The Diapason, along with the Chicago and Fox Valley Chapters of the American Guild of Organists and the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the Organ Historical Society, will present a Midwinter Pipe Organ Conclave, Sunday and Monday, January 18-19, 2015, in La Grange, Illinois, near Chicago. La Grange is conveniently located to Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International Airports, and close to Interstate 294, with easy connections to Interstates 55, 57, 65, 80, 88, 90, 94, 290, and 355. There are several hotels less than three miles from the conference.
The Conclave opens Sunday evening with an organ recital by David Schrader in the First Presbyterian Church. He will perform on the 1962 Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1390, a three-manual, forty-rank organ from the period of Joseph Whiteford as tonal director.
Monday morning opens with a lecture by Stephen Schnurr at the First Presbyterian Church. Editor-at-Large for The Diapason and Director of Music for Saint Paul Catholic Church of Valparaiso, Indiana, Schnurr will discuss interesting organs, past and present, of La Grange and nearby suburbs of Chicago.
From First Church, we will travel a short distance to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, where Jonathan Rudy will perform on the 34-rank Berghaus Organ Company opus 215, finished in 2003. Rudy, the first prize and audience prize winner of the American Guild of Organists 2014 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP), is a doctoral student in organ and sacred music at Indiana University.
After a catered luncheon at First Presbyterian, Phillip Kloeckner, lecturer in the Department of Music and Associate University Organist of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, The University of Chicago, will speak about organs in post-colonial South America, many of which were imported from builders such as Cavaillé-Coll, Tamburini, and Walcker. He will also discuss the Italian immigrant to Perú, Innocente Foglia, apparently the only person to attempt to establish an organ building tradition in that country in that period.
Karen Brunssen, co-chair of the department of music performance, Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University, Evanston, will then present “Tried, True, and Teachable Vocal Techniques,” focusing on quick fixes that make the point, stick with the singer, and improve vocal and choral quality for those who have little time in rehearsal to stress vocal technique.
The final event will occur across the street in Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Scott Montgomery will present a recital on the church’s 1970 Casavant Frères, Limiteé, opus 3062, a three-manual, 63-rank organ from the late period of tonal director Lawrence Phelps. Montgomery has also performed for national conventions of the AGO and OHS, and, like Rudy, was first prize and audience prize winner of the 2006 AGO NYACOP. Director of music ministries and organist for Holy Cross Catholic Church, Champaign, Illinois, he has several compact disc recordings to his credit, as well.
Registration for the entire conference, including luncheon, is only $50. We are sure you will want to join us for this winter respite and refreshment!
