Concerts & Recitals

Posts about Concerts and Recitals.

Valerie Harris Lecture Recital

Chapter News, Concerts & Recitals / By




Sunday, September 24, 2023

7:30 pm
Christ United Methodist Church
2375 East 3300 South
Salt Lake City, Utah

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Click to View Full-page Flyer
LECTURE RECITAL BY

VALERIE HARRIS, DMA

PRESENTED BY SLCAGO

The free Daily Organ Recitals at the Salt Lake Tabernacle are the longest running program of this type. 

By 1901, a regular schedule of recitals was instituted with rail travelers visitng daily by the thousands.

Come learn about the impact of these recitals on the hearts and minds of their worldwide audience and on the state of Utah.

Hear some of the favorites from the early recitals performed.

Dr. Valerie Harris

 has performed on many notable historic organs in Europe and the U.S. She performs as a guest recitalist at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Other recent performances were given in Belgium and the Netherlands. She has given many national and regional workshops and presentations; she serves on the faculty of the BYU Organ Workshops Program.

She holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts Degree in Organ Performance from Arizona State University, where she studied with Kimberly Marshall.
She holds a Master of Music in Organ Performance from Shenandoah University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University. She has also studied in Europe with Hans Davidsson, Pieter Dirksen, Luc Ponet, and Johannes Ebenbauer.

She serves as Dean of the Central Arizona Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, as National Media Chair for the National Federation of Music Clubs, and as Associate Music Director and Organist at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Fall Hymn Sing 2022

Concerts & Recitals / By

Friday, November 18, 2022

Saint Ambrose Catholic Church

2315 East Redondo Ave.

Salt Lake City, Utah

About the Organ

The 50-rank Bigelow & Co. pipe organ (Op. 36) was completed in 2013. Many of the pipes and windchests came from the Holtkamp organ that was located in Saint. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, a favorite instrument of local musicians that could be heard on the Sunday radio broadcasts performed by Clay Christiansen. The Holtkamp organ became available when Saint Mark’s commissioned a new instrument that was more suitable for the space. The organ was enlarged and a new case designed to match the unique architecture and stained-glass windows of Saint Ambrose. 

Program

 

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (CWM RHONDDA)

Organist: Stanley Heap

 

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (HYFRYDOL)

Organist: Christopher Huntzinger

 

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (NETTLETON)

Organist: Mark Atencio

 

The Water is Wide (O WALY, WALY)

Organist: Shelby Fisher

Trumpet: Maryna Pohlman

 

For the Beauty of the Earth (DIX)

Organist: Lora Kelly

 

Be Thou My Vision (SLANE)

Organist: Terry Jankowski

 

The King of Love My Shepherd Is (ST COLUMBIA)

Organist: Kristin Cook

 

Amazing Grace (NEW BRITAIN)

Organist: Shelby Fisher

Trumpet: Maryna Pohlman

 

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)

Organist: Rebecca Bennion

2021-2022 Eccles Organ Festival

Concerts & Recitals / By

Here are the upcoming events for the 2021-2022 Eccles Organ Festival:

Benjamin LaPrairie
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C

Sunday 14 November 2021 at 8:00 PM
Eccles Organ Festival Recital
Paul Jacobs
The Juilliard School of Music, New York, NY

Sunday 12 December 2021 at 8:00 PM
Brass and Organ Christmas Concert
Celebrate Christmas at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with a spectacular holiday performance featuring the Brass Section of the Utah Symphony.

Sunday 9 January 2022 at 8:00 PM
Eccles Organ Festival Recital
Bruce Neswick
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, OR

Friday 28 January 2022 at 7:30 PM
Open Gallery Night #1
A wonderful opportunity for organ enthusiasts of every age to explore and play the Cathedral’s Eccles Memorial Organ! Participation is limited. Please register here.

Sunday 13 February 2022 at 8:00 PM
Eccles Organ Festival Recital
James Kennerley
Municipal Organist of Portland, ME

Sunday 1 May and Sunday 22 May 2021 at 8:00 PM
The Complete Organ Works of César Franck
Franck’s organ music is arguably the most significant contribution to the repertoire after that of Bach. In celebration of the 200th birth anniversary of César Franck, Cathedral Organist Gabriele Terrone will perform the composer’s complete Organ Works in two special recitals.

Friday 20 May 2022 at 7:30 PM
Open Gallery Night #2
A wonderful opportunity for organ enthusiasts of every age to explore and play the Cathedral’s Eccles Memorial Organ! Participation is limited. Please register here.

Most Sundays at 5:30 PM
Sunday Evening Organ Recitals
Thirty-minute organ recitals are offered at 5:30 PM on most Sundays, from September through March. Visit here for the detailed performance schedule.

Event Report – Pipes & Potpourri 2020

Chapter News, Concerts & Recitals / By

Performers delighted an audience organ fans Tuesday night, 11 February 2020, at Pipes & Potpourri 2020, held in two organ venues in Ogden, Utah. 

Patrons first enjoyed the stylings of Mike Ohman as he played the Mighty Wurlitzer organ while accompanying a short silent film. Newell Dayley also joined Mike on trumpet for an enjoyable duet.

Patrons then walked a couple of blocks to the Ogden Utah Tabernacle where Dr. Richard Elliott, Organist at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, gave some introduction to the organ there and performed a recital. The recital included selections from Georg Frederic Handel, Peter Benoit, Camille Saint-Saens, Louis Vierne, and Dr. Elliott’s own “I Got Rhythm.”

The SLCAGO extends its sincere thanks to Perry’s Egyptian Theater and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their support of this dual-venue event. We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to our artists, Mike Ohman, Newell Dayley, and Richard Elliott, for their contributions to this event, certainly, and also for their dedicated service to church and community through music.

Event Report – Virtual Organs

Chapter News, Concerts & Recitals / By

On Saturday, 18 January 2020, thirty members and friends of the Salt Lake Chapter of the AGO (SLCAGO) met at the home of Dr. Clay Christiansen to learn about Virtual Organs. Dr. Christiansen has a very nice virtual organ installed in his home, the Christiansen III-109 Home Virtual Organ by R. M. Ballantyne Organs, Opus 33. The spec sheet is below.

CHRISTIANSEN-HOME-VIRTUAL-PIPE-ORGAN-BY-R-M-BALLANTYNE_190410Download

The event opened with Dr. Christiansen performing a brief recital on the organ. He played his own composition, Suite, described as follows:

The Suite is dedicated to Diane on the occasion of our 50th   Wedding Anniversary on 12 July 2018.  It opens with a Tribute in the form of a trumpet fanfare.  The playful Fugue mimics children at play, while A Mother’s Lullaby is sung while her babe is gently rocked to sleep.  The mischievously frolicking Scherzetto brings us back to energetic children while the final Exaltation reflects the sublime joy brought by a devoted wife and mother to her husband and family.  The Suite is published by MorningStar Music Publishers.

–Dr. Clay Christiansen

Following his recital, Charles Raasch, the engineer on this organ project, spoke to the group on the topic of virtual organs: the sampling process, software packages, configuration options, basic setup, and advanced setup. And there were questions a-plenty!

Charles Raasch is an electrical engineer by trade, and in addition to a passion for playing organ music, is involved in developing hardware and software for digital organs, having built several himself. He has sampled many pipe organs that are sold worldwide on the Hauptwerk software platform, which was the basis of this organ installation.  He is employed as an electrical engineer at Spireon in Irvine and is Past Dean of the Orange County AGO chapter. His presentation deck, which includes a great deal of background information, is attached below:

Click to open Charlie’s presentation on Google Docs

Following Charlie’s presentation, attendees were offered the chance to play the organ, “open console” style. About a dozen attendees played a variety of selections, each enjoying having Clay as their own personal registration assistant! “I’ve never sounded so good!” exclaimed several attendees. It was a good lesson in the principle that excellent registration choices can transform even the simplest of arrangements into pure magic. While each played, the rest of the attendees enjoyed chatting about organ playing over treats of cookies and grapes.

The SLCAGO Board wishes to thank Dr. Christiansen and Mr. Raasch for donating their time and talent to make this event such an interesting success!

Virtual Organ Showcase and Open Console

Certification & Training, Concerts & Recitals / By

Christiansen III-109 Home Virtual Organ by R. M. Ballantyne Organs, Opus 33

Come learn about virtual organs!

Clay Christiansen has invited chapter members to his home where he has a 3-manual virtual organ installed, the Christiansen III-109 Home Virtual Organ by R. M. Ballantyne Organs, Opus 33 (see organ spec attached).

  1. Recital: Clay will do a 20-minute recital of the five movements of his Suite, which shows off the organ well. 
  2. Virtual Organ Discussion: The organ engineer who work on this project, Charlie Raasch, will also join us by video conference to talk about the project and the organ’s design and installation. Learn about virtual organs from an expert! 
  3. Open Console: Finally, attendees will have the opportunity to play the organ, so bring your music and your organ shoes! 

Seating is limited to 35 attendees, so registration on the event page: https://slcago.org/event/virtual-organ-showcase-and-open-console/.

Benjamin Sheen to perform on October 13, 2019

Concerts & Recitals / By

Benjamin Sheen, Associate Organist at Saint Thomas Church in New York City, is one of Great Britain’s brightest young organists. Hailed as a “brilliant organist” by the New York Times, he is the 2013 winner of the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize in the inaugural Longwood Gardens Organ Competition, and that same year received Second Prize and the Jon Laukvik prize at the St. Alban’s International Organ Competition. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and the Juilliard School, is a prize-winning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and the 2011 recipient of the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal.

Benjamin Sheen will present a wonderful recital for the Eccles Organ Festival on Sunday 13 October 2019 at 8:00 PM at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Whitlock, Duruflé and others.

Eccles Organ Festival Recital: Benjamin Sheen

Christophe Mantoux in Recital on Temple Square

Concerts & Recitals / By

Christophe Mantoux will do a recital at Temple Square and a Master Class in Libby Gardner Hall during the last week of October 2019. Event details are at the end of this article.

French organist Christophe Mantoux is Professor of Organ at the Pôle Supérieur and the Conservatoire Régional de Paris where he teaches students from all over Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, and Japan.

Prior to his appointment in Paris, he was Professor of Organ at the Conservatoire National de Région of Strasbourg. He also holds the post of Titular Organist at the famous Church of Saint-Séverin in Paris where he has served since 1995.

A downloadable bio and outline of his recital is available on the Events pages below.

Master Class with Christophe Mantoux at Libby Gardner Hall
Christophe Mantoux in Recital at Temple Square