Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast

​Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #68! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is Phil Parkey who is the President and Tonal Director of Parkey OrganBuilders in Duluth Georgia (metro Atlanta), a position he has held since 1995. Phil is a trained organist with a BS degree from the University of North Carolina in Business Management and Administration with concentrations in accounting and economics. ​He has studied organ building with key personnel from Flentrop, Moller, and Aeolian-Skinner and has completed study tours of organ building in England, Germany, and France. Locally he has worked with the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, serving as Board Member At-Large, Sub-Dean, and Dean. He is a past president of the Atlanta Metropolitan Choral Arts Society. Phil's present duties include marketing, design, and tonal finishing, but he also works closely with his staff regarding mechanical and structural design of Parkey instruments. His work has carried him through the ce

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #67! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is Dr. James Kibbie who is Chair of the Organ Department and University Organist at the University of Michigan. He also maintains a full schedule of concert, recording, and festival engagements throughout North America and Europe, including appearances at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, Royal Festival Hall in London, Dvořak Hall in Prague, and Lincoln Center in New York. During his month-long concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1991, Pravda hailed him as “a marvelous organist, a brilliant interpreter.” A frequent jury member of international organ competitions, he has himself been awarded the Grand Prix d'Interprétation at the prestigious International Organ Competition of Chartres, France, and is also the only American to have won the International Organ Competition of the Prague Spring Festival in the former Czechoslovakia. James Kibbie's performances have been broadcast on radio and television in the USA,

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #66! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is organist and harpsichordist Gavin Black who is the Director of the Princeton Early Keyboard Center. Gavin is best known for his recordings of seventeenth-century keyboard music on the PGM label. He studied organ and harpsichord with Paul Jordan and Eugene Roan, and conducting with Jahja Ling and Otto-Werner Mueller, and attended Princeton University and Westminster Choir College. He served as Associate University Organist at Princeton from 1977 to1979, while a student there, and was Organist and Senior Choir Director at Hillsborough Reformed Church, Millstone, New Jersey, from 1988 until 1994. He has been a teacher of organ, harpsichord, clavichord and continuo-playing since 1979, teaching from time to time at Westminster Choir College and at the Westminster Conservatory of Music. He currently writes a monthly column on organ and harpsichord teaching for The Diapason. ​ As a performer, Gavin Black has focused o

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #57! http://www.organduo.lt ​Today’s guest is Peter Sykes who is one of the most distinguished and versatile keyboard artists performing today. (Photo by Susan Wilson) His playing has variously been called “compelling and moving,” “magnificent and revelatory,” and “bold, imaginative, and amazingly accurate.” In demand as a teacher and mentor of aspiring professional performers, he is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Historical Performance Department at Boston University. Since 1985 he has also served as Director of Music at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational. He has been adjudicator for competitions sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and the Bach International Harpsichord Festival in Montreal as well as the Broadwood Harpsichord Competition in London and the Miami International Organ Competition. A member of the board of the Cambridge Society for Early Music, he is a founding board member a

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #64! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast ​Today's guest is Robert McCormick who is the Organist and Choirmaster at Saint Mark's Church, Philadelphia. Prior to this apointment he was the Director of Music at St. Paul's Parish, Washington DC. Just recently Robert signed the contract with Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. A summa cum laude graduate in organ performance from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J., McCormick has received numerous awards. He is a frequent concert artist in such prestigious venues as the Great Organists Series at St. John’s Cathedral in Albuquerque, N.M., the New York City Pipe Organ Encounters and the Atlanta Summer Organ Festival, among others. ​Known for his ability in organ improvisation, McCormick was a semi-finalist in the St. Alban’s International Organ Festival Improvisation Competition. ​In this conversation Robert shares his insights about the art of organ improvisation. ​Enjoy and share your comments below. ​ And do

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #65! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast ​ Today's guest is ​Nico Declerck, an organist from Belgium and founder of orgelradio project - 24/7 internet radio broadcasts of organ music. Since January 4, 2016 orgelradio has reached more than 74.000 listeners in 137 countries. Nico studied the organ in Belgium (Antwerp) with Stanislas Deriemaeker and Joris Verdin. He followed masterclasses with Marie-Claire Alain, Bernard Foccroulle, Daniel Roth, Harald Vogel, Jos Van Immerseel en studied one year with Guy Bovet in Switzerland. He played the organ and harmonium in several orchestras with conductors as Heinrich Schiff, Philip Herreweghe, Silvio Varviso, Eliahu Inbal and Neville Marriner. He recorded a harmonium cd on his big V.Mustelharmonium with celesta. This cd is completely sold out. From 2001 to 2005 he was stage manager at the Bayreuther Festspiele (D) where he could work with conductors like Pierre Boulez, Christian Thielemann and Andrew Davis and with directors l

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #63! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is James D. Hicks from the USA who is most known for his Nordic Journey project the aim of which is to promote rarely heard and undiscovered organ music from the Nordic countries. ​Just a little over a week ago I met James in Vilnius where he for the first time in Lithuania performed music from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland as well Faroe and Åland islands on the largest pipe organ in Lithuania - Vilnius University St. John's church. His recital extremely well received by the listeners - many of them told they loved it to our security guard. Prior to that, James performed a recital of Finish music on the world-famous Walcker organ at the cathedral in Riga, Latvia. Although James spent just a weekend in Lithuania, it was enough to inspire him get to know more about the Baltic culture and perhaps to perform and record a CD of the Baltic organ music in the not too distant future. James lives and works out of Ber

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #62! Today's guest is Robin Gullbrandsson from Sweden who knows a whole lot about preserving heritage old churches and organs. He was born in 1980 and grew up on the countryside in western Sweden. Currently Robin is a heritage officer at Västergötland Museum in Skara from this winter, prior to that 2006-2016 he worked at Jönköping County Museum. His main field of expertise is controller and heritage expert in restoration works concerning churches, but also from time to time he deals with exhibitions and book projects. Robin graduated from Gothenburg university in 2003 with a master in archaeology combined with art history and heritage studies and had special interest in building archaeology. Robin is also a passionate black-and-white photographer and during several years he has traveled a lot through Transilvania. His iinterest for historical organs became more and more vivid after he started working in the heritage care with inventorisation of churches around

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #61! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is Arjan Breukhoven from the Netherlands who is the titular organist of the old church (builded in 1732) in Berkel and Rodenrijs. He plays each year about 450 concerts and services. He has worked on numerous recordings for radio and TV and about 200 CD’s and DVD’s. Besides all this, he is also the director of three large and well-known Dutch Male choirs. As a composer he is renowned for his many compositions for choir, organ and other instruments.Arjan was born in Rotterdam, studied organ and church music at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. At the same time, he studied piano, singing, improvisation and choir direction. Annually Arjan Breukhoven gives a great number of concerts as an international concert organist both at home and Europe, USA, Russia and Australia. In 2016 he shall play in USA, Austria and twice in Germany. The largest organ he ever played was the organ of the St. Patrick’s Basilica of Fremantl

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #60! https://www.organduo.lt Today's guest is ​Sławomir Zubrzycki – outstanding Polish pianist, soloist and chamber musician specializing in performing contemporary music, composer, and constructor of musical instruments. He's a graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow (1988, piano – prof. T. Żmudziński’s class, modern music – prof. A. Kaczyński’s class) and The Boston Conservatory of Music (1990-91). Fulbright Scholar. Prize winner at the prestigious Polish Piano Art Festival in Słupsk (1987). Sławomir Zubrzycki has been giving concerts in USA, Germany, Austria, Spain, Great Britain and Ukraine. He has made several recordings for Polskie Nagrania (Polish recording company), Polish Radio and Television. He was a lecturer at Summer Academy of Contemporary Music – Avantgarde Tirol in Austria (2005, 2007). In 2009, Zubrzycki came across the traces of a real rarity – Viola Organista – the instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but which had almost been unknown a

​Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #59! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is Dr. Scott Elsholz who currently serves as Music Director/Organist at the Catholic Church in Bartlett, TN, where he leads a vibrant music ministry of five vocal and instrumental ensembles. Previously, he served as Canon Organist/Choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Memphis, where he led a comprehensive cathedral music program, was responsible for developing larger diocesan-wide music and liturgy initiatives, and served as artistic director for the Music at St Mary’s concert series. In 2013, Scott was awarded Doctor of Music degree summa cum laude in Organ Performance/Literature at Indiana University, where he studied with Drs. Marilyn Keiser and Larry Smith. He also served the Jacobs School of Music as an Associate Instructor, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Church Music, Piano, and Music Theory. Scott received his B.M. and M.A. degrees in organ performance from Eastern Michigan Uni

​Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #58! Today's guest is David Knight, an organist from England. He was educated at the University of London and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has held posts as Director of Music at an English secondary school and a college of higher education. During this time he also had posts as accompanist and conductor of a selection of choirs. ​He has been a church organist for over forty years, not only for the Church of England, but also for the Church of Norway. He lived near Kristiansund on the west coast of Norway for four years. He taught at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for seven years and was an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music. He has performed in cathedrals in England, Ireland, Norway and Hong Kong. At present, he is Musical Director of the West Somerset Singers of Taunton, the Watchet Choral Society, and the Apollo Wind Band of Bristol. He is also the organist and choirmaster of Holy Trinity Church, Taunton. We have recorded this conv

Today’s guest is Lynne Davis, an American concert organist, pedagogue, and recording artist. She is world-renown for her expertise in French music, culture, and style. Having been educated by the finest American and French organ masters, her career was launched by taking First Prize at the 1975 St. Albans International Organ Competition in England – the eighth organist to receive that honor since the competition’s founding in 1962. Now a leading international concert artist and master teacher at the Wichita State University School of Music in Kansas, she has performed in nearly every cathedral in France, numerous major cities throughout Europe, and from coast to coast in the United States. Her activities have included being a featured performer and lecturer at two national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, a member of Chartres, Dallas, St. Albans, Tariverdiev, and Montréal international organ competition juries, and giving master classes and lectures about French organ literature and its histo

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #55! Helping Reach Your Dreams: http://www.organduo.lt Today's guest is Frederik Magle, a contemporary composer, concert organist and pianist from Denmark. His music has been performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zürcher Kammerorchester, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Riga Philharmonic Orchestra, South-Jutland Symphony Orchestra, violinist Nikolaj Znaider and many other ensembles and soloists. Frederik Magle also works with film scores and crossover music/fusion, blending contemporary classical music with other genre such as jazz, rock, electronica, and even hip-hop. On October 25th 2009 the first pipe organ with tonal design by Frederik Magle was inaugurated in Jørlunde church, Denmark. The instrument has 24 stops and 1360 pipes and is built by the organ builders Frobenius on specifications by Frederik Magle, who was hired as consultant by the church council. As a soloist on piano or pipe organ Frederik Ma

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #54! Secrets of Organ Playing - Helping Reach Your Dreams with Vidas Pinkevicius, DMA: http://www.organduo.lt Today's guest is Jeremy David Tarrant, an internationally acclaimed concert organist and church musician from Detroit, Michigan. In performances that are consistently hailed as elegant, communicative, and powerfully artistic, Mr. Tarrant is increasingly recognized as one of the finest organists of his generation. ​ ​​Since 2000, Jeremy has served as Organist and Choirmaster of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit where, in addition to playing for liturgies and concerts, he conducts the famed Cathedral Choirs. Prior to this appointment he served as the Cathedral’s Assistant Organist joining the staff in 1994. In April of 2007, he was seated as Canon Precentor of the Cathedral in thanksgiving and recognition of his role in the liturgical and musical life of the Cathedral community. He is the founding director of the Cathedral Choir School of Metrop

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #53! (hosted by Vidas PInkevicius, DMA) Secrets of Organ Playing - Helping Reach Your Dreams: http://www.organduo.lt Today's guest is Glenn Tompkins from Mesa, Arizona who is a fellow blogger, artist, improviser on accordion and a great lover of organ music. He has always been fascinated by sound, textures, color and atmosphere. Early in his life he learned to love music, having been drawn to such art by listening to his grandfather play the violin, harmonica, piano, organ and mandolin. His Uncle Walter gave him his 1930's Hohner accordion which stimulated a lifelong fascination with the study of instrumental music. In the 1950's his father provided for him to start music lessons at an accordion school in Bound Brook, New Jersey. From 1960 to 1965 Glenn attended Middlesex High School, then went on to Drew University at Madison, New Jersey from 1965 through 1970. At Drew he initially wanted to major in English, but subsequently decided to change his major to A

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #52! Today's guest is Dr. Marie Rubis Bauer who is Archdiocesan Director of Music – Cathedral Organist at Saint Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska which houses the landmark Martin Pasi, Op. 14 dual temperament pipe organ. Since 2010 she has also served as organ instructor on the Creighton University faculty. In this conversation, Dr. Rubis Bauer shares her ideas in her work as a church musician. Relevant link: http://www.stceciliacathedralmusic.org

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #51! (hosted by Vidas Pinkevicius, DMA): http://www.organduo.lt William Whitehead has gained a wide reputation for his engaging and inspiring interpretation of the organ repertoire. His concert career was given a boost when he won first prize at the Odense International organ competition in Denmark, 2004. Since then he has traveled widely giving concerts in Europe and the US. Trained at Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Music, William Whitehead is now a sought after organ teacher, teaching many students at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Previously he has held appointments as Assistant Organist, Rochester Cathedral, and was a professor at both the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music. As curator of the Orgelbüchlein project, William Whitehead is seeing through a large-scale project to 'complete' Bach's unfinished collection. This international project has already garnered much interest and is fast becoming a cross-section of the mos

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #50! (hosted by Vidas Pinkevicius, DMA) http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is Dr. Crista Miller, who is the Director of Music and Organist at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas. She is a Committee Chair for procuring Martin Pasi's Opus 19 organ and leads a growing music and concert program at the Sacred Heart. A member of EastWest Organists, she has performed in seven countries and twenty states, including her 2015 multi-media series "Projections" for Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston. In this conversation we talk about her work leading the New Music Committee at the 2016 AGO National Convention in Houston as well as her presentation about the modal music of Tournemire and Hakim which was presented at the convention and published in 2014’s Mystic Modern: The Music, Thought and Legacy of Charles Tournemire, the Op. 19 organ by Martin Pasi, and her newest double CD recording "Bonjour and Willkommen" on Acis Productions. Mak

Today's guest is Dr. Don Cook who is an Associate Professor of Organ at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah where he has been teaching since 1991. In that capacity he has blended multimedia with traditional one-on-one instruction in teaching beginning organ instruction to well over 5000 pianists. Prior to that time he held full-time organist positions at First UMC, Lubbock, Texas, and at Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from BYU, the DMA from the University of Kansas, and holds the AAGO certification. In his capacity as AGO National Councillor for Education, Dr. Cook is placing particular emphasis on harnessing the power of current technology in the educational work of the Guild. In this conversation, Dr. Cook talks about the AGO New Organist Web Page with free video tutorials which will be of great help to organists everywhere. ​Enjoy and share your comments below. ​ And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sha