WORCESTER AGO NEWSLETTER MAY – JUNE 2014 (reverse chronological order) 6/16/2014

Congratulations to our Chapter-- and to our Dean--for winning the AGO Award for the Most Creative Programming! This distinction has netted the Chapter a $500 cash prize. Will Sherwood carefully prepared an impressive contest submission detailing our many Chapter offerings in a most creative way. Interestingly, it seems that two of our regular and popular ongoing activities were strongly considered in the judging and were instrumental in placing us first: First Thursday Lunch Bunch and First Monday Open Console. These plus our other varied programs have put the Worcester Chapter in the spotlight and earned us cash to add to our coffers for future creative programming! We're planning next year's events to continue to offer attractive and creative programs-- but most of all, let's strive to support our Chapter's efforts by attending them! Lucia Clemente Falco, Co-Sub Dean First ThursdayLunch Bunch – Summer Session! We'll continue our luncheon gatherings at Tweeds, Grove St, Worcester, noon, July 3. FAMILY DAY IN BOSTON THIS SATURDAY – prior to the convention next week. Look at the long list of great events! FREE! (we should have one in Worcester sometime!) Stop by for a day-registration in Boston next week – ride the train in from Worcester, Westboro, Framingham, Fitchburg, Acton

FAMILY DAY:

DISCOVER THE PIPE ORGAN. Dear Members,

Please let your friends, students, choristers, and family know about this great event.

Forward this e-mail, "like" and "share" it on Facebook, Twitter or other favorite social media.

This will be an amazing way to share our love for the organ with the greater community. Download the poster here. Thanks for spreading the good news!

OLD SOUTH CHURCH 10:00 AM-3:15 PM GORDON CHAPEL 11 am -3 pm There is a concurrent "hands on" DISCOVER THE ORGAN exhibit happening in Gordon Chapel with organ pipes and in an instrument for kids to play on. 10:00 "The organ is awesome" Vierne Symphony 3 - Movement 1 with NICOLE MARANE Pink Panther Suite with HARRY HUFF Guilmant Final with JONATHAN ORTLOFF 10:30 "Pricilla and Paul Principal find a home and make new friends" with PETER KRASINSKI An adventure story-musical improvisation that covers the different families of tone in the pipe organ. 10:45 Silent Film Hilarity: "Liberty," starring Laurel and Hardy, accompanied by JONATHAN ORTLOFF 11:15 "Sound of Music" Sing Along 11:30 "Peter and the Wolf" A narrated organ adventure with NICOLE MARANE 12:00 "The organ is awesome" "Candide Overture" with PETER KRASINSKI Mary Poppins Suite HARRY HUFF

Tchaikovsky Danse de coupes from SWAN LAKE with NICOLE MARANE 12:30 "Wizard of Oz" Sing along with PETER KRASINSKI 12:45 "In a Persian Market" with PETER KRASINSKI Kids get to play characters in a tableau based on the Ketelby Piece. 1:00 Silent Film Hilarity: "Big Business," starring Laurel and Hardy, accompanied by JONATHAN ORTLOFF 1:30 "Little Mermaid" Sing along with PETER KRASINSKI 1:45 Excepts from Walt Disney's FANTASIA including Toccata and Fugue in d minor. Live organ accompanies the famous Stokowski Segment on Screen with PETER KRASINSKI 2:00 JONATHAN ORTLOFF presents a choice program of music from the golden age of cinema. 2:15 "Peter and the Wolf" A narrated organ adventure with NICOLE MARANE

2:45 Silent Film Hilarity: THE RINK with Chaplin. 3:00 CLOSING: SING ALONG of WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR and IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL. EVENING-CHURCH OF THE COVENANT- 7:00-9:00

67 Newbury St. TWO SILENT MOVIE CLASSICS: COPS with Buster Keaton and Jonathan Ortloff at the organ. SPEEDY with Harold Lloyd and Peter Krasinski at the organ.

Family Organ

Day has been funded by: Centennial Millennium Fund of the New York City Chapter AGO IBM Corporation Boston Chapter AGO Special Projects Committee, the San Francisco Chapter AGO

It's not too late! Register here. Volunteer here. Events here. Support here.

6/1/2014 (not shown here: repeat of announcements for 5/28 First Monday, First Thursday)

Choral Composer Featured in WSJ – A delight to see musicians in the news

It's been a long time since an American classical composer became famous, much less popular. Philip Glass was probably the last one whose name would be passably well known to the public at large, and even Mr. Glass isn't nearly as famous as, say, Aaron Copland. That says a lot about the marginal place of high culture in America—none of it good.

So who ought to be famous? Or, to put it another way, who's writing classical music these days that's accessible enough to satisfy lay listeners, yet serious enough to impress trained musicians?

Morten Lauridsen, that's who -- he doesn't get talked about on television or written about in magazines.

Read more >> about his quiet lifestyle and what inspires him for compositions. 5/28/2014 First Monday Open Console – June 2 Holden Rescued Instrument Has Many Eyes On It

Given to St. Francis in 2012 by the former Christ Church, Barre, Opus 2344 was built by Hook & Hastings of Weston, Massachusetts in 1914. It has two keyboards and seven ranks of pipes – including an independent pedal stop. There are four couplers. While nearly a hundred years old, the organ is in excellent condition and awaits curious fingers to hear it in its new location. There will be a history display and refreshments. Mary Been is our host person. It's easy to find: 70 Highland Street (Rt. 31 North), just up from Main Street. June is the last of our Open Console gatherings for this season. RSVP appreciated

First Thursday – June 5 focus on: Care & Feeding of Substitutes Summertime is the time for engaging and contracting substitutes for your services. We'll be sharing resources for substitutes, experiences, and war stories. Even if you cannot attend, refresh yourself about Substitute Resources in the ADDITIONAL RESOURCES section of www.worcesterago.org/members_area/substitutes/ Espec: Checklist, Guidelines, etc. Join us Thursday June 5 noon at Tweeds on Grove Street/Worcester for our monthly gathering of good conversation and good food. RSVP appreciated

NOTE: Our LunchBunch has voted to continue throughout the summer in order to stay in contact and continue the great conversations.

WorcAGO Election Completed – It's Official

Our bi-annual elections were held mid-April to mid-May, with over 50% voting-member participation. We hope you were able to vote! Both motions and the slate of offices (including term limit suspension for dean) were overwhelmingly approved. The new board has already met to get a head start for the official fiscal year start of July 1. Fasten your seat belts for a great year ahead !

PASSED: suspend the term-limits for the office of Dean for this election. The Operating Procedures of the Worcester Chapter AGO limits the office of Dean to two terms only (four years). ELECTED: Dean: Will Sherwood (additional/final 2-year term) Co-Sub Deans: Lucia Clemente Falco (first 2-year term) and Kurt Blomstrom (first 2 year term) Secretary: Jim Moore (second 2-year term) Treasurer/Registrar: John Weit (second 2-year term) Members at Large: David Hagberg (second term) Stan Hanson (first term) Chris Lundell (first term) Juan Mesa (first term) Deb Colageo (first term) Bess Sproul (first term) Karin Gustafson (first term)

PASSED: MOTION 1: The Executive Committee moves that the Worcester Chapter AGO allocate $5,000 from the Special Projects fund for the use of encouraging new and young organists in the Greater Worcester Area.

PASSED: MOTION 2: The Executive Committee moves that the Worcester Chapter AGO allocate $10,000 for Worcester Chapter AGO public programming to raise awareness, popularity, and appreciation of the pipe organ.

Heartfelt Thanks to Those Leaving the Executive Board We appreciate the efforts and great work that our previous board members and elected officers have contributed: Members-at-large: Tom Ingrassia (who was our publicist for TAO and Diapason), Randy Bloom, and Liz Pekkala. Registrar: Jean Breidenbach, who tirelessly dealt with all the red tape at National Headquarters and was endlessly dealing with "mailing labels" (not only for chapter mailings, but also this was the antiquated method that national required us to send them lists of membership renewals(!) ). Among Our Members We say a sad goodbye to Brandon Vennink and Lei (Ray) Yu who along with their family will be moving to Texas. We wish them a fond farewell and godspeed.

Worcester Has Special Connection to Boston Convention Tune in to our home page during the convention for links to daily goings-on during the 2014 AGO National Convention held in Boston. Our Dean, Will Sherwood, is the convention photographer and will be posting daily image updates for the concerts, workshops, and happenings. Set your pistons to attend or tune in remotely from your web browser to the convention. Programming for 2013-14 – a Bumper-Crop Year Our 2013-14 programs, altho most events minimally attended, provided a wide variety of topics and appeal. Please see our program collection (PDFs): www.worcesterago.org/programs/pdf/ (click on individual PDF to view) Please see our year summary: www.worcesterago.org/membership/2013-14-pgms.php CONVENTION!

Purchase Individual Concert Tickets Click here to register for the convention. Click here to view the convention schedule.

Once Was Lost, But Now Found – The WPI Aeolian-Skinner Organ-Pipe Caper!

During a seasonal tuning in April, the organ technician noticed that about a dozen pipes were missing from the chamber's chests. Assuming a theft or student prank, WPI Campus Police was notified and a full investigation ensued. By coincidence while the police were fingerprinting and taking crime scene photos, a (Skype) conference call was in progress for the weekly music staff meeting in Alden Hall. The police interrupted the meeting to report their progress, and the professor calling in (from Maine) heard the ruckus and put 2' and 2' together and realized that HE was the culprit. He had "borrowed" the pipes (without leaving a note or telling anyone) for an innovative environmental sound/audio project being conducted from islands off the coast of Maine. The campus police pressed General Cancel, and all ended well. This is an only slightly embellished true story at WPI last month.

ST PAUL'S CAMBRIDGE CONCERT – Friday May 30, 7:00 p.m. St. Paul's Church, Harvard Square, 29 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge. Celebration for 50 years of Choir School; organ concert by students, alumni, and faculty. Free admission for Boston Chapter members. Click here for poster & more information.

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Designated National Monument

President Obama set aside a half million acres in the rugged, spiny desert outside Las Cruces, New Mexico last week--the largest land protection designation since he took office. Environmentalists have been pushing for such a designation for more than a decade.

Their name reflects their similarity in appearance (particularly the granite "needles" in the highest part of the range) with pipes that would be part of a pipe organ. Read about Organ Mountains

5/8/2014 2014-15 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED WorcAGO is delighted to introduce our newest class of scholars – Deborah Colageo, Laura Jenny, Catherine Merrill, and Joshua Pak. All are studying with William Ness. Welcome! SCHOLARSHIP RECITAL & ANNUAL MEETING THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON 5/10 Our annual meeting will be held at 3:30PM Saturday 5/10 at Pakachoag Church in the sanctuary. Important topics will be discussed. If you haven't voted yet, please help increase our participation rate (about 40% at present). At 4PM will be our annual scholarship recital featuring works by Bach, Dello Joio, Visser, Held, Mendlelssohn played by our scholars Anthony Chan, Sanghee Kim, Horatio Castro, Adrian Sanders, and Annette Siver. The Pakachoag acoustics and spectacular Op 69 Dobson II/31 will be the perfect host for this showcase concert. AGO members will meet at 3:30 for our brief annual meeting (also in the sanctuary). Jason Roberts Makes Worcester Debut Friday 5/9 7PM

On tap for Friday night are the Bach C major Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, excerpts from Widor Symphony V, the final movement of Dupre "Evocation," and a phenomenal three-movement improvisation on a submitted theme. 1st U is delighted to support young artists and share this FREE concert with the community, co-sponsored by WorcAGO. Aeolian-Skinner IV/69 Jason Roberts is Organist and Choirmaster at St. James’s Episcopal Church in West Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of Rice University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, his teachers have included Clyde Holloway, Martin Jean and McNeil Robinson. He is winner of the 2008 AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation and the 2007 Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition. He has recently presented recitals for the national conventions of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists. He has been a finalist at competitions in St. Albans, England and Haarlem, The Netherlands; and he enjoys accompanying silent films.

MERRIMACK VALLEY CHAPTER – AGO OPEN CONSOLE on MONDAY MAY 19th– 7:30 pm PHILLIPS ACADEMY 180 MAIN STREET, ANDOVER Andover Organ Company – Opus 85 [1981] bring your music, your shoes, come to play a nice organ and maybe ... discover some new organ works played by fellow AGO members ! REFRESHMENT AND COOKIES WILL BE PROVIDED PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE to Alain Bojarski (Sub-Dean) at alain.bojarski@comcast.net or 978-263-3979 Directions to Phillips Academy,

5/2/2014

In this 5/2 issue... - Composers Showcase at Mechanics (SUNDAY) - Barbara Owen travels west to introduce us to the Bulfinch Simmons organ in Lancaster (MONDAY 5/5 7PM) - Jason Roberts Worcester Debut Friday 5/9 (impressive improvisation!) - WorcAGO Scholarship recippients to show their stuff (what they learned this year!) 5/10 4PM - Charles Callahan honored - Organist Profession Relevance - NY Times article (by happenstance, publ. the same wkend as the Globe article, see last

newsletter) - Silent Film with Wurlitzer accpt at Hanover - Remember to AGO-VOTE (locally and nationally!)

Exciting Premieres Await You Sunday at Mechanics Hall Hear the newly refurbished Hook Organ – Celebrating 150 Years

Program Announced for Composers Showcase Seven WorcAGO members will perform their new compositions in a FREE concert Sunday May 4 at 3PM. From Lucia's Fantasy on Disney Tunes to Dorothy's Laudes Domini and Kevin's set of works for oboe and organ, this proves to be an interesting and enjoyable concert.

The concert begins with a three-movement Symphonic Improvisation by Peter Krasinski, includes Robin Dinda's delightful Kiya Pup Strut and Scott Olson's compositions for organ, and ends with chorus, piano, organ, handbells, and flute performing compositions by Malcolm Halliday. Support WorcAGO, the Hook's anniversary year, and your colleagues by your hearty presence and applause. Forward this to your choir and organ enthusiast friends!

Historic Simmons – Open Console: Monday 7PM Barbara Owen will be our guest historian Monday 5/5 at Lancaster's famous Bulfinch Church (First Church, Town Green, Main St/Rt 70; easy/free parking) (Near Trivium School, Thayer Conservatory, Atlantic Union Village Church, Perkins School). Bring some music to play, or sit back and listen to others GoogleMap TO WHET YOUR APPETITES . . . Until Wm. B D Simmons came along in the 1850s, the Hook firm (with which he apprenticed) really ruled the roost as Boston's major organ builder, with a big new factory built in 1854. Just a couple of years later Simmons, a relative newcomer, also put up a big factory, advertising that it had steam-powered machinery - and shortly afterward Hook added a boiler room for their own steam power! For a while the competition for big contracts was on, with Simmons building several large and important organs in the 1850s and 1860s, including one for Harvard University. He was 20 years younger than the Hook brothers, but unfortunately died in 1876 at the age of only 53 after some years of declining health, so most of his work, excellent as it was, was concentrated in just a couple of decades.

WorcAGO Scholarship Recipients in Concert – 5/10 4PM Pakachoag Church Each year our scholarship recipients treat us to the musical results of what they've been up to. Next Saturday, we'll hear works by Bach, Dello Joio, Visser, Held, Mendlelssohn played by our scholars Anthony Chan, Sanghee Kim, Horatio Castro, Adrian Sanders, and Annette Siver. The Pakachoag acoustics and spectacular Op 69 Dobson II/31 will be the perfect host for this showcase concert. AGO members will meet at 3:30 for our brief annual meeting (also in the sanctuary). Charles Callahan Honored Last Week

Christopher Babcock, member of the National Development Committee; Lois Toeppner, National Secretary; Charles Callahan.

A Concert and Gala Reception honoring Dr. Charles Callahan was held at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, St. Louis, Missouri last Friday. Callahan was celebrated for his lifetime achievements and was presented the AGO Endowment Fund Distinguished Artist Award. Callahan’s performance on the 118 rank, five-manual organ included repertoire from the founders of the American Guild of Organists. Biography and Composition List>>>

Relevance for Organist Profession Not organists, but musicians who happen to the play the organ…

The restored organ at the Royal Festival Hall Entire NY Times Article >>>

A Harmonic Drone Subsides in Britain Once Top Musicians, Organists See Loss of Relevance . . . With the decline in organized religion, parish organists earn token incomes — if the parish has an organist at all — and cathedral organists have suffered declines in influence and pay. . . . . . With no church taxes and no ongoing recognition of organs or organists as national treasures, Britain seems to be the poor relation. “Our problems are obvious,” said James O’Donnell, organist of Westminster Abbey and past president of the Royal College of Organists, “and we’re aware that we have to do something positive about them rather than just raise our hands and say ‘Oh no.’ ” . . . “I’m not aware of any crisis in finding the next generation of organists,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “The problem is that there are so few jobs to enable them to do it professionally.” . . .

Mighty Wurlitzer Just Down the Street Sunday May 11

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester, MA presents Buster Keaton in the 1928 silent film, Steamboat Bill, Jr. accompanied by Clark Wilson at the Hanover Theatre Mighty Wurlitzer. Sunday, May 11, 2014, 2:00 PM Buster Keaton stars as William Canfield, Jr., a Boston collegian, who returns to his deep-southern roots to reunite with his father, a crusty riverboat captain (Ernest Torrence) who is engaged in a bitter rivalry with a riverboat king, coincidentally, the father of Willie's sweetheart. Bring the WHOLE FAMILY to enjoy this classic film accompanied by Clark Wilson on the Hanover Theatre Mighty Wurlitzer! KIDS 16 YEARS OLD & UNDER ARE FREE WITH ADULT! > Click here for tickets and more information.