His teachers for organ were Bernard Winsemius, Reitze Smits and Luc Ponet. Harpsichord and basso continuo he studied with Kris Verhelst.
He won prizes in a.o. Pistoia (Italy). Besides, he was awarded the Sweelinck-Müllerprijs 2014. Hugo is organist of St. Maartenskerk Zaltbommel where he plays the monumental Wolfferts-/ Heyneman organ from 1783. Besides, he performs as a soloist or as accompanist, he teaches and writes (musicological) articles. In this conversation, Hugo and I talk about his organist career and about the importance of focusing on the music, trying as many different organs as possible and always continue learning. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related Link: www.hugobakker.org SOP Podcast #99 - Gerd Hennecke and Markus Kumpf: Passion, Teachers and Practice on Different Organs6/18/2017
organists from Bavaria in Germany, Gerd Hennecke and Markus Kumpf.
We met at Vilnius University St. John's church last week where a few days before Gerd played a concert of organ, vocal and oboe music together with soprano Gunta Gelgote and oboist Juste Gelgotaite. Gerd kindly agreed to share his organ journey with our podcast listeners and even brought a friend Markus who was returning to Vilnius from another town, Nida, a UNESCO protected national treasure on the Curonian Spit in the Western part of Lithuania. Both Gerd and Markus also played a joint recital this week in Vilkyskiai, a small town with the German organ about 250 kilometers west from Vilnius. Gerd Hennecke was born in Schwabach, Germany, in 1970. After the completion of a degree in Sacred Music in Bayreuth, he undertook further studies of organ music with Domkantor Professor Hartmut Rohmeyer in Lübeck. Since 1995 he worked as professional church musician in Augsburg and Wolfsburg. His current employment as organist and choirmaster with the Protestant „Church of Christ“ in Sulzbach-Rosenberg started in February, 2001. His work with several choirs and instrumental ensembles is widely acknowledged. In 2017, he was awarded the title of „Church Music Director“ (Kirchenmusikdirektor). In 2001, Gerd founded the „Sulzbacher Kantorei“ choir, which over the years has performed numerous oratories and a-capella concerts, showing a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance up to the Modern Era. Furthermore, he is also working as organ expert and campanologist. Before his concert here in Vilnius I asked him a few questions and Gerd gladly shared his responses. Vidas: Which type of music programs do you prefer? Gerd: I appreciate all the different musical works featured in my concerts. However, each organ is a unique product, stilistically and musically, and thus, the main task of an organist is to find the appropriate works for the organ in question. I was very fortunate to play the organ at the St. John Church intensively in 2016. Both, the Church's interior and the organ itself favor grand scale compositions, which is why I have chosen masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Alexandre Guilmant. Moreover, the organ of St John's supports a variety of tonal colors with the main stops, which provides a perfect accompaniment for the oboe – every color and tuning of the oboe can be matched by an equivalent of the organ. Vidas: What's the greatest difficulty at playing the organ for you? Gerd: As every organ presents us with a unique „personality“, the most difficult thing is to adapt yourself to the instrument as quickly as possible. The organ in Vilnius has 64 stops, which are allocated to three manuals plus pedal. All stops can be combined with each other in a multitude of ways. Only if you are acquainted with a lot of different organs, you will be able to determine the suitable timbre for each composition. This is where my work as an organ expert comes into play. I am used to work with a multitude of organs on a daily basis. For exampe, I even had the chance to play some very interesting instruments in Lutheran churches in Lithuania: Vilnius, Kaunas, and Vilkyškiai. Vidas: What are your plans for future organ explorations? Gerd: It's a delight to witness the progress of organbuilding in Lithuania during the last three decades. The organ of St. John's in Vilnius is a significant example. Built by Rimantas Gucas, who was a visionary and idealist at the same time, it is the synthesis of Western organbuilding with Lithuanian influences. Even today, we can listen to the sound of pipes built by the great baroque organ builder Casparini. Gucas was able to create a masterpiece, in which the musical languages of France, Germany, and the Baltics are being combined to form a superb tonal entity. So in today's conversation, Gerd, Markus and I talk about their organist careers, the importance of having passion, good teachers and access to many different organs. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. You can reach Gerd andMarkus by email.
direction of Gerre Hancock. Upon his graduation from St. Thomas, he entered Interlochen Arts Academy where he began his organ studies as a student of Thomas Bara.
After high school, he attended the Eastman School of Music for two years; he then transferred to Westminster Choir College where he completed his BM in organ performance as a student of Ken Cowan. While at Westminster, he also studied harpsichord with Kathleen Scheide. Further organ studies and coachings have been with Roberta Gary, David Higgs, Susan Landale, Marie-Louise Langlais, Kimberly Marshall, Paula Pugh Romanaux, Kathleen Scheide, and Carole Terry. Edward has been recently appointed Sub Dean of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Currently Assistant Director of Music at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, his duties include directing numerous children's and handbell choirs and serving as principal accompanist for the 65-member Sanctuary Choir. Edward has previously held positions in New York City (Christ Church, Methodist), Morristown, NJ (St. Peter's Episcopal Church) and in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia (Grace Epiphany Episcopal Church). In addition to recitals at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and St. Thomas Church in New York City, and Old West Church, Boston, he has also performed in Germany and Wales as well as on the historic 18th century Andreas Silbermann organ in Strasbourg, France. Edward’s achievements as a church musician and performer were most recently recognized when he was named as a member of the “Class of 2017” by The Diapason magazine’s program, “20 under 30,” which lifts up young professionals in the world of organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. A major interest in contemporary organ music, particularly by American composers, led Edward to commission "E," "Fantasia," and "Parodies" by Kathleen Scheide; "Praeludium" and “Psalm 139” by Pamela Decker; "Prelude on the Carillon d'Alet" by Craig Phillips, and "Exordium" by Carson Cooman. A composer himself, “Flourishes and Reflections – Organ Music for Service or Recital” was recently released by Lorenz. In this conversation, Edward and I talk about his organist career and about his graceful strategy of dedicating his own compositions to other organists and composers. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related link: www.edwardlandin.com PS If you want to achieve your organ related goals faster than you would be on your own, I invite you to try out my Total Organist membership program for free for 30 days. SOP Podcast #97 - Gena Bedrosian on the Challenges with Advertising a Recital in the Church6/4/2017
the glory of God, not just performance. In retirement she performs in three choirs, on piano and pipe organ.
She reached out to me because she has a number of piano recitals coming up and one big organ recital planned for the next year. Gena faces a challenge in communicating with one particular church because they won't let her to advertise this recital using church's internal marketing tools: email newsletter, website promotion etc. It's a strange situation because it seems as though Gena has been scheduled to perform there, the church doesn't want people to come to her recital. So if you are facing similar challenges, I hope this conversation will be helpful to you because together we will find a solution how Gena could go about in solving this problem in a diplomatic way. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring.
He got interested in the organ back in the 70’s and always had a love for jazz music. He got enamored with organs, especially the Hammond organ, after listening to jazz organists like Jimmy Smith and Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith. It was exciting for him to hear some rock groups embrace and incorporate the Hammond organ in those days, like Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman. He quickly became a huge fan of those people and that sound.
Jay had played piano for some years, being taught in his youth by his mother, who was a pretty good pianist. He started playing saxophone early in school years and continued in that from Junior High through college. His favorite school groups were jazz ensembles. In the early 70’s, Jay joined a band and bought his first organ, a Hammond Model D, a huge monster of an organ. He played keyboards and woodwinds professionally in various groups for some fifteen years or so. Currently Jay has the privilege to play organ in his church services occasionally. In his church, ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’, (more commonly known as Mormons), there are no paid positions, which would include clergy and organists. People are asked by ecclesiastical leaders to fulfill positions for various lengths of time. So in his congregation, there is an organist that has been asked or ‘called’ to that position for an indeterminate length of time. When he is not able to attend our services, he usually asks Jay to fill in. He enjoys playing hymn and chorale type music, and is working to increase his proficiency in those areas. Jay's largest challenge is sight-reading. He didn’t do a whole lot of that playing professionally, and he feels he's playing catch-up with that now. So in this conversation, Jay and I devise a 30 day hymn sight-reading challenge for him as well as other practical details for his organ playing future. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related links: https://www.facebook.com/jay.farnes https://secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/hymn-playing-workshop https://secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/organ-hymn-improvisation-level-1
Christopher Henley. He is native of Talladega, Alabama and serves as the organist of Anniston First United Methodist Church, where he provides service music for the 8:30 and 10:30 traditional worship services, manages the Soli Deo Gloria Concert Series, and accompanies various vocal and instrumental ensembles.
Prior to his service at Anniston First, he served as the organist of the First United Methodist Church in Talladega and Pell City, Alabama. He is the founder and artistic director of The Noble Camerata, an auditioned vocal ensemble, that sings choral services in the Anniston, Alabama area and seasonal concerts. In addition to his church responsibilities, he serves on the faculty of the Community Music School of the University of Alabama, where is an instructor of piano. In March 2017, Christopher was named a member of the Class of 2017 “20 Under 30” by The Diapason magazine, an international journal of organ music, for his leadership in the field of organ and choral music. Mr. Henley is currently a senior in pursuit of the Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance at The University of Alabama where he studies with Dr. Faythe Freese. His piano teachers have included Mrs. Pamela Thomson, Dr. Edisher Savitski, and Dr. Tayna Gille. He is also a member of the Early Chamber Music Ensemble where he plays harpsichords for various groups. As a collaborative artist, he has joined with clarinetist, Michael Abrams, to form Basilica Duo: a duo performing works for clarinet and organ. He has accompanied various choirs, including the University Singers of The University of Alabama, the Jacksonville State University A cappella choir, and Talladega College Choir. He has also performed with the Alabama Symphonic Band and the Jacksonville State University Trombone Ensemble. Active as a performer, Mr. Henley has performed across the United States as a soloist. Recent performances have taken him to Saint Thomas, Fifth Avenue in New York City; First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska; Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois; and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley, California. Upcoming performances include appearances in Atlanta, Georgia; Ashland, Alabama; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York; Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Portland, Oregon. As a competitor, he received first prize in the 2013 University of Alabama Organ Scholarship Competition, the 2013 Minnie McNeil Carr Organ Scholarship Competition, and the 2012 Clarence Dickenson Organ Festival (Beginner). In 2015, he was a finalist for the Southeast Regional Competition for Young Organists for the American Guild of Organists in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mr. Henley is an active member of the American Guild of Organists and The University of Alabama Music Teachers National Association. In the AGO, he was appointed as a member of the executive board for the AGO Young Organists initiative for the Southeast Region. He also serves as the student affairs coordinator of the Birmingham Chapter. For MTNA, he has served the collegiate chapter of UA in the capacity of secretary. In this conversation Christopher shares his insights about his organ playing experiences as well as about the audience's aspect in creating art, responding to criticism, finding dialogue between fellow musicians and sharing your work with the world. We also talked about the value of blogging for organists. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related links: https://christopherbhenley.blog https://www.facebook.com/cbhenley https://www.instagram.com/Christopher.Henley https://twitter.com/cbkhenley https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXRM_0TCuUT8FcfPq7crAng http://annistonfirst.info
in France. He is Professor Emeritus of Harpsichord at the Conservatory of the 18th precinct in Paris and Organist Emeritus at Saint-Jean de Montmartre Church, also in Paris.
He has recently published the 10th volume of the his comprehensive Harpsichord Method. This treatise is especially suitable for organists because harpsichord and organ in early music are very closely related - they are like cousins. Frank wrote this method because he started teaching harpsichord back in 1992 and there was very little material available for beginners. There were few methods that were on the market and some had good ideas but they all started from the standpoint that the beginning pupil already had some basic musical knowledge and some basic keyboard technique. The first two or three pages were easy but afterwards they jumped to difficult things so he had always to add material making photocopies writing in his own exercises to fill these gaps. So Frank ended up by writing his own method to make something coherent and more easily accessible to people who have never heard of harpsichord. Since 1994 this method is being used in 27 countries, covering Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. Frank hopes that he also will get students from Africa in the future. Frank has already been on our podcast talking about his Vol. 8 and now that this project has been completed it will be great to see his complete vision for students who want to learn early keyboard technique. Enjoy and share your comments below. If you like these conversations with the experts from the organ world, please help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Relevant link: Complete Harpsichord Method by Frank Mento: http://harpsichord-method.com
South Dakota. He performs with “nuance, polish, and personality” (Michael Barone, APM Pipedreams). Wyatt concertizes extensively throughout the United States by keeping an active concert schedule. he has performed in twenty-eight states throughout the US over the last seven years, and more recently in Europe.
Notable performance venues include the US Air Force Academy Protestant Cadet Chapel (Colorado Springs), St. Thomas Church (New York), St. Andrew’s Cathedral (Honolulu), St. George’s, Hanover Square (London), St. Mark Episcopal Cathedral (Seattle), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion – Balboa Park (San Diego), National City Christian Church (Washington D. C.) King’s Chapel (Boston), Trinity Church – Copley Square (Boston), Woolsey Hall – Yale University (New Haven), William Jewell College (Liberty), the Community of Christ Auditorium and Temple (Independence), the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles), and Overture Concert Hall (Madison). He performed at the 2012 AGO National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee as a Rising Star, having won the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists - Region VI in 2011. His performances have been heard on several episodes of American Public Media’s Pipedreams. His achievements in performance were recently recognized when he was named as a member of the "Class of 2016" by The Diapason's program, "20-under-30", which recognizes young leaders in the fields of organ, harpsichord, carillon, and church music. Wyatt has a passion for commissioning and performing new works for the organ. Over the last several years, he has commissioned and premiered works by David Cherwien, Carson Cooman, Emma Lou Diemer, Kurt Knecht, Kristina Langlois, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, among others. Wyatt is currently a doctoral student at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he studies organ performance with Dr. Carole Terry. He received his Master of Music degree from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Yale School of Music, where he studied organ performance with Dr. Martin Jean. His Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance is from the University of South Dakota, where he was an organ student of Dr. Larry Schou. Wyatt is the Organist at St. Alphonsus Parish in Seattle, Washington, where he plays the Fritts-Richards organ, Op. 4. In this conversation, among many other things, Wyatt talks about his experience in playing Bach's trio sonatas, Matthias Weckmann's gigantic cycle "Es ist das Heil" and his newest research on the late works of Max Reger. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related link: http://www.wyattsmith-organist.com
I'm writing these words to you after a long day of teaching at school where I still managed to write a blog post in between of classes after lunch.
It's 9:39 pm. I'm ready to go to bed soon but I know my readers are waiting for me to show up in their email inboxes. That's a powerful motivation for me to write tonight. If I remember correctly, I haven't missed a post in five years. Yes, sometimes I write them in advance and schedule them to be published later. But there's something new on my blog to read every day. I do this daily. No matter if I'm tired, no matter what kind of weather it is outside, no matter how I'm feeling. Because I have long ago adopted pro mentality. Long before I became a professional blogger. Mentality is everything. It gives me enormous rewards - as a person, organist, creator, artist, teacher, blogger, or thinker. There are numerous benefits of blogging for any person. When you read a lot and you think a lot, the only way you can sort out ideas that are swirling in your head is through writing down and sharing them. In my mind I'm joining the ranks of influential bloggers, such as Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss or Shaunta Grimes who think that EVERYONE on earth should write a daily blog. For me as an organist specifically blogging has helped spread the word about my expertise, build trust and credibility. If you're a concert organist, when you write regularly, engagingly and honestly about your organ playing activities, over time you'll increase chances of getting more invitations to play organ recitals. Recently, among other places I got invited to play a recital at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (2018) and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (2019). I'm not bragging here. I just want you to see what's possible for you too. Yes, you have to play well. But playing well won't cut it. There are thousands of organists who can play better than I do. But for some of my subscribers, I'm the best in their world. This is because I show up. Day after day. With generous and inspiring words. If I can do this, so can you. Don't try to be me, though. Because the world doesn't need two Vidas'. What the world needs is YOU. Also when the time will come for you start looking for an organist position, you have to remember that the first thing that your future boss will do before they invite you for an interview is to google your name. And what will they find online will determine their opinion about you (unless of course you'll be recommended by some people or sources they trust already). We call them influencers. Blogging for organists will help to build their platform online. That's pretty empowering feeling, trust me. You'll no longer be dependent on your boss, if things go sideways. You'll no longer feel helpless and worthless, if your pastor decides to fire you because you play your hymns too fast or too loud. You'll have options about how to make a living in the future. One of the options might even mean being your own boss (even when somebody else is paying you). I hope you will publish that blog post today before you hit the bed. Your future depends on it. I invite you to join my free 10 day mini course and learn how to get more organ recital opportunities in 60 days or less using my exact blogging system which got me invited to play recitals at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (2018), Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (2019) and many other places. Related link: http://www.vidaspinkevicius.com/freegift.html
working at Martin Vier organbuilding in black forest (restoring German early romantic organs).
In 2004 he continued his education by taking a masterclass in Ludwigsburg and in 2005 completing his MBA studies. The most important organ for Oliver is surely the Binns-Schulte organ in the church of Heilig Kreuz, Bonn-Limperich. It was his first project as the owner of Orgelbau Schulte and by far the most important project because it was the first English rebuild they did. His company would not be what it is now without this instrument. In this conversation, among many other things, Oliver talks about what does it take to restore old English organs. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Related links: http://www.orgelbau-schulte.de Oliver Schulte on Facebook |
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AuthorVidas Pinkevicius' conversations with internationally renown experts from the organ world - concert and church organists, improvisers, educators, composers, organ builders, musicologists and other people who help shape the future of our profession. Archives
November 2017
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