Organ Concert Series
Eighth Annual Organ Concert Series, 2011-2012The 2011-2012 year brings a new slate of exciting performances! Join us as we welcome:
FRÉDÉRIC BLANC - October 30, 2011
MICHAEL UNGER - January 29, 2012
DOUGLAS CLEVELAND - April 22, 2012
We look forward to seeing you at one, or all, of these great performances!
Performances are on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. in the sanctuary at 1345 Grace Avenue at the corner of Grace and Observatory Avenues in Hyde Park.
*The concerts are free and open to the public.
*Tickets are not required. There is limited reserved seating for our honored guests: media partners and upper level donors.
*Doors open at 3:00 p.m.
*Performances generally last 90 minutes with a short intermission.
*You are cordially invited to a reception to meet the artist immediately following each concert
*Your contributions designated to The Organ Concert Series Fund will enable us to continue to offer quality concerts to our members and to the community.
Artist Biographies for 2011-2012 SeasonFRÉDÉRIC BLANC
Originally from the Southwest of France, Frédéric Blanc began improvising at the piano and the organ very young, and discovered music.
After his studies at the Conservatories of Toulouse and Bordeaux, he continued perfecting his art with notable French organists André Fleury, Marie-Claire Alain, and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, of whom he became devoted disciple.
Winner of several international competitions (the « Grand Prix de Chartres », 2nd prize, 1996 ; and the Grand Prize of the Paris International Organ Competition, 1997), he now has a busy career as an international concert artist, playing recitals as a solo artist or with orchestra, and as an accompanist.
In parallel he participates in or leads radio broadcasts, conferences, and master classes throughout Europe and the United States (most recently at the Royal Academy of Music, London), on the subjects of French music and the art of improvisation. Among the American institutions where he has recently given master classes are Valparaiso University (Indiana), Stanford University (California), Hope College (Holland, Michigan), Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), Southern Methodist University (Dallas), the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), University of Michigan Ann Arbor and Arizona Sate University (Phoenix).
He is regularly invited as a guest recitalist by a number of international organ festivals : Bonn, Chartres, Roquevaire, Toulouse-les-Orgues, Rome, Monaco.
Frédéric Blanc is a member of the Organ Commission for the City of Paris, and a member of the Commission for non-protected organs [not historically classified by the French State] for the Director of Music for the French Ministry of Culture.
He has recorded for EMI, Aeolus, Motette and Baroque Notes, specializing in the French organ school as well as the French art of improvisation; these recording have been praised by music critics in many countries.
He is the author of a study of the life and works of André Fleury (L’Orgue-cahiers et mémoires), and a monumental work dedicated to the memoirs and writings of Maurice Duruflé (Editions Séguier, Paris), as well as reconstructions of a number of the improvisations of Pierre Cochereau (Editions Butz).
He has served as titular organist of the great Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Church of Notre-Dame of Auteuil, Paris ; and Music Director of the Association Maurice et Marie-Madeleine Duruflé.
MICHAEL UNGER
Canadian-born organist and harpsichordist Michael Unger currently resides in Rochester, New York. A multiple-award winning performer, he has appeared in recital as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Europe and Japan. In 2008, he was awarded both First Prize and Audience Prize in the American Guild of Organists’ National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP). Later that same year, he won First Prize and the Yoshida Minoru Memorial Award in the Sixth International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo, Japan, and in 2009, he was awarded Second Prize and Audience Award in the Eighth International Schnitger Organ Competition on the historic organs of Alkmaar, the Netherlands. Other awards include two of Canada’s top scholarships for the study of organ and church music, the Lilian Forsyth and Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarships, both awarded in Ottawa in 2007. His debut solo compact disc recordings on the Naxos and Pro Organo lables have received favorable international reviews, and his performances have been broadcast on radio in the United States, Canada and Germany.
Unger completed masters’ degrees in both organ and harpsichord at the Eastman School of Music as a student and teaching assistant of David Higgs and William Porter. In 2007, he was awarded Eastman’s Jerald C. Graue Musicology Fellowship, and at present he is completing doctoral studies while teaching Eastman’s organ literature seminar courses. He completed undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, where he was a graduating recipient of the University Gold Medal. Former teachers include Ethel Briggs, Sandra Mangsen, Joel Speerstra and the late Larry Cortner, in addition to European summer academies specializing in historical keyboard performance. He is also a published composer, and has worked as the Director of Music of Rochester’s Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word since October 2009.
DOUGLAS CLEVELAND
Internationally acclaimed organist Douglas Cleveland was raised in Olympia, Washington and is a sixth generation Washingtonian. He has studied at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University and Oxford University. His teachers have included Russell Saunders, Larry Smith and Marilyn Keiser.
Dr. Cleveland gained international prominence when he won first prize in the 1994 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Dallas. Since then, he has performed in 49 of the United States and has been invited to perform in such venues as Westminster Abbey, The Berlin Cathedral, Stockholm Cathedral, Moscow Conservatory, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Minato Mirai Concert Hall in Yokohama, Japan, the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, and the Cathedral of Lausanne, Switzerland.
He has also performed with several symphony orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Northwestern University Symphony and the National Symphony, for an audience of 3,000, at the Washington National Cathedral. Cleveland has performed with various reputable early music ensembles, including Paul Hillier’s “Theatre of Voices.” Cleveland has performed at several international festivals, including the Oregon Bach Festival, Spoleto Festival, Festival Vancouver, the Moscow International Organ Festival, and the International Organ Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Many of Cleveland’s performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, the BBC, and the Northwest radio program “The Organ Loft.” Cleveland has recorded four CD’s on the Gothic label, which have received critical acclaim in major periodicals –– his most recent being “Cleveland in Columbus”.
He has performed at several national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, Organ Historical Society, National Pastoral Musicians, and the American Institute of Organ Builders. Cleveland has been a member of the jury of several organ competitions, including the AGO National Young Artists Competition, and the Miami International Organ Competition.
Douglas Cleveland has served on the faculties of St. Olaf College, and Northwestern University, where he received the Searle Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Cleveland currently serves on the organ faculty at the University of Washington School of Music, and is also the director of music at Plymouth Church in Seattle.
Thank You to Our DonorsDonors cite various reasons for supporting church ministries. HPCUMC’s organ concert series resonates with benefactor Ron Thain because the organ is a complex instrument that “exposes people to lots of other instruments” through its various sound qualities.
Sentimentality is at the essence of Larry McGruder’s underwriting: Twenty-seven years ago, Larry and his then-bride-to-be Jill arrived at the stone chapel where they were to be married, only to discover that a moving truck was ready to haul away the chapel’s antique organ. “We convinced movers to hold off loading the instrument until after the wedding. And since then, beautiful organ music holds special meaning for us.”
HPCUMC thanks these donors and others—and welcomes inquiries into funding future performances.Past Seasons of the Organ Concert SeriesPrior to 2004
Frederick Swann, David Higgs
2004-2005
Pierre Pincemaille, Sonia Kim, and Paul Jacobs
2005-2006
Stefan Engels, Olivier Latry, and Carol Williams
2006-2007
Vincent Dubois, Martin Jean, and Anthony & Beard (Gary Beard, organ, and Ryan Anthony, trumpet)
2007-2008
Alan Morrison, New York Organ & Piano Duo (Daniel Sullivan, organ, and Jason Cutmore, piano), and Thierry Escaich
2008-2009
Thomas Trotter, The Chenaults organ duo, Lynne Davis
2009-2010
Christopher Houlihan, Anthony & Beard, Bradley Hunter Welch
2010-2011
Clive Driskill-Smith, Brenda Portman, Raul Prieto Ramirez, Isabelle Demers
Casavant Organ SpecificationsHyde Park Community United Methodist Church
Organ by Casavant Frères, Opus 3671
The organ at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church (Opus 3671) was built by Casavant Frères of Quebec, Canada. It was completed in 1990 and was first heard in a dedicatory recital given on September 25 of that year by organist and director of music, Mark Schaffer, who with his predecessors, Edwin Domb and Todd Wilson, assisted in the design of the instrument. Tonal designer was Jean-Louis Coignet. Final voicing was carried out by Yves Champagne. It was designed in the tradition of French organs to fulfill the dual role of Orgue de Choeur, an accompanimental organ for the choir in the chancel, and Grand Orgue, or main organ, speaking down the central axis of the nave from the gallery.
The organ has 88 ranks of pipes - 63 in the gallery and 25 in the chancel - and is operated from a single four-manual console located in the chancel. It has a total of 4,843 pipes. Opus 3671 has been compared to other fine instruments built by Casavant Frères, including those in Saint Clement Church in Chicago and the Basilique Notre-Dame-du-Cap near Montreal. The complete specifications for the organ follow.
Gallery Grand Orgue (II)
Violon 16
Montre 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Flûte à cheminée 8
Violon 8
Prestant 4
Flûte ouverte 4
Doublette 2
Cornet V
Fourniture harmonique II-IV
Plein Jeu IV
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Trompette royale 8 (from solo)
Grand Orgue Unisson Muet
Chancel Grand Orgue (II)
Montre 8
Flûte à cheminée 8
Prestant 4
Flûte à fuseau 4
Flûte à bec 2
Cornet II
Fourniture IV
Grand Orgue Unisson Muet
Gallery Récit (III)
Bourdon doux 16
Principal 8
Cor de nuit 8
Viole de gambe 8
Voix céleste 8
Octave 4
Flûte octaviante 4
Octavin 2
Plein Jeu V
Basson 16
Trompette harmonique 8
Hautbois 8
Voix humaine 8
Clairon 4
Tremblant
Récit Unisson Muet
Chancel Récit (III)
Bourdon 8
Viole de gambe 8
Voix céleste 8
Principal 4
Flûte ouverte 4
Doublette 2
Plein Jeu IV
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Tremblant
Récit Unisson Muet
Gallery Positif (I)
Bourdon 8
Salicional 8
Principal 4
Flûte douce 4
Nazard 2 2/3
Flageolet 2
Tierce 1 3/5
Piccolo 1
Clochette 1/3 (c: 2/3, c’: 1 1/3)
Cymbale harmonique II-V
Clarinette 8
Postif Unisson Muet
Trompette royale 8 (from solo)
Gallery Solo (IV)
Trompette royale 8
Gallery Pédale
Principal 32
Montre 16
Violon 16
Soubasse 16
Bourdon doux 16
Flûte 8
Bourdon 8
Octave 4
Contre bombarde 32
Bombarde 16
Basson 16
Trompette 8
Chancel Pédale
Contre Bourdon 32
Bourdon 16
Octavebass 8
Bourdon 8
Octave 4
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Couplers
Gallery Grand Orgue / Pédale 8
Chancel Grand Orgue / Pédale 8
Gallery Récit / Pédale 8
Gallery Récit / Pédale 4
Chancel Récit / Pédale 8
Chancel Récit / Pédale 4
Gallery Positif / Pédale 8
Gallery Solo / Pédale 8
Gallery Récit / Grand Orgue 8
Chancel Récit / Grand Orgue 8
Gallery Positif / Grand Orgue 8
Chancel Récit / Positif 8
Gallery Grand Orgue / Positif 8
Gallery Récit / Positif 8
Gallery Grand Orgue / Solo 8
Chancel Grand Orgue / Solo 8
Gallery Récit / Solo 8
Chancel Récit / Solo 8
Gallery Positif / Solo 8
Gallery Organ ON-OFF
Chancel Organ ON-OFF
Adjustable Combinations (Solid State, 32 memories, capture system)
General Pistons: Eight, controlling Gallery and Chancel Organs
Divisional Pistons:
Gallery: Six per division (seven for Récit)
Chancel: Three per division (five for Récit)
Reversible Pistons
Gallery Grand Orgue / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Chancel Grand Orgue / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Gallery Récit / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Chancel Récit / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Gallery Positif / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Gallery Solo / Pédale - Thumb & Toe
Gallery Récit / Grand Orgue - Thumb
Chancel Récit / Grand Orgue - Thumb
Gallery Positif / Grand Orgue - Thumb
Gallery Grand Orgue / Solo - Thumb
Gallery Récit / Solo - Thumb
Gallery Positif / Solo - Thumb
Zimbelstern (10 bells) - Toe
Gallery Full Organ - Thumb & Toe
Chancel Full Organ - Thumb & Toe
Summary
Gallery: 44 Stops, 63 Ranks
Chancel: 18 Stops, 25 Ranks
Total: 4843 Pipes