize for the second time, having previously won it in 2000. In 2005, he was a featured artist at three regional conventions of The American Guild of Organists, and he made his European debut in France performing in the Chartres Festival.

He has appeared as soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. With the DSO, he gave the world premier of Stephen Paulus’ Grand Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, the piece written for Bradley as the winner of the Dallas International Organ Competition.

Additionally, he has taught at Southern Methodist University and Baylor University. He is Director of Music & Arts/Organist at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX. In addition to these duties, he performs approximately 20 concerts annually under the exclusive artistic management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, Hartford, CT.