SOP Podcast #53 - the Poetry of Organ Music with Glenn Tompkins

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #53!

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 Art (Studio).

Around 1967/ 68 he had given up on continuing with the accordion as it seemed to be considered an out-of-date and somewhat unpopular instrument.  
Somewhere in the vicinity of the years 1999/ 2000, some friends gave him a beautiful vintage Scandalli accordion, a 4/5 reed instrument in LMMH configuration. The Scandalli rekindled his abiding interest in acoustic music, allowing him to experiment with all sorts of tonal blends from those beautiful Italian reeds.  

Glenn joined YouTube in 2009 and started making music videos to share with the worldwide community under the channel name FromHolbergsTime. Previously he had not realized the potential for making new friends through the sharing of music, but quickly he could see the value of this imaginative and extensive network of musicians, fans and music-lovers.  This chapter of Glenn's life has provided exceeding joy as he has rediscovered the positive attributes of folk music, traditional hymns, contemporary praise & worship, improvisation, Classical music, Gospel tunes and popular melodies.  
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In this conversation Glenn talks about the poetry of organ music.

Enjoy and share your comments below.
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Thanks for caring.

Related links:
www.fanfaresandreveries.com
Glenn on YouTube
Glenn on Facebook
Glenn on Twitter
​Glenn on Linkedin