The Augustana Arts - Reuter Undergraduate Organ Competition took place the first week of March at Augustana Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado. This new national competition is unique in three ways: it is open only to undergraduates; the competitors are required to perform a concerto; and it includes hymn playing. Now in its second year, the competition is a joint effort by the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas, and Augustana Arts, a performing arts series in Denver, Colorado, based at Augustana Lutheran Church.
The competition began with the efforts of Cindy Lindeen-Martin, former coordinator of the Ottumwa, Iowa competition, who is organist and associate minister of music at Augustana Lutheran Church. Michael Shasberger is minister of music at Augustana, which has a chamber orchstra, thus making possible a concerto component. Last year's finalists have gone on to win other competitions and play recitals around the country. Three of the last eight finalists will be heard in a special recital, "Rising Stars," at the AGO national convention in Philadelphia.
This year's competition took place on March 9 on the Reuter Opus 2071 (IV/65) at Augustana Lutheran Church. Each of the four finalists played for 45 minutes: Christopher Jacobson, a junior studying with John Ferguson at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota; Lars Gjerde, originally from Norway and now a senior at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he studies with Marilyn Schempp; Christian Lane, a junior at the Eastman School of Music, studying with David Higgs; and Rico Contenti, a sophomore student of David Higgs at the Eastman School.
First prize ($5000) went to Christian Lane; second prize ($2000) to Rico Contenti; and honorable mention ($500 each) to Christopher Jacobson and Lars Gjerde. (Total prize money of $8000 is provided by the Reuter Organ Company.) The judges for the competition were Marilyn Mason, Joseph Galema, and Joyce Shupe Kull.
On Sunday, March 10, Jacobson, Gjerde and Contenti participated in the church's 10:15 am worship service, playing the prelude, postlude and one hymn. On Sunday afternoon, Marilyn Mason conducted a masterclass at Whatley Chapel, closing the session with a performance of Bach's Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C, BWV 564. In the evening a concert featured Christian Lane, Cindy Lindeen-Martin, the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, and the Augustana Chamber Choir, conducted by Michael Shasberger. The program opened with the Concertino for Organ, Strings, and Percussion by Pierre Petit, played by Lindeen-Martin and the orchestra, followed by the Te Deum by Charpentier. The rest of the program focussed on the competition, the finalists and the first prize winner. After presentations of the prizes by representatives of the Augustana Foundation, the Denver AGO chapter, and the Reuter Organ Company, Christian Lane played the Final from Vierne's First Organ Symphony. There followed Corrette's Concerto No. 2 in A, played by Lane and the chamber orchestra.
The third annual competition is scheduled for March 13-16, 2003. More information can be found on the Augustana and Reuter web sites:
--S. Christopher Leaver
