Musical plans for this year

I'm trying my best to make this year be the best it can musically. I've already arranged Robert Fertitta's organ concert at my church on April 29th, 2011, but there is still more to focus on!

I've started work on Cesar Franck's Cantabile from Trois Pieces. It's a gorgeous piece and so fun to play. The organ at my church does not have the resources to do it justice, so I'll have to perform it someplace else.

I'd like to play some concerts outside of Bloomsburg this summer. I've spoken with several people about the possibility of playing concerts in Richmond, Staunton, and Charlottesville, VA as well as in Indianapolis, Wilkes-Barre, Los Angeles and elsewhere. None of these plans are official, just speculation at this point, but I would love to do a few of them.

In the meantime, I'm working on several accompaniments for my school choir, to be played for our winter and spring concerts. After the spring concert, we have an annual Pops concert, for which I'd like to accompany some solo on piano, or play piano myself as solo.

In terms of singing, my voice has really began to develop. I auditioned for County and District chorus for Tenor 1 and made both of them!

Organ Recital by Robert Fertitta

Organ virtuoso Robert Fertitta will be playing an organ concert of Bach, Clérambault, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Brahms, Vierne and Fauré at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg at 7:30 PM on Friday, April 29th, 2010.

Mr. Fertitta received his musical education at Hunter College, Queens College, and the Graduate School of the City University of New York. He also studied at l'Ecoles d'Art Americaines in Fountainbleau, France, where he was a student of the legendary Nadia Boulanger, herself a student of Gabriel Fauré. Mr. Fertitta is now retired after thirty years of teaching at Purchase College, but still plays concerts from time to time.

Mr. Fertitta's program:

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault
G Minor Suite
 
Johann Sebastian Bach
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland
Fantasie in G major

Louis Vierne
Clair de Lune (from Pieces de Fantaisie)
 
Gabriel Fauré
Nocturne No. 6 in D Flat Major [piano]
 
Camille Saint-Saëns
Prelude du Deluge
Two of the Sept Improvisations, Op. 150
 
Johannes Brahms
2 Chorale Preludes, from Op. 122
      - Mein Jesu, der du mich
      - O Gott, du frommer Gott
2 Intermezzos [piano]
      - C Sharp Minor, Op. 117 No. 3
      - A Major, Op. 118 No. 2
 
Felix Mendelssohn
Sonata No. 3 in A Major

All Chopin recital by Dr. Dylan Savage

Dr. Dylan Savage practicing before his concert

Dr. Dylan Savage, a Bloomsburg native with degrees in piano performance from Oberlin and Indiana State University, recently played a concert of the music of Chopin, in celebration of the 200th year since his birth, on our beautiful Blüthner concert grand piano at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, PA.

Dr. Savage played several Valses, Preludes, Nocturnes, Mazurkas, Tarentelles, as well as Chopin's famous Berceuse Op. 57, Ballade no. 2 in F major Op. 38, and his beloved Polonaise 'Heroic' in A flat major Op. 53.

The concert was enjoyed by all. Gorgeous music played by a pianist of the very highest caliber. I was especially moved at the sensitivity in his performance of the Berceuse... otherworldly.

What a great way to kick off a new year of great music in Bloomsburg!

Fantasiastic

I've been working on several of Bach's keyboard Fantasias! I've just finished working on BWV 921, Fantasia in C minor, and am presently about halfway through learning BWV 922, Fantasia in A minor.

Harp Restoration: Part 1:

Yesterday the vintage 1930 Estey Harp unit in the organ at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg, PA was removed by a team from Patrick J. Murphy and Associates to be brought to their facilities for a much needed restoration. It should be reinstalled sometime in December, just in time for Christmas!

Here are some pictures of the removal of the old unit.

First, the 4 rows of mallets were removed.

The first order of business was to remove the mallets. There are 49 mallets divided into 4 rows. These mallets strike tuned plates via pneumatic contacts. From up close, the sound resembles a xylophone, but when the harp is in a chamber and the listener is out in the church, the affect is very convincing and actually sounds like a harp! Part of this is due to the wooden resonator pipes. These large, square, stopped, wooden pipes are attached to the unit, one per note. They are lined up against the tuned plates and help the sound to resonate (hence their name). This contributes to a realistic harp sound. Many organ harp units use metal resonators, however, wooden resonators create a warmer, more convincing affect.

After the four big, dusty rows of mallets were removed, the crew had to remove the four rows of tuned plates and resonators, this was the tricky part! The rows of plates and resonators are much larger and heavier than the mallets!

Row # 1

Row # 2

Row # 3

And finally, row #5, the largest component of the harp.

Close up on resonators

Close up on tuned plates

AGO members recital

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of participating in an AGO members recital in Watsontown, PA. Nine organists, including myself, performed. The organ is a 23 rank, 32 stop Hook-Hastings rebuilt and tonally modified by Moller and later by Parsons in 1995.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Above is the console to the 23 rank Hook-Hastings/Moller/Parsons organ. And to the right is the gorgeous organ case.

Premier Recital

My first professional organ recital, held on Sunday, 25 April 2010, went better than I could ever have hoped. We were expecting somewhere between 25 and 40 people to attend. Over 90 were in attendance. We had a goal to raise $350 to pay the tuition for me to attend a POE in Indiana this summer, I didn't think we would raise half that. We raised over $900 in free-will donations.

It was one thing that there were so many people there, but it was just as wonderful to note who they were. My family was there of course, and my Great Aunt and Grandmother visiting from Vermont and Boston. People from the church were there, friends from school were there, other organists were there, the dean of our AGO chapter was there, total strangers were there! It was wonderful!

I've already began practicing new repertoire in preperation for my next concert at the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg. I've been working on Messiaen's 'Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle', BWV 556, BWV 557, BWV 559, the big, grand Prelude and Fugue in D Major BWV 532, and am going to start work on Franck's 'Piece Heroique'. In the upcoming years, I hope to have several organ concerts each year.

This premier recital was an incredible start to what I believe will be a fruitful career as a musician, performer, and teacher.