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Rockford Chapter |
| Last updated: April 5, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Message from the Dean |
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| It was exciting to see young people absolutely engaged in listening to and playing the pipe organ at our Pedals, Pipes and Pizza event at Tabor Lutheran Church. Many thanks to Rachel Schmitt and Pastor Jane McChesney for hosting this event! Devon Hollingsworth had planned to lead the session with back-up from Ron Burmeister. Unfortunately, Devon was under the weather and couldn’t participate. I offer many, many thanks to Ron Burmeister for stepping in and leading the introduction to the Pipe Organ. Chapter members Tracy Barker, Don Diestelmeier, Bob Leonhardt, and Brian Voss all helped to make the participants feel welcome and shared their enthusiasm for the “King of Instruments”. Don was an especially big hit with a drawing for some organ pipes.
Thanks to Gregory Gyllsdorff who made sure that Christopher Houlihan stopped by Pedals, Pipes, and Pizza and spent some time with the aspiring organists. Houlihan’s concert and master class were both incredible experiences and I hope you’ll take the time to read the review. I feel very fortunate to live in a town where we have new and newly refurbished organs, and churches that are sponsoring fabulous recitalists. I would also like to thank everyone that helps to publicize our events. One of the Pedals, Pipes, and Pizza participants came because he saw the poster at a church that does not have an AGO member, but had posted the Houlihan poster. And he saw the poster not because he was a church member, but because he was voting at the church! One just never knows which part of our publicity is going to work! Thanks to everyone who has already advertised the April 22nd PipeSpectacular Concert in their church newsletter and to those who will make sure that the concert is announced in the Sunday morning bulletins. I had printed several extra copies of the PipeSpectacular Poster and put them out at our March meeting. I was delighted to hear chapter members saying that they didn’t need to pick them up because they had copied the poster when they received it electronically and it was already posted!! Please don’t forget to post it at businesses that you frequent who have bulletin boards for community events. The PipeSpectacular Concert at First Lutheran Church is a fund raiser for our Kay Hotchkiss Scholarship Fund – and I suspect that we’ll have even more applicants this year. Please plan to be generous when it’s time for the offering. If you’re unable to attend the concert and would like to contribute to the Scholarship Fund, please send a check payable to the Rockford Chapter AGO and marked for the Scholarship Fund to our treasurer, Jean Anderson. |
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Local Events |
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| Thirteenth Annual PipeSpectacular
Sunday, April 22, 2012 3:00 p.m. First Lutheran Church 225 South Third Street Rockford, Illinois Aaron Kortze: Dieu Parmi Nous…Olivier Messiaen Jea Yi: Prelude and Fugue in C Minor…Johann Sebastian Bach Ron Anderson: Tu es Petra…Henri Mulet James Brown: Toccata and Fugue in d minor/D Major…Max Reger Patricia Rooney & Jean Anderson: Praise to the Lord…Michael Burkhardt Gregory Gyllsdorff: Prelude, Fugue and Variation…César Franck Patricia Rooney & Rachel Schmitt: The Stars and Stripes Forever…John Philip Sousa ROCKFORD CHAPTER AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS Announces KAY HOTCHKISS ORGAN SCHOLARSHIPS These Scholarships honor long-time Rockford Chapter AGO Member, Kay Hotchkiss, by providing financial assistance to high school/college students and adults with piano proficiency who are interested in beginning or continuing organ studies. Preference will be given to applicants living or working within a 50 mile radius of Rockford, IL. To apply, submit a letter of application including: 1. A summary of previous piano/organ study including dates of study and names of teachers 2. A paragraph explaining your interest in organ study 3. A list of expected expenses (tuition, music, shoes, mileage to lessons, etc.) 4. A statement of financial need and/or a plan for study 5. Name, address, and contact information Applications must be postmarked by MAY 15, 2012, and should be sent to: A.G.O. Organ Scholarship Committee Gregory Gyllsdorff, FAGO, ChM 5922 Allerton Drive Rockford IL 61114 Applicants will be contacted to schedule an audition/interview with the Rockford Chapter AGO Organ Scholarship Committee. Auditions/interviews will take place at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 3300 Rural Street, Rockford, IL on June 2nd and 9th, 2012. Successful applicants are expected to perform on a Rockford AGO event during the 2012-2013 Program Year. |
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Newsletter |
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| Christopher Houlihan WOWS Rockford Chapter
Christopher Houlihan delighted the audience at his concert at First Lutheran Church, Rockford on March 25th. He used every single tone color on the organ, bringing to life the wonderful renovations recently completed by the Fabry, Inc. Pipe Organ Company. The registration changes on Bach’s “Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor” brought each voice and phrase to life. In addition to the Bach, Houlihan performed pieces by Ravel and Widor on the first half of the concert – earning a standing ovation at the intermission! In addition to being an incredible performer, Christopher is also a masterful teacher. He dropped in to the Saturday Pedals, Pipes and Pizza event and had a lively conversation with the participants as well as dazzling them with a performance of a Bach fugue. Christopher put the seven chapter members and friends who performed at the master class at ease with his welcome demeanor and enthusiasm for the organ. Bonnie Dickinson noted that in addition to putting her at ease, Christopher offered praise for things done well as well as suggestions for improvement. Bernadette Zabawa commented: “I was amazed how at ease Chris made me feel, as I took my place at the organ bench. More than the great teacher teaching a lowly student, I felt that he respected each and every one of us, our musical ideas thus far and he cared about improving the performance as best he could. For me, it was a case of making the Berceuse move a little more, rather than stopping and starting each musical idea and section. I was impressed by his knowledge of the repertoire, by all means, he had played my piece before. I love the idea of bringing the organ to life, as it were, as a living instrument, that breathes and speaks, through the phrasing, touch, registration and the swell box. Rather than feeling lost and overwhelmed by Chris's words, I felt inspired to continue in my quest for artistry. He worked at our level, not so high above that we felt unworthy of his teaching. I have never attended a master class where the presenter has made me feel so much at ease. It was a joy to perform for Chris and I sincerely thank the AGO for giving me the opportunity to take part.” Thanks to Bonnie, Bernadette, Rachel Schmitt, Ron Anderson, Sharon Whitlock, Laura Watson and Valerie Blair for performing on the Master Class. And a huge thank-you to Gregory Gyllsdorff and the First Lutheran Concert Series for bringing Christopher Houlihan to Rockford. |
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Membership |
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The following membership levels are available.
To register your membership, please contact Jean Anderson |
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Placement |
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| Employers and job seekers are invited to post and search listings of available positions on the Guild's National Website. |
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Certification |
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| Congratulations to Jea Yi who has earned her Service Playing Certificate!
For any additional information go to: http://www.agohq.org/education/index.html |
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Contact Us |
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Committee Chairs:
Rockford chapter webmaster - RockfordAGO@comcast.net |
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Links |
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| Our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Guild-of-Organists-Rockford-IL-Chapter/352639247290
Fabry Inc. Pipe Organs - http://www.fabryinc.com/ 2012 AGO Convention - http://www.AGO2012.org/ 2013 AGO Region V Convention - http://www.agokalamazoo.org/ Pipedreams Recordings - http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/ Organmaster Shoes - http://www.organmastershoes.com/ Rockford Area Arts Council - http://www.artsforeveryone.com/ Fox Valley Chapter - http://www.foxvalleyago.org/ Encyclopedia of Organ Stops - http://www.organstops.org/ Free sheet music - http://imslp.org/wiki/ If you are a Rockford AGO chapter member, you can have your favorite links added to this list by sending an email to RockfordAGO@comcast.net. |
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| Visit the AGO National website |