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OUR FEATURED ARTISTS
Organ Festival d'orgue is pleased to present the following artists:
We have commissioned the following composers to write music for the convention: |
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TIMOTHY J. ANDERSON
Children's Recital:
Christ Church Cathedral
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Baritone Timothy J. Anderson performs in opera, musical theatre and
non-lyric theatre across Canada and abroad. Now based in Edmonton, Alberta,
this former Ottawa resident has performed as a soloist with the Alberta
Baroque Ensemble, Pro Coro Canada, Guelph Spring Festival, Banff Centre,
Cantata Singers of Ottawa, Edmonton Opera, Alberta Opera Touring
Association, Opera Theatre of Alberta, NUOVA, and with various symphony
orchestras and choral societies, in repertoire which includes Beethoven's
Ninth, Mozart Requiem and Mass in C minor, Faure Requiem, Stravinsky Les
Noces, Henze's Moralities, Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs, Haydn'sCreation,
and of course Handel's Messiah. In theatre Mr. Anderson has performed in major regional
houses: The Pantages, The Citadel, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Calgary, and the
Canadian and/or world premieres of many major works, including the original Canadian
cast of Phantom of the Opera and starring in the Canadian premiere of The Secret Garden. His
operatic roles have included both Pooh-Bah and Ko-Ko in Mikado, Dulcamara in Elisir,
Gianni Schicchi, Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors, d'Obigny in Traviata,
and roles in the premieres of several Canadian works.
Mr. Anderson's work in theatre for young audiences includes school tours of operas, many productions with Stage Polaris, a commissioned touring adaptation of Beauty and the Beast for which he wrote both text and music, and Sleeping Dragons all Around with Allen Cole. As a librettist, Mr. Anderson has written texts for Canadian composers Clifford Ford, Denis Gougeon, John Estacio and David Parsons. He was librettist-in-residence at the Canadian Opera Company. In addition, he has two books published (one of poetry and one novel) and has had more than a dozen stage works professionally produced. In his spare time he works as editor/publisher of The Books Collective, a non-profit literary publishing house which has produced around 100 titles in the past 10 years. |
THOMAS ANNAND
CONCERT:
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Born in Nova Scotia, Thomas Annand received his training at McGill University where he studied organ with John Grew and harpsichord with Hank Knox. A grant from the Quebec government enabled him to study in France with noted organist Marie-Claire Alain and to undertake research at the Bibliothèque nationale. After winning the First Prize at the RCCO National Competition in 1987, he began his solo career. He has been featured annually as a soloist at the Carmel Bach Festival in California and has also received invitations to perform for the International Congress of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. He made his debut at the Boston Early Music Festival in June, 1999. Mr. Annand is Director of Music at St. Andrew's Church in Ottawa, harpsichordist and organist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, conductor of the Capital BrassWorks and founding member of the period instrument Gruppetto Baroque Ensemble. |
NADIA BEHMANN
Worship Service St. Alban's Anglican
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Nadia Behmann graduated with a B.A. Honours from Cairo University and a Licence de Musique from the Conservatoire du Caire.
She studied Organ in Waterloo with Barrie Cabena, and later in Ottawa with Gerald Bales and Godfrey Hewitt.
Mrs. Behmann has conducted a number of Children’s Choirs in Montreal and Ottawa and presently directs the Manotick School Primary and Junior Choirs. Her choirs participate regularly in the Kiwanis Music Festival where they have won several First Place awards. They were recently chosen to sing at the Opening ceremonies of the Mayor’s Summit Conference in Ottawa. At Dominion Chalmers Church in Ottawa, over a period of two years, Mrs. Behmann was responsible for the Millenium Series of Concerts. She organized and hosted organists and choral groups from the U.S.A. and Quebec. In Montreal, Mrs. Behmann was the organist at Beaurepaire United Church where she conducted workshops on “Music and Worship”. An active member of the R.C.C.O., she is responsible for Publicity for Organ Festival d’Orgue 2003 and is also a member of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors. Mrs. Behmann is organist and choir director at St. Alban’s Anglican Church. |
BEL CANTO WIND QUINTET
CONCERT: with Danielle Dubé
Knox Presbyterian
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Since 1988, audiences have enjoyed performances by the Bel Canto Wind Quintet.
Their programming extends from the baroque to our present century, with a strong commitment to
the promotion of Canadian composers. In addition to commissioning works from composers such as
Murray Adaskin and Jan Jarvlepp, the quintet has performed works by R. Murray Schafer,
Jacques Hétu, Harry Freedman and Larry Crosley.
The Bel Canto Wind Quintet has established itself as a leading Canadian chamber ensemble through many broadcasts over the years by CBC and Radio-Canada. Its members are: Beverley Robinson, flute; Lawrence Charge, oboe; Joy Skrapek, clarinet; Elizabeth Simpson, horn; and Benjamin Glossop, bassoon. |
ANTOINE
BOUCHARD
WORKSHOP:
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Father Antoine Bouchard trained as an organist with three teachers:
Léon Destroiamaisons and Claude Lavoie in Québec, and Gaston
Litaize in France. Upon returning to Canada he taught in the College in
Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière before joining the staff of the School
(now Faculty) of Music at Laval University, where he was director from
1977 to 1980. Before his recent retirement, he taught many organists, some
of whom have gone on to outstanding careers. He was nominated Professor
emeritus of the Laval Faculty of Music in June 1999.
Antoine Bouchard has given concert performances in Canada, the USA and France, and has made many recordings for the French network of the CBC, including a series of twenty-one concerts recorded on twenty-one historic instruments in six European countries. His many vinyl and CD recordings are mainly devoted to French and German Baroque music from the period 1650 to 1700. Antoine Bouchard played a leading role in the renewal of the Canadian organ building tradition, acting as a consultant for the tonal design of many instruments in eastern Canada. As a historian of the organ, he has contributed to several specialized journals, the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and the inventory of Québec’s cultural artefacts. He has also edited an anthology of organ music for service use. He is a co-founder of two organ societies active in Québec, the Amis de l’orgue de Québec and the Fédération québécoise des Amis de l’orgue. |
CAPITAL BRASSWORKS
CONCERT: with Thomas Annand National Arts Centre
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Capital BrassWorks is a professional ensemble of Ottawa brass players,
percussionists and organist/conductor Thomas Annand. The musicians, some
of the most respected players in the country, are drawn from the
National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. As
well as being devoted to the performance of brass chamber works, the
group hopes to foster a love of brass music through performances that
demonstrate the high quality of brass playing in the National Capital
Region.
Works performed include everything from Renaissance and Baroque transcriptions arranged by group members and others to contemporary works for brass in all styles. Concerts present a variety of ensemble combinations and organ features. Many of the players appear as soloists. Capital BrassWorks is also committed to promoting Canadian talent by performing original compositions and arrangements, and by showcasing individual performers. The last twenty years have seen a tremendous improvement in the level of brass playing worldwide and a greater recognition by the concert-going public of brass soloists and ensembles. As a result of such a widespread interest, a regular series of concerts has been initiated by the Capital BrassWorks. |
JAMES CALKIN
Worship Service First Baptist
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A native of Nova Scotia, James Calkin currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario
where, in addition to maintaining an active solo concert career, he is
Director of Music at First Baptist Church and conducts the Musica Viva
Singers.
From 1990-1994 he studied at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree and a University Medal. From 1994-1996 he studied organ performance at McGill University in Montréal, Québec with John Grew graduating with a Master of Music degree. In 1996-1997 he studied in France with the organists Louis Robilliard (Lyon) and Dominique Serve (Aix-en-Provence) concentrating on the works of César Franck and early masters. He has also studied privately and in master-classes with Craig Cramer (University of Notre Dame), Daniel Roth (Gunsbach), Piet Kee (Haarlem), and Harald Vogel (Haarlem). Mr. Calkin has been the recipient of professional awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, in addition to many academic scholarships and fellowships from both Dalhousie and McGill Universities. He has also been a prizewinner in numerous competitions including the National Playing Competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the John Robb Competition (Montréal). His solo concert activities include numerous recitals in Canada, the United States, and Germany. Recent engagements include concerts in Wiesbaden, Cologne, Altenberg, and Ottobeuren Germany as well as a performance of the Poulenc organ concerto in Halifax, N.S. This coming October he will again tour Germany with concerts in Bamberg, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, and Altenberg and in May 2004 he will perform a recital at Washington National Cathedral. |
JERZY CICHOCKI
Anthem Reading workshop
Marriott Hotel
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Jerzy Cichocki is a faculty member of St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto and is Organist and Choirmaster
of St. Andrew’s Church, Oakville, Associate Conductor of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, and Music Director
of the Victoria Scholars.
He studied at the University of Toronto and at Yale University, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Conducting in 1991. Dr. Cichocki is general editor of the Toronto Organ Series, a collection of contemporary organ works published by Jaymar Music Limited, and editor of the Thompson Sacred Choral Series, published by Gordon V. Thompson Music (a division of Warner/Chappell Music Canada Limited). In frequent demand as a clinician, Jerzy Cichocki has presented workshops across the country for a number of different musical organizations. Recent guest-conducting engagements have included the Elora Festival Singers, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. |
DANIELLE DUBÉ
CONCERT: with Bel Canto Wind Quintet
Knox Presbyterian
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Organist, harpsichordist and choir director, Danielle Dubé is active in the musical life of the National Capital Region. She was Director of Music at St. Peter's Lutheran Church from 1986 to 1999, and she is now Director and Professor of Organ at the Conservatoire du Québec à Hull. She is particularly interested in bot early and contemporary music, and has commissioned and performed several new pieces for organ. With her husband, Sylvain Barrette, she performed the complete organ works of Bach in 16 recitals. She has recorded several CD's, including "Noël avec Bach" and the complete works for organ of Déodat de Sévérac. Danielle Dubé has a diploma in Arts Administration, and has worked in communications at Radio-Canada and in the private sector. She has also participated in the planning and presentation of events for several cultural organizations: l'Orchestre de chambre de Hull, Concerts Bach and the RCCO. |
SEAN FERGUSON
COMPOSER:
Knox Presbyterian
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Sean Ferguson was born and raised in the remote Northern-Alberta community of Fort Vermilion. He has lived in Montreal since 1990, where he studied composition at McGill University. His interest in the mechanics of perception have lead him to carry out extensive research in psychoacoustics and to incorporate these findings into his compositional language. His instrumental works include Inside Passage for piano and orchestra (1999), Marées-Strates-Envolée for solo piano (1994-99), Apocryphal Graffiti for chamber orchestra (2000), Heiligenstadt for string orchestra (2001), Corranach for flute, cello and piano (2002), and In the Flesh for large orchestra (2003). He has also composed a number of mixed works for live performers with technology, including Vox Machina for soprano, chamber ensemble and multi-channel audio (1993), and Conversations for violin, clarinet, percussion and interactive computer system (1999). From 1997-2001 he was a counsellor of the Société québécoise de recherche en musique, for whom he was the artistic coordinator of three week-long festivals of Quebec music. Since 1999 he has been a member of the artistic committee of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. Sean Ferguson currently teaches composition at McGill University, where he is director of the Electronic Music Studio. |
JEAN
FERRARD
CONCERT:
St. Francois d'Assise
WORKSHOP:
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Jean Ferrard was born in 1944 in Watermael-Boitsfort, Belgium. After
studying the organ at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Brussels, he pursued
studies in Paris with Marie-Claire Alain. He won prizes in several international
competitions, and completed his studies with a degree in musicology from
the "Université Libre de Bruxelles".
Jean Ferrard produced a daily music news programme for more than ten years, and was then in charge of musical programming for Radio3, the classical station of RTBF. In 1985, he decided to devote his full time to teaching and performing music and musicology, while continuing to edit a weekly publication called "Le Magazine de l'orgue." Jean Ferrard is currently professor of organ at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. He spends a large part of his time on the preservation of historic organs in Belgium and has published an important critical inventory of organs in Brabant. He has supervised the restoration of several historic instruments. He has edited early music for organ and has produced several films for television, including a 90 minute film on J.S. Bach. He has been a member of juries for international competitions, and in 1988 was guest organ professor at McGill University in Montreal. |
CHRISTOPHER FISCHER
Workshop:
St Peter's Lutheran Church
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Christopher Fischer, MM, BMus, AMus, ARCCO, is Minister of Music at Dublin Street United Church in Guelph, Ontario. The holder of degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University and Arizona State University in vocal performance and choral music education, Chris has facilitated workshops for the Toronto School of Theology's Continuing Education Division and Resurrection Centre in Waterloo, Ontario, as well as several local congregations of the Presbyterian and Roman Catholic churches. He has served on the Presbyterian Church in Canada's Worship Advisory Committee, published articles concerning worship and music in the Presbyterian Record, and was a major contributor to that denomination's recent Book of Praise instructional video. Chris works throughout Southern Ontario, as an organist (Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Milton) and teacher, and has served professionally as both an accompanist/ vocal coach and as a chorister (with Tafelmusik, the Elora Festival Singers, the Phoenix Bach Choir, and Arcady). He sings with the Guelph Chamber Choir and is accompanist and vocal coach with the Guelph Youth Singers. His unique ecumenical background as a Roman Catholic musician with extensive experience in the liturgical and musical traditions of four Protestant denominations has provided Chris with a multi-dimensional perspective on the current state of congregational song amid the "worship wars" of the early 21st century, making clear that the way forward must be travelled together. |
ROBERT JONES
College Convocation:
Bruyère Convent
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ROBERT JONES grew up in Windsor and studied organ with David Palmer at the University of Windsor, where he obtained the Bachelor of Music degree in 1980. In 1982, he earned his Master of Music degree in Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario in London. His principal teachers were John McIntosh and Larry Cortner. Jones has also studied at the Royal School of Church Music in Croydon, England. He earned the Associateship and Choir Master diplomas from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. He has given recitals throughout Ontario, as well as in Saskatchewan and England's Coventry Cathedral. Robert Jones served as Director of Music at Central United Church in Sault Ste. Marie from 1982-99, and since 1999, has been the Organist and Choir Director at St. Luke's Anglican Church, Ottawa. |
JACOBUS
KLOPPERS
Composer Jack and the Beanstalk
WORKSHOP:
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Jacobus Kloppers was born in 1937 in Krugersdorp, South Africa where he completed a B.A., B.Mus. Hons degree and the Licentiates in Organ Performance and Teaching (1955-61). With the help of South African and German scholarships he continued organ study with Helmut Walcha at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik as well as Musicology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (1961-66), where he received a Ph.D. with a dissertation on the interpretation of J.S. Bach's organ music (Frankfurt University Press, 5 reprints). From 1966 to 1976 he taught Organ and Musicology at the University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. After emigrating to Canada in 1976 he became a founding faculty member and Music Department Chair of the King's University College in 1979, teaching Organ and Musicology. Dr. Kloppers has been active as organist, choir master, organ performer (including SABC and CBC broadcasting work and concerts in Germany, Austria and South Africa), lecturer on Bach interpretation, organ consultant, music examiner and as a composer. He is Adjunct Professor (Organ) at the University of Alberta, Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, member of the Canadian League of Composers and an Honorary Fellow of the RCCO. His approximately 60 compositions include liturgical organ and choral music, the Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani, Memoirs of a Canadian Organist (organ duet), Triptych "Carolingian Temperaments" (alto saxophone and organ), Jack and the Bean Stalk (Narrator and organ), Dance Suite (organ duo) and Reflections: Prologue, Variations and Epilogue on an Afrikaans Folk Song (piano). Most of the pieces are commissions (including CBC) and published (USA, South Africa, Germany and Canada) and have been broadcast by CBC, SABC, Radio Netherlands and USA ("Pipedreams"). A stylistic analysis of his solo organ music was written in a Master of Music thesis by Christiaan H.N. Carstens (1995, in Afrikaans), University of Port Elizabeth (South Africa). |
MATTHEW LARKIN
Organist for the SEVENTEEN VOYCES CONCERT
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Born in Oxford, England, Matthew Larkin came to Canada at the age of six, and received his early musical training as a boy chorister at St. George's Cathedral, Kingston, Ontario. He began organ lessons at age eleven with John Gallienne, and in 1981 he entered the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, as Organ Scholar of Trinity College, studying with John Tuttle; he later studied with Nicholas Danby at the Royal College of Music, London; his other teachers include Patrick Wedd and Jonathan Rennert. From 1988-95, he was Organist and Choirmaster of the Church of St. John the Divine, Victoria, B.C., and subsequently became Organist and Director of Music at St. Matthew's Church, Ottawa. While in Ottawa, he was Music Director of the Anglican Chorale (with whom he participated in three tours of Britain), Director of the Opera Lyra Boys' Choir, and Founding Director of Euphonia Chamber Choir, a position he retains. He is widely known as an organ recitalist and accompanist, choral conductor, composer, and recording artist. In September 2002 he became St. James' Cathedral's second Music Associate, being principally responsible for the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and the services it sings. |
RACHEL LAURIN
COLLEGE SERVICE:
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Born in the village of Saint-Benoît in 1961, Rachel Laurin received most of her musical training from Professor Raymond Daveluy.
She has won prizes for both her organ-playing and her musical compositions for various instruments and ensembles.
As well as the standard organ repertoire, she specializes in the performance of Canadian works, lesser-known masterpieces
and her own transcriptions for organ of great works for other instruments. She is also well-known for her performance and
teaching of the art of improvisation. Her compositions are published by Europart-Music and by Doberman. She was a founding
member of Mélodistes Indépendants, an association of composers dedicated to writing music that is at the
same time modern and accessible to the public.
Formerly Associate Organist at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Rachel Laurin has been Titular Organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ottawa since September, 2002. |
GILLES LECLERC
COMPOSER:
College Service
|
Born in Ottawa, Gilles M. Leclerc studied organ, with Gerald Bales and Patricia Wright, and composition
with Steven Gellmann at the University of Ottawa where he was awarded in 1984 the Jean-Marie Beaudet
Scholarship for Composition. The following year he was one of the recipients of the 1985 P.R.O. (now SOCAN)
National Young Composers Competition and that same year, premiered, live on Radio-Canada, his Élan
for piano. He also holds a Masters Degree in Musicology (1992) from the same University.
Since 1977, he has been organist of Église Saint-François d¹Assise in Ottawa where, in 1988, he oversaw the installation of a new Guilbault-Thérien tracker organ. Mr. Leclerc has composed extensively for liturgy, among other, four mass settings, two of which are available from Éditions LAUDEM (Montreal) and a third from Éditions Lucarel (Montreal). Of his many organ works, Variations on the theme of Pange lingua and Fantasy on the choral "Wie shön leuchet des Morgenstern" are available from Éditions Lucarel. His music has been heard in various concert series namely the organ recitals of Les Amis de l'orgue, the Ottawa-based Pro Organo series, the Vespérales de la Cathédrale (Montréal) and during past Ottawa Chamber Music Festivals. In April 2003, the Madawosky String Quartet presented on the CBC Radio network his Variation on a theme by Beethoven. His Rhapsody on Lasst uns erfreuen, commissioned by Organ Festival d'Orgue 2003, has just been published by the R.C.C.O. (Toronto). He is a member of the executive committee of Éditions Lucarel, on the board of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society and on the National Council of the R.C.C.O. Gilles Leclerc is a former president of the Ottawa Centre and was vice-president of Espace Musique (Ottawa). He is presently the Ottawa representative and a founding member of LAUDEM (L'Association des organistes liturgiques du Canada). |
LUDGER LOHMANN
CONCERT:
WORKSHOP:
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Ludger Lohmann was born in Herne, West Germany. He studied music and musicology at the Musikhochschule and the University of Cologne.
His organ teachers included Marie-Claire Alain, Anton Heiller and Wolfgang Stockmeier, and he studied harpsichord with
Hugo Ruf. Professor Lohmann has been a prize-winner in several international organ competitions, including Munich in 1979, and the
Grand Prix de Chartres in 1982. He wrote a musicological thesis on "Articulation Problems with Keyboard Instruments of the
16th to 18th Centuries". From 1979 to 1983, Professor Lohmann taught organ at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, and since 1983, he
has been Professor of Organ at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, where he is also titular organist at
St. Eberhard Catholic Cathedral.
Ludger Lohmann has been on juries for international competitions, and has been a guest professor for international courses and masterclasses, including the Summer Academy at McGill University in Montreal. He has performed in concert throughout Europe and North and South America, and in Japan and Korea. His recordings include music from the 16th to the 20th century. |
FRANCES MACDONNELL
COMPOSER:
College Service
Choral Evensong
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Born in Ottawa, Frances Macdonnell's first organ teacher was Godfrey Hewitt, her predecessor at the Cathedral. After attending Queen's University, she studied in London, England, with Ralph Downes and Douglas Hawkridge. On returning to Canada, she succeeded Dr. Hewitt on his retirement in 1980. With the Cathedral Choir of men and boys, she has made twelve recordings. Continuing her interest in the Arctic and its music, in 2000 she visited St. Jude's Cathedral, Iqaluit, Nunavut, to give two recitals on the first modern electronic organ in the Eastern Arctic, and gave several workshops for Inuit musicians, using a translator. She is the past chair of the National Examinations Committee of the RCCO and sits on National Council. She has composed a number of choral works for the Cathedral Choirs. |
TAMMY-JO
MORTENSEN
Children's Recital:
Christ Church Cathedral
|
Tammy-Jo Mortensen completed the Master of Music programme (pipe organ performance) at McGill University under the guidance of John Grew and Rejean Poirier in 1997. Previously, she studied organ under Marnie Giesbrecht at the University of Alberta where she graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Music degree. In 1993, she studied organ and piano at The King’s University College, Edmonton, with Jacobus Kloppers and received a grant from the Winspear Foundation to continue her studies at McGill. She is very interested in attracting young people to the organ and commissioned “Jack and the Beanstalk” (for organ and narrator) from Jacobus Kloppers. The composition was made possible in part by the College Development Fund of the RCCO. At present, she teaches privately, is the music director of St. Thomas’ Anglican Church in Sherwood Park, Alberta and manages the Sundays at 3 Organ Recital Series in Edmonton. |
DEIRDRE PIPER
COMPOSER:
College Service
|
Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Deirdre Piper studied at the University of Manchester (PhD in historical musicology) and at the Royal Manchester College of Music (organ and cello). Having held teaching positions at the University of Manchester and Huddersfield Polytechnic, she emigrated to Canada and is currently Associate Professor of Music and Supervisor of Performance Studies in the Music program at Carleton University in Ottawa. She is active as a performer (organist, pianist, choral conductor), and is Organist and Director of Choirs at St Matthias Anglican Church in Ottawa. As a composer, she has produced works for various solo, chamber and choral media. She is a member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the Canadian Musical Heritage Society, and the Canadian League of Composers. She serves on the board of the Association of Canadian Women Composers, is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and is affiliated with SOCAN. Other works may be heard on two disks available from the Canadian Music Centre or from the Canadian Musical Heritage Society: cscd-1002 [Views of the Piano Sonata (Elaine Keillor)] and cscd-1007 [Canadian Sounds: Deirdre Piper - Composer and Organist]. |
ALAN REESOR
Anthem Reading workshop
Marriott Hotel
|
Alan Reesor holds a Mus.Bac. from the University of Toronto and a M.Mus. from the Eastman School of Music as well as an Honorary Doctorate from the University of King's College, Halifax. He is a music Professor Emeritus at the University of Prince Edward Island and Organist/Choir Master at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Charlottetown. Dr. Reesor has given recitals throughout Ontario, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island as well as in England, France and the United States. He has published compositions for organ and choir and has made several recordings, including the recently re-released "Historic Pipe Organs of Prince Edward Island, Canadian Organ Music". Dr. Reesor is now First Vice-President of the R.C.C.O. |
JOACHIM
SEGGER
WORKSHOP:
Christ Church Cathedral
|
Joachim Segger is a versatile musician who performs piano recitals,
chamber music concerts, organ duos and piano concertos as well as organ
improvisations in various venues throughout North America and has performed
in Europe and South Africa. He is frequently heard on CBC broadcasts locally
and nationally. His piano professors include Ernesto Lejano and Helmut
Brauss (University of Alberta), Kürt Neumuller (Mozarteum, Salzburg),
Cecile Staub Genhart (Eastman School of Music) and Menahem Pressler (University
of Indiana). Joachim was the winner of the prestigious Canadian Women's
Club Competition in New York City, which resulted in a Carnegie Hall debut.
One of the youngest students at Eastman to receive the Performer’s Certificate,
he won the concerto competition and performed the Prokofiev Piano Concerto
no. 2 with David Effron and the Eastman Philharmonia. He was a semifinalist
in the Gina Bachauer, CBC, Robert Casadesus, Maryland and Bach International
Competitions and has premiered Canadian piano works. Joachim’s first piano
solo CD will be released in fall 2001;it includes works by Haydn, Beethoven,
Brahms, Mendelssohn and Ginastera. Dr. Segger is Associate Professor of
Piano and Theory at The King's University College, Edmonton, Alberta; Adjunct
Professor of Piano at the University of Alberta and Director of Music at
West End Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton.
Segger’s interest in organ improvisation started at a very young age when he began to improvise on hymns during the Sunday services. He studied organ with the well-known and respected pedagogue and choirmaster Dr. Hugh Bancroft. Joachim was a semifinalist in the National AGO improvisation competitions in 1998 and 2000. He is a respected church musician who delights in interpreting the texts of hymns through alternate harmonizations and other creative techniques as shown in his improvisations. Joachim has given many workshops on organ and piano improvisation at national conventions and conferences in Canada and the United States. Joachim Segger and Marnie Giesbrecht, President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, collaborate as Duo Majoya and perform frequently as chamber musicians. Their repertoire and concert programs are broad in scope, including transcriptions, improvisations (Joachim), new music, music and dance, and music and narration in addition to what is often called the "standard repertoire." Their performances and CD’s are being received with critical acclaim. CD’s include "Dancing Ice: Solo and Duo Canadian Organ Music" (1993 Arktos), "Transcriptions for Two: Firebird" organ and piano (Dec. 1997, Arktos) and "The Elegance and the Ecstasy" piano duets featuring works by Schubert, Mozart and Brahms (1999 Arktos). Duo Majoya has commissioned works for organ and piano by Howard Bashaw, Jeffrey McCune and Denis Bedard. Joe Utterback, a well-known American composer, heard Duo Majoya and wrote "Jazz Suite for organ and piano" for them. A new CD for organ and piano of commissioned works was recorded by Duo Majoya in Jack Singer Hall in Calgary Alberta and will be released early in 2002. |
SEVENTEEN VOYCES dir. Kevin Reeves
CONCERT:
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Inspired by his stint as interim choirmaster at St. Matthew's Church, in early 1997 Kevin Reeves brought together
17 outstanding Ottawa singers to form a new chamber ensemble, Seventeen Voyces.
Dedicated to performing challenging baroque masterpieces, the choir presented two initial concerts before
launching its official subscription series for 1997-1998.
From its beginning, critics have praised the group with comments like
Director Kevin Reeves has been a chorister with choirs such as St. Matthew's Church Choir, Ottawa; the Ontario Youth Choir; the Cantata Singers of Ottawa; St. Simon's Church Choir, Toronto; Tallis Choir, Toronto; and the Winnipeg Singers. As tenor soloist, his repertoire includes Monteverdi's Vespers; the role of Evangelist for Bach's Christmas Oratorio and St. John Passion; and Haydn's creation. Mr. Reeves is also a composer whose works have been sung by local choirs. Currently, he is embarking on a full-length opera based on the true story of Grey Owl. He is also President of Zephyrus Productions Ltd., which has won awards for its television drama and documentaries, and is a noted caricaturist. |
GORDON SLATER (Dominion Carilloneur of Canada)
Monday, July 21 2:00 pm |
GORDON SLATER, was given piano lessons from the age of four and started playing the carillon when he was seven by assisting his
father, James, the former Carillonneur at the Metropolitan United Church in Toronto. He later studied the carillon with Milford Myhre.
He held the position of Carillonneur at three Canadian carillons: the Rainbow Tower Carillon in Niagara Falls, Ontario; the Carlsberg Carillon of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto; and the Soldiers' Tower Carillon of the University of Toronto before being appointed Dominion Carillonneur of Canada in 1977. In that capacity he plays the Peace Tower Carillon at the Canadian Houses of Parliament in Ottawa in a regular recital series and for the special needs of the parliamentarians. He also teaches the carillon. Since 1978, Mr. Slater has been a Carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and was co-editor, with his wife Elsa, of that organization's annual Bulletin from 1979 to 1985. Mr. Slater has played numerous guest carillon recitals in Canada, the United States, England, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has made several carillon recordings. In his spare time, Gordon Slater conducts Divertimento, a 65-piece amateur orchestra, plays the bassoon and the contrabassoon with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and leads a professional Baroque trio from the harpsichord. |
FREDERICK
SWANN
CONCERT:
Guest Speaker at Banquet
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Frederick Swann is Organist Emeritus of The Crystal Cathedral in Garden
Grove, and Organ Artist-in-residence at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
in Palm Desert, California.
In the summer of 2001, after completing a 60-year career as a church organist, Mr. Swann retired from church work in order to devote his full time to concertizing for two more seasons, and enjoying life! One commentator noted that Mr. Swann has probably presided over more ranks of pipes and stopknobs than any organist in history given the size and prominence of the instruments with which his career has been most notably associated The Riverside Church in New York City (1957-1982), The Crystal Cathedral (1982-1998), and First Congregational Church of Los Angeles (1998-2001). During his tenure at the Crystal Cathedral Mr. Swann was widely regarded as the most visible organist in the world, as millions in every major city in more than 165 countries world-wide saw and heard him on the weekly televised services from the Cathedral. Mr. Swann holds degrees from Northwestern University and the School of Sacred Music at Union theological Seminary, each granted "with distinction". In addition to his prominent church positions, he was for ten years Chair of the Organ Department at the Manhattan School of Music and served on the faculties of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary as well as Teacher’s College of Columbia University, New York City. In addition to solo recital presentations in major churches, cathedrals and concert halls in North America and abroad, Mr. Swann performs frequently with symphony orchestras and choral organizations. Mr. Swann is sought after as a leader of organ and church music workshops
and has been retained frequently as a consultant for new pipe organs, including
some of the largest and most prominent in the country. His choral and organ
compositions are published by Fred Bock Music Company and Hinshaw Music,
Inc. His many recordings, past and present, have assisted in making his
name one of the best-known throughout the music world.
2385 Fenwood Road Cleveland, OH 44118 Toll Free (866) 721-9095 www.concertorganists.com |
MARK THALLANDER
WORKSHOP:
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Mark Thallander is currently involved in a doctoral program in sacred music at the University of Southern California.
He is an adjunct faculty member of Glendale College and Bethesda Christian University. Previously, for four years he
served as assistant professor of music at Vanguard University in Southern California. For eighteen years he was associate
organist at The Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, California, home church of Dr. Robert Schuller, and he played the organ
from time to time on Dr. Schuller's weekly televised church service, "The Hour of Power". Mark recently returned to
The Crystal Cathedral to participate in a special organ recital celebrating the 20th anniversary of the cathedral's organ,
and featuring past organists such as Frederick Swann and Richard Unfried. He has also served as organist and director of
music in several other California churches.
Mark has two CDs to his credit. One features piano arrangements of well-known hymns; the other, dynamic hymn arrangements performed at Lake Avenue Congregational Church. His hymn arrangements have been published by Thomas House and Fred Bock Music companies, where he is an organ editor. He is also a reviewer of organ music for Creator Magazine. Mark has served as clinician and organist for numerous national music conferences and church conventions. He has held offices in the American Guild of Organists, including serving as Dean of the Orange County (California) Chapter for three years. He is currently a member of the Program Committee for the Los Angeles A.G.O. 2004 national convention. |
CATHERINE
TODOROVSKI
CONCERT:
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Organist and harpsichordist Catherine Todorovski was born in Toulouse.
She studied the harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert in France and the late
Scott Ross and Réjean Poirier in Québec, where she also studied
organ with Antoine Bouchard. She graduated from the CNSM de Paris. She
completed a Master’s Degree un Harpsichord Performance and another in Organ
Performance at the Université Laval in Quebec City and she received
a Doctorate in Performance from the Université de Montréal
in 1992. Catherine Todorovski was unanimously awarded First Prize in the
1984 John Robb organ competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists
and won acclaim in several international organ competitions, particularly
at the 1985 Bruges International Organ Competition. She leads an active
concert career both as organist and harpsichordist. She has appeared as
a soloist with various baroque orchestras and has been invited to give
many recitals in festivals both in Canada and in Europe. She has recorded
over fifty recitals for the CBC and has recorded several CD’s on the Atma
and Syrius labels. Catherine Todorovski is a professor at the Conservatoire
de musique de Montréal and teaches also organ and harpsichord at
the Université de Montréal. She is the organist of the Church
of Saint-Antonin in Montréal.
DISCOGRAPHY
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