Final Semester and Winter Break

This is my last semester at the University of Maine, as I will graduate in May with a BA in Music.  Spring Semester started on January 19.  I am taking 12 credits this semester:

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• Senior Project.  I am developing a lecture and recital on the topic of Organ Compositions for the Liturgical Year.  My advisor is Professor Kevin Birch. This is open to the public.
  
  

Friday, April 29, 2016, 8:30 am

at St. John’s Catholic Church

207 York Street, Bangor

A Reception will follow in the Church Hall.

• Independent study composition class with Professor Beth Wiemann.  I will write three pieces:  one for solo instrument, an art song, and a chamber music piece.
• Piano Literature from Robert Schumann (1810-1856) to the present.
• Organ Lessons with Kevin Birch
• Piano Lessons with Phillip Silver
• Voice Lessons with Marcia Gronewold Sly.

In addition to my coursework at school, I am serving as music intern at St. John’s and St. Teresa’s Catholic Churches, where, in addition to service playing, I am gaining more experience in choir training and program administration.  I am playing the organ for services at St. Teresa’s twice a month, and I am assisting Kevin Birch with the St. John’s Youth (first through eighth grades) and Adult choirs.

I sing in the St. John’s Chamber Choir, the St. John’s Adult Choir, the St. Teresa’s Schola, and the St. John’s Voices of Love (which sings at funerals).

The St. John’s Chamber Choir will present:

Musica Sacra – Lent 2016

Saturday, March 12, 2016, at 7:30 pm

St. John’s Catholic Church

207 York Street, Bangor.  

We will be performing Allegri’s Miserere (ca. 1630).  Until 1770, the Pope forbade writing this music down, so that it was exclusively performed in the Vatican.   This piece was made famous because when Mozart was 14, he heard it performed in the Sistene Chapel in the Vatican.  He then wrote it down entirely from memory.  Because of Mozart’s fame, instead of excommunicating him, the Pope praised Mozart’s musical genius.

Winter Break

During winter break I was joined by my daughter, Carletta, in New York January 13-17.  We visited friends and had the opportunity to attend several music events.

On Thursday morning, January 14, I attended a rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, under the baton of Alan Gilbert.

A poster in the lobby of David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center

The Program

Ottorino Respighi

Church Windows (1926) based on Gregorian chant melodies

Magnus Lindberg

Violin Concerto No. 2 (U.S. Premiere—New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) with Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin

Stravinsky

The Rite of Spring (1913)

This was written for the Ballet Russes in Paris and the revolutionary nature of the music and the choreography caused a near-riot when it was first performed.

Maestro Gilbert at the podium

Friday afternoon, Carletta and I visited the Museum of Modern Art where they had a special exhibit of Picasso and his contemporaries.  I particularly admired this Homage to J. S. Bach.

On Friday evening, Carletta and I attended a performance of Puccini’s Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

With Carletta in front of the orchestra area at the Met during intermission

On Saturday morning, I had the good fortune to practice on the Hellmuth Wolff, Opus 14 (1974), organ at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.

This link shows the stop list of this mechanical-action organ:

http://www.musiqueorguequebec.ca/orgues/etatsunis/nyorksje.html

Saturday afternoon, I attended Bizet’s Pearl Fishers at the Metropolitan Opera.

With Carletta and Julia and Helen Levine in Lincoln Center Plaza after the Pearl Fishers performance

Sunday afternoon, I attended the Choral Evensong at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.  This was followed by an organ concert by Australian Kurt Ison on the magnificent Taylor and Boody Organ.  

http://www.taylorandboody.com/opus_pages/opus_27/specification.html

He played works of Heinrich Scheidemann (1595-1663), Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748), and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

An Eventful Semester with Many "Firsts"

My last exam for the fall semester was on Thursday, December 17, and this was followed closely by Christmas.  This was a very eventful semester for me with many “firsts” in both school and my church music internship.  Some of the highlights were:

• Choral Conducting:  I conducted three choirs in rehearsals and in multiple settings: the Collegiate Chorale in two pieces in the November 14 concert, and in one piece at the December 6 Yuletide concert; the St. John’s Youth Choir in two pieces in two concert performances and Christmas Eve Mass; and the St. John’s Adult Choir in one piece in the Christmas concert and in Christmas Mass.  I learned a lot from these experiences and from my mentor for Collegiate Chorale, Francis Vogt, and my mentor for the St. John’s Choirs, Kevin Birch.  I would also like to recognize Clayton Smith, the accompanist for Collegiate Chorale.  Clayton mentored me in how to work with an accompanist.  Conducting is learned by doing and I appreciate these opportunities.

At the end of the November 14 Collegiate Chorale concert 

with some of my fellow student conductors:  

Rob Gelinas, Morgen Campbell, and Shane Cloutier

With Fran Vogt after the November 14 Collegiate Chorale Concert

Conducting the joint choirs of St. John’s 

at the December 20 Music Sacra Christmas Concert

Photo courtesy of Gayle Baber

• Service Playing:  I played for Masses at St. Teresa’s Church twice a month.  This gave me the opportunity to apply some of the music I was learning in my organ lessons in a liturgical setting, and to learn more hymns and other service music.  One of the highlights was the November 23 feast of Christ the King.  At this Mass, I was joined by Anthony Viselli on violin and Julia Alexander on flute.  We played a Mozart trio as a prelude and a violin and organ duo of Hanff’s Ein feste Burg during the Mass.

• Choral Singing:  I performed with the St. John’s Chamber Choir in our Advent concert on December 5 when we sang a Monteverdi Motet and Mass and the Vivaldi Magnificat.  The choir was joined by Heidi Powell and Richard Hsu on violin, Marisa Solomon on cello, and Abraham Ross on organ.  I feel blessed to be able to sing such beautiful music.

• Junior Standing:  One of my requirements for graduation is to pass Junior Standing.  This is my performing on the organ for a minimum of five faculty and their evaluation of my performance.  I am happy to report that I passed!  This is the program I played:

Prelude and Fugue in G Major (BWV 557)	Attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott   (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) with Anthony Viselli, violin	Johann Nicolaus Hanff (1665-1711/12) Arranged by Benjamin M. Culli for violin and organ
Wondrous Love: Variations for Organ	Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006)
Vom Himmel Hoch da komm ich her (From Heaven above to Earth I Come)	Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Fanfare	Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881)

I also played the Hanff Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott with Anthony Viselli at Recital Lab on November 23.  Here is a video of our performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1i0uPmlL7o&feature=youtu.be

• Organ Toccata:  This semester I learned to play Fanfare by Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881).  This is a toccata that moves very quickly.  When I first started to learn it I thought that I would never be able to play it up to tempo – there were so many notes!  I finally had a breakthrough with this piece when I memorized the parts of it that were difficult for me.  To memorize the piece I had to learn it more thoroughly, and with it memorized, I could watch my hands and my feet if needed.  I feel like I have moved up a level in organ playing by being able to perform this challenging piece.  In addition to playing Lemmens’ Fanfare for my Junior Standing, I played it as the postlude at the St. John’s Christmas Concert on December 20.

• Research skills:  Two of my courses this past semester had research components.  When I was an undergraduate for my first degree (BS Mathematics, 1973, University of Delaware), libraries still had card catalogs and were not yet computerized.  It was very valuable for me to learn how to use the computer to access many of the resources of the extensive Folger Library at the University of Maine.  I was part of a team with Hannah Babcock and Colin Graebert assigned to write a research paper on  Music of the Spheres  for our music history class.  Music of the Spheres is a scientific and philosophical concept, first articulated by Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher of the 6th century B.C.  Pythagoras believed that the universe has a mathematical root and that the proportions of the universe are related to the musical scale.  Thus the laws of music rule the entire universe.  Professor Stuart Marrs liked our paper so much that he requested to use it as an example for next year’s class.

With Hannah Babcock and Colin Graebert in the Student Union 

working on our research paper on Music of the Spheres

I feel very blessed by the opportunity to be learning so much.  I feel supported by my family, especially my husband, John, my friends, and my community as I learn the skills to become a church musician.

I am looking forward with excitement to the spring semester and my graduation in May!  I will be preparing and performing my senior project.  More on that later.

Fall Semester Classes, Concerts, and Internship

My fall semester classes are going very well.  It’s hard to believe that we have been in classes for over a month and are already in autumn break.  I am taking 7 courses this semester:

·      Music History (Western music history from the beginning until 1750)

·      Music Literature Lab (a course covering research in music, how to use music notation software, and how to record and edit music audio files)

·      Piano Literature from J.S. Bach (1685-1750) through Chopin (1810-1849)

·      Collegiate Chorale – one of five student conductors.  Our concert is on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 pm in Minsky Hall at the University of Maine.  I will conduct two pieces. 

o   “Antiphon” from Five Mystical Songs by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), which was first performed in 1911

o   “Shiloh,” an a cappella Christmas song by American composer William Billings (1746-1800), published in 1786 in The Suffolk Harmony.

·      Organ Lessons with Kevin Birch

·      Piano Lessons with Phillip Silver

·      Voice Lessons with Marcia Gronewold Sly.

In addition to my coursework at school, I am serving as music intern at St. John’s and St. Teresa’s Catholic Churches, where, in addition to service playing, I am gaining more experience in choir training and program administration.  I am playing the organ for services at St. Teresa’s twice a month, and I am assisting Kevin Birch with the St. John’s Youth (first through eighth grades) and Adult choirs.

I sing in the St. John’s Chamber Choir, the St. John’s Adult Choir, the St. Teresa’s Schola, and the St. John’s Voices of Love (which sings at funerals).

The St. John’s Chamber Choir will present Musica Sacra – Advent 2015 on Saturday, December 5, 2015, at 7:30 pm at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York Street, Bangor.  We will be performing Italian Masterworks of the 17^th and 18^th Centuries:

Mass for Four Voices (in F) - Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Motet: Beatus Vir qui timet Dominum - Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Magnificat in g - Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

We will be joined by guest artists:  Heidi Powell (violin), Richard Hsu (violin), and Abraham Ross (organ)

St John’s Chamber Choir 

in front of the altar at St. John’s Catholic Church, Bangor

Service Playing

This past summer I played the organ for eleven services at four churches.

At the console of E. & G. G. Hook, Opus 288 (1860), St. John’s Catholic Church, Bangor

At one of the Masses at St. John’s this summer I played some duets with Anthony Viselli, violinist.  Anthony is a fellow music student at the University of Maine.

With Susan White, oboeist, at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church, Brewer.  We often play duets together.

Hook & Hastings, Opus 2223 (1909), Hampden Highlands United Methodist Church

I am also privileged to practice regularly on this historic organ, which is 5 minutes from my home.

At the console of the Karl Wilhelm, Inc. (2000) organ, St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church, Blue Hill

McGill Summer Organ Academy in Montreal

Along with about 50 other organists, I attended the McGill Summer Organ Academy in Montreal July 20-30.  This Academy is held every two years and this was the 10^th Academy offered.

http://msoa.ca/

This academy offered 9 courses with 8 faculty from Canada, the United States, Italy, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.  The courses were held over two weeks and participants could register for the same or different courses for each week.  The courses were Master Classes and participants could audit or be an active participant in each course.  Active participants prepared organ pieces ahead of time to perform for the professor and the class.  I was active for two weeks in the Continuo class with Hank Knox, and active for the first week and audited the second week in the French Classical course with John Grew.  I learned a tremendous amount in both classes and I plan to attend again in two years.

In the Continuo Class I learned the standard 17^th and 18^th Century sequences and cadential formulas and to recognize the common figured bass chord symbols.  We used a harpsichord for this class and we accompanied a singer near the end of the class.

With Hank Knox at the harpsichord in Schulich Hall

In the French Classical class, we learned about the music of Clérambault and Couperin in the first week, and the music of de Grigny, and d’Anglebert in the second week.  This class included how to interpret this style of music: the articulation, fingering, various types of ornaments and notes inégales.  We were very fortunate to have our classes on the Hellmuth Wolff French classical organ, Opus 24 (1981) in Redpath Hall.  In preparation for the class, I learned three pieces by Clérambault: the Récit de Nazard and the Duo from his second suite, and the Fugue from the first suite.

With John Grew at the console of the Hellmuth Wolff organ in Redpath Hall

The McGill Academy included 10 faculty concerts, so we had a concert almost every evening, and two concerts on Saturday and two on Sunday.  Some of these concerts were at McGill University in Redpath Hall, and some were in area churches.  One of the most memorable concerts was presented on July 22 by William Porter and Edorardo Bellotti in Redpath Hall.  This concert began with Bellotti playing music of Pasquini and Storace on the harpsichord.  Then Porter played music of Nivers, Jullien, and de Grigny on the organ.  The highlight of this concert was Bellotti and Porter on two harpsichords improvising on the theme “Follia.”  This was billed as competition between the Italian and French styles.  This was delightful and the audience gave them a standing ovation.

On Saturday, July 25, the class took a field trip on a bus to the St. Benoit du Lac Abbey for an all-Bach concert by William Porter on the Karl Wilhelm organ and then to the Old Brick Church in West Brome for a concert by Edoardo Bellotti.  He played music of Frescobaldi, Merula, Zipoli, and Marcello on a replica of an early Italian organ and music of Frescobaldi and Pasquini on the harpsichord.

Replica of an Italian Organ at the Brick Church, West Brome

The McGill Academy was also an opportunity to meet organ lovers from around the world.  About half of the participants were students in a degree program and the other half were working organists.

With Linda Raney, Music Director at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico