Lenten Organ Recital at FCC of Ann Arbor - 2/15/2013

The first recital in the 2013 Lenten organ recital series presented by the Ann Arbor chapter of the American Guild of Organists was last Friday. The recitals are at noon every Friday from Ash Wednesday until Easter at the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. 

First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor

I arrived about 10 minutes early. Much to my surprise there were only about 10 in the audience, excluding the organists and organizers. However, by the end of the concert there were closer to 20 in attendance. 

There was a sign on the front sidewalk advertising for the free concert. I wondered if any of those coming in late stopped in because they heard the organ music and the sign on the sidewalk advertising the free concert or if they planned to come and were late.

Morgan Byrd, a third year undergraduate student at the University of Michigan studying organ, started the recital with Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532). This exciting piece is about 10 lengths in length and Morgan played it all from memory! An impressive feat given the intricacies of this piece which includes some fancy footwork. 

The remainder of the concert was performed by Renate McLaughlin. She is a Master of Music (Church Music) student at the University of Michigan. Renate explained a little bit about the pieces she would play. She started with "Kryie" composed by Jean Langlais. Then she played 4 chorale preludes back to back before introducing the last piece, "Duo" from Messe pour les couvents  by Francois Couperin. 

I am looking forward to the remaining recitals and encourage you to attend organ recitals in your area! The Prelude and Fugue in D Major was amazing to hear live. Take 10 minutes and watch Diane Bish's performance.

Friday's Lenten recital

The parking garage near the First Congregational Church was full. This week, instead of going to other parking garage I decided to be patient and wait for an open spot. After seeing several people leave and the garage status remaining at "full" I was getting anxious that I would be late again this week. I would have backed out but another car was behind me, so I had little choice but to just wait. Within a few minutes the garage allowed entry, I received a ticket, and found a great parking spot on level 2.


This week's organists were Steven Flick (recently retired) and Gail Jennings. Steven started the program with 3 pieces. Then mid way through 3 men sang and the program concluded with Gail playing 4 pieces. Gail's final piece was Spirituals for Organ in Jazz Styles by Joe Utterback (b. 1944). I typically do not enjoy jazz music and had not associated jazz with the organ but I did enjoy these pieces (she played 3) and was very impressed with Gail. She is currently organist at Bethlehem United Church of Christ in Ann Arbor, has a piano studio, performs recitals with her husband (violinist Andrew Jennings), and is a member of the Ceciliana Chamber Players.

The weather on Friday was beautiful and I enjoyed the 2 block walk to the church. The recital was not as well attended as in previous weeks, perhaps, due to the exceptionally warm weather. The door of the church remained open during the recital which was a bit distracting during the performances as the traffic on State St. could be heard.

Three Days - Three pipe organ concerts

In the past 52 hours I have attended 3 organ concerts!

First, last Friday during my lunch break, I went back to First Congregational Church for their Lenten organ recital. The parking garage near the church was full so parked in another garage which was about a 10 minute walk from the church.  I arrived at the church after the performance started and also there were not any programs left. Therefore,  I do not know the name of any of the pieces played or the performers. I did snap a few pictures of the organ. This picture shows the organ pipes and the console. There are many more pipes which are not visible.

Pipe organ at First Congregational Church, Ann Arbor, MI

On Friday evening, I attended an organ concert at Pease Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University with organist Bruce Neswick.  The program was titled "American Music on an American Organ". Bruce is an excellent organist masterfully played through the program.  I didn't take any pictures but if you follow the link to Pease Auditorium you will be able to see the stage and pipes. My impression is that the organ could be lowered through the stage floor when not in use.

My favorite piece of the performance was improvisations of the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King. This hymn is amazing! Bruce played it through several times changing the key and also playing the melody on the pedals. It was indeed wonderful to hear performed live. I was familiar with the hymn tune but not the words. Yesterday, I found this hymn in my hymnal and the words themselves are also fantastic.

Today, I was present at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Tecumseh, MI for an organ concert with organists from the University of Michigan. This program was "Happy Birthday, Dear Johann" and all pieces were composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750).  Professor James Kibbie introduced each piece and the organist playing the piece (he played a few of the pieces himself). James Kibbie has recorded every work of Bach which can be downloaded for free.


I learned today that Bach titled two pieces Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 and BWV 538. (BWV is the cataloging system for Bach's pieces). BWV 565 is the famous piece that most will recognize. Professor Kibbie's performance of it was impressive. The concert ended with another organist playing the BWV 538 piece.

The pipe organ at St. Peter's Episcopal Church is in the balcony.

View of pipe organ in balcony from the main level

The console (not visible from the main level)

Lenten Recital Series

Last Friday, I went to an organ recital at the First Congregational Church in downtown Ann Arbor. Each Friday, during Lent there is an organ recital at noon presented by the Ann Arbor chapter of the American Guild of Organists. This church is a short distance from my work place which means I can easily attend when my work schedule allows.

The First Congregational Church was built in the 1800's. I enjoy visiting these older churches and appreciated the architecture. The pipe organ is from 1985. There are not many pictures of it on the church's website. If permitted, I will take a few pictures of the console at next Friday's recital.

The recital was preformed by the Men's Schola Cantorum, and organists Thomas Strode and Naki Sung Kripfgans. The Men's Schola Cantorum began the program with Lent Prose. Thomas Strode than played 3 selections from The Stations of the Cross, Op. 29 composed by Marcel Dupré. He continued with Prelude and Fugue in A minor (BWV 543) - J.S. Bach.


Next, the Men's Schola Cantorum, which consisted of 2 men, sang Audi benigne Conditor. Naki then played a piece with the same name, by Marcel Dupré, on the pipe organ. Naki ended the program with Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582) - J.S. Bach. Watching this piece performed was a marvel as Thomas Strode changed the stops many times throughout the performance. It was dance like how he switched from one side of the console to other to pull stops. On many organs the organist can change which stops are pulled with the push of a button, but this organ did not seem to have those features.

Which stops are pulled determine how the organ will sound. Check out the organ terminology here.  I have so much more to learn myself, not only in how various pipe organs function but also about the music and composers.


I am very much looking forward to next Friday's recital. I hope to see you there!