West Texas Chapter

Last updated: July 24, 2006

Message from the Dean

Welcome to the West Texas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists Homepage. We have members scattered throughout West Texas and southeastern New Mexico and would welcome you as a new member of our chapter.

Local Events

42nd Annual Patron Recital

Our next Patron Recital will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at the First Presbyterian Church of Midland. Our artist will be Andrew Dewar, winner of both the First Place and Audience Prizes at the 2005 St. Albans International Organ Competition in England. He has taken prizes in an international organ performance competition every year since 2001 when he won the Plymouth National Young Organists' Competition in England (Landau an der Isar 2002, Berlin 2003, Schramberg 2004).

Andrew is Organist at both the churches of St. Franziskus and St. Johannes in Stuttgart, where he is studying with Prof. Ludger Lohmann at the Musikhochschule. Previous to his work in Germany, he was Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral in England where, as a student at the Wells Cathedral School earlier he had studied with Rupert Gough and David Sanger, and improvisation with David Briggs and harpsichord with David Ponsford.

Andrew Dewar performs frequently throughout Europe and has recently released his first solo CD on the German label Edition Hera. His professional career began at age nine when he was appointed organist at his local parish church in Yeovil, England.

ST. ALBANS INTERNATIONAL ORGAN COMPETITION

The Competition and its accompanying Festival were founded in 1963 by Peter Hurford OBE and it is considered the longest established event of its kind in the world. It brings artists, musicians and other performers from around the world for the festival, and attracts tourists from far-flung areas as well as a large audience from the United Kingdom. Musical events during the festival range from orchestral, chamber and choral concerts to jazz and cabaret.

At the heart of the festival is the organ competition which brings eminent judges from various parts of the globe, and attracts as competitors the most talented young organists of the day. Early rounds of the competition take place in St. Saviour's Church in St. Albans where competitors play a replica of the type of organ played by J.S. Bach. Many past winners of the competition, including Gillian Weir, Lynne Davis, and David Briggs (winner in improvisation), have gone on to have international performing and recording careers.

The competition and festival are presented by the International Organ Festival Society, of which Peter Hurford is president and former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath is a patron. General Manager of the Society is Ken Chaproniere, and the Artistic Director is Andrew Lucas who is also Master of the Music at the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban.

Our monthly chapter newsletter, Ciphers, is sent to all members via email or US Mail.

CIPHERS
February 2006
the Newsletter of the West Texas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
www.geocities.com/westtxago

From the Dean

Our chapter has received a Thank You note from AGO National Headquarters in New York thanking us for our chapter’s contribution to the AGO Annual Fund. You may want to consider making a personal donation if you have not already done so.

I received word last week that Rebecca Sawyer, Music Associate at First Presbyterian in Midland, has had to cancel her February 12th recital due to illness. I am happy to report that Becca is doing well now. She also told me that Christopher Betts will be performing a recital at First Presbyterian in Midland on Sunday, March 19th at 3:00 p.m. He is the Choirmaster & Sr. Organist at First United Methodist in Lubbock, succeeding Gordon MacMillan.

From Roy Wilson -- On Thursday, February 16, 2006, Mr. Malcolm Archer, organist at St. Paul's Cathedral in London will be playing a free organ recital at St. John's United Methodist Church at 15th and University in Lubbock, Texas. It is at 7:00 p.m. I invite you to read the following url and come hear him play on our three-manual Holtkamp tracker.

http://www.concertartists.com/MalcolmArcher.html

“The Diapason” magazine has published its “2006 Resource Directory.” Designed as an
organist’s handbook, the Resource Directory provides listings of companies, individuals, products and services for the organ and church music fields. A directory of associations and calendar of events are also included.

The Diapason Resource Directory is available for $5.00 postpaid, and included free with each subscription to The Diapason; 56 pages, 5-3/8” x 8” format. For information:

Jerome Butera, Editor
The Diapason, 380 E. Northwest Hwy.
Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282
847/391-1045
<jbutera@sgcmail.com>

AGO members are also invited to request a free sample copy of The Diapason.

I received the following note from Dong-ill Shin. He is the Organist and Music Associate at First United Methodist Church of Hurst, Texas:

I'm new to this area (having come from completing my music education in Boston) and I would like to get acquainted with more people here and have a chance to play some concerts locally as well. In addition to working for the First United Methodist Church, I
continue to pursue my career as a concert musician and have been fortunate enough to play in many locations around the world. This year I will tour in Norway, France, South Korea and will play concerts at Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, St. Thomas University, MS, and St. Thomas Church, NYC in the US. Additionally, I have been honored by being chosen as a featured artist for AGO Region VII convention next year.

If you would like to contact Mr. Shin about the possibility of performing a recital at your church his phone number is 817-282-7384 and address is:

Dong-ill Shin
Organist/Music Associate
First United Methodist Church of Hurst
521 W. Pipeline Rd.
P.O. Box 1461
Hurst, Texas 76053

There are several opportunities for our chapter members to become more involved in the West Texas Chapter. If you would be interested in serving on the Nominating Committee or as a chapter officer for 2006-2008, please contact me. If you would like to help with the annual Patron Recital, please call Linda Hill at 432-687-1688.

Membership

Our chapter has members from throughout West Texas -- Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Fort Stockton, Kermit, and Sanderson. We even have members from Carlsbad in southeasten New Mexico. Geographically, we just might be the "largest" AGO Chapter in the United States.

Please join us by contacting our Chapter Treasurer:
Edith Hardy, CAGO
Phone - 432-697-6745
Email Hardy4302@aol.com

West Texas Chapter AGO
PO Box 7761
Midland TX 79708-7761

Placement

Employers and job seekers are invited to post and search listings of available positions on the Guild's National Website.

Certification

Contact Us

Dr. James L. Queen, ChM, Sub-Dean - jlqueen1@gte.net
Nancy Henderson, Secretary - NancyDAnn@hotmail.com
Edith C. Hardy, CAGO, Treasurer - Hardy4302@aol.com

Visit the AGO National website