EVENTS ARCHIVE
NOVEMBER 2020
08 November
Dexter Kennedy, Organ Concert
The concert is co-sponsored (GH-AGO & South Church Music Series)
A feature-length organ concert, filmed on the Gress-Miles organ at South Church (New Britain, CT) and featuring works by Bach, Liszt, Messiaen, Gigout, and Litaize.
30 November
Introduction & Season Announcement
Introduction of Michelle Horsley, the new Dean, description of our upcoming season, and an invitation to participate in December Gems.
DECEMBER 2020
20 December
December Gems: Seasonal Repertoire Favorites
A collection of interviews with local organists/music directors. We’ll discuss their response to the pandemic and their strategies for hosting Zoom choir rehearsals, choosing music for online collaborations, what they’ve learned about navigating through technology during this time, and the mishaps they’ve experienced along the way.
Chapter members submit short video submissions of their favorite organ selections for the season, which are compiled and shared via YouTube.
Kari Miller
People Look East by Dale Wood
Simsbury United Methodist Church, Simsbury
Peter Niedmann
Gloria-Toccata by Peter Niedmann
Church of Christ Congregational, Newington
Cheryl Wadsworth
Veni Emmanuel by Gerald Near
St. James Episcopal Church, West Hartford
Jonathan Reuning-Scherer
Toccata on "Veni Emmanuel"
by Andrew Carter
Emanuel Lutheran Church, Hartford
John Parsons
Two Settings of "In Dulci Jubilo" by Paul Manz
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Bristol
Scott Lamlein
Weihnachten by Max Reger
St. John's Episcopal Church, West Hartford
Michelle Horsley
Chorale Prelude on "Greensleeves"
by Searle Wright
Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford
JANUARY 2021
Shop Talk: Interviews with Organists/Choir Directors
A collection of interviews with local organists/music directors. We’ll discuss their response to the pandemic and their strategies for hosting Zoom choir rehearsals, choosing music for online collaborations, what they’ve learned about navigating through technology during this time, and the mishaps they’ve experienced along the way.
Jack Pott
Director of Music and Arts at Asylum Hill Congregational Church shares his perspective on online music ministry and safe in-person opportunities. He talks about choral participation, visual considerations, employment of section leaders in virtual choir anthems, livestream technology, and someof the creative projects he's been able to pursue in this time. Some of these include a hymn singalong, live outdoor nativity, outside services, pre-recorded footage, collaborations with masked dancers, etc.
Scott Lamlein
Director of Music at St. John's Episcopal Church and Artistic Director
of Music at the Red Door, discusses his approach toward virtual choir anthems and Zoom rehearsals, as well as his perspective on choral engagement through these mediums. He also discusses live-streamed concerts through the Music at the Red Door, which offers a huge variety of recitals, both physically at St. John's and performed elsewhere. He shares how this kind of live concertizing transitioned over to be exclusively online during the pandemic and what his hopes are for the future.
Michelle Horsley
Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church & The Choir School of Hartford
and
Jonathan Reuning-Scherer
Director of Music at Emanuel Lutheran Church
share their experience of collaborative musicianship during this time and their approaches to congregational participation as well as exploration of what music in worship has to look like. In addition to conversations about video editing, recording, virtual choir programming, masked live- music, etc., larger questions are asked about the future of church music and what we can learn about it from this time. What does it mean to be part of a choir? How can we un-think what worship music needs to look like in the pursuit of inclusion? What needs to die in the church so that the new can be born?
FEBRUARY 2021
21 February
Virtual Organ Crawls
Several local organists take cameras into their organ chambers and share their instruments/answer questions with a live online audience.
Virtual Organ Crawl: feat.
St. John's Episcopal Church (West Hartford)
Scott Lamlein and former organist, Ralph Valentine, narrate a virtual tour
of the 64-rank Austin organ, Op. 2761, with stories about the former instrument, the church fire, and how they rebuilt.
https://youtu.be/jGlj5spedZQ
St. John's Episcopal Church
Virtual Organ Crawl: feat.
Trinity College Chapel (Hartford)
Christopher Houlihan shares stories about the 79-rank Austin organ, Op. 2536 as well as the tracker-action instrument housed in the crypt beneath the chapel. This overview offers a glimpse into the instrument's history and noteworthy organists who were associated with it.
Trinity College Chapel
Virtual Organ Crawl: feat.
St. Mary's R.C. Church (New Britain)
Michelle Horsley narrates a tour of the historic instrument at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in New Britain, CT, while John Parsons plays. Enjoy this story about an experience inside the organ chambers of this old treasure
St. Mary's Church
MARCH 2021
14 March
Jolidon Scholars Video Series
A series of videos featuring organ students who are or have been sponsored by the Jolidon Fund of the Greater Hartford AGO.
Sarah Kennedy
Jolidon scholarship recipient, Sarah Kennedy, performs the second movement of Widor's 9th symphony (Symphony Gothique) on the Austin organ at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hartford, CT. She currently studies with Christopher Houlihan and has been learning the organ for 2.5yrs.
Tommy Cardy
Tommy Cardy, a Jolidon recipient and student of Ezequiel Menendez, performs the Prelude to the Te Deum by Marc-Antoine Charpentier at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.
Francesco Blackmore
Francesco Blackmore, who currently studies under Ezequiel Menendez as a Jolidon organ scholarship recipient, shares "The peace may be exchanged" from the suite "Rubrics" by Dan Locklair.
Jade Wong
Jade Wong performing Pasticcio from Jean Langlais on the Schoenstein organ at First Church (UCC) in Glastonbury. Wong is an organ student of Angela Salcedo and a recipient of the Jolidon scholarship.
John and Samantha Kramer
Siblings John and Samantha Kramer perform works by Krieger and Bach on the Austin organ at St. James Episcopal Church in West Hartford, CT. They have been studying organ for 2 years each with Vaughn Mauren and are recipients of Jolidon scholarships.
Kathy and Kelly Roqueza
Siblings Kathy and Kelly Roqueza,who are both studying under Scott Lamlein as Jolidon scholars, present works by Telemann and Peeters on the Austin organ at St. John's Episcopal Church in West Hartford.
Kevin Xiao
Kevin Xiao, a repeated Jolidon scholarship recipient and current student of Angela Salcedo, performs works by Walcha and Bach.
Jonathan Luo
Now on his 3rd organ lesson, Jonathan share a little improvisation at the console. He is a new student to the organ and is studying under Ezequiel Menendez through a Jolidon scholarship.
Kathie Rovetti
Kathie Rovetti, recipient of a Jolidon organ study scholarship and current student of Cheryl Wadsworth, performs the Prelude and Fugue in C major by Johann Ludwig Krebs (formerly attributed to J.S. Bach).
Carla Shafer
Carla Shafer plays the third movement of Bach's Trio Sonata in E flat major, BWV 525. She is a current Jolidon organ scholarship recipient and studying with Angela Salcedo.
Colin Auwarter
Colin Auwarter, a Jolidon recipient and student of Ezequiel Menendez, performs a work by Muffat on the organ at St. Joseph's Cathedral.
Teddy Babbitt
Teddy Babbitt, a student of Scott Lamlein, performs Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 549, on the Austin organ at St. John's Episcopal Church in West Hartford. He is a former Jolidon scholarship recipient and has plans to continue his organ studies into college.
Zachary Schurman
April 2021
17 April
RYCO Competition Submission
Zachary Schurman
Zachary Schurman's submission for the local chapter competition (RYCO) of the Greater Hartford Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
The Greater Hartford Chapter is excited to announce that Zachary Schurman has won the $2,500 First Prize in this year's chapter round of the AGO Regional Young Organists Competition. As winner of the RCYO chapter competition, Zachary goes on to compete in the AGO Northeast Regional Competition this May. A student of Christopher Houlihan at Trinity College, Zachary is a junior and first came to Hartford as a participant in our 2017 Pipe Organ Encounter.
We are grateful to Janet Yieh, Nathaniel Gumbs and Joseph Ripka for adjudicating the competition. Ron Coons served as the proctor and Vaughn Mauren was competition coordinator.