East Texas Pipe Organ Festival

10/17/2024

Friends, we are heading to Houston tomorrow for a week of fun and festivities with new and old friends. Come join us. All of the events listed below are free of charge and are open to all.

This annual festival honors the life and work of Roy Perry, Texas sales representative for Aeolian-Skinner. Pictured is Mr. Perry standing in downtown Kilgore, Texas.

Sunday October 20
5:00 p.m. Evensong
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Houston
Robert Simpson, organist-choirmaster
6:15 p.m. Opening Concert
Scott Dettra, organist
1939 Aeolian-Skinner, since revised
Christ Church Cathedral
Houston, Texas

Monday October 21
11:00 a.m. Organ Recital by Yuri McCoy
2017 Nichols & Simpson, Inc.
South Main Baptist Church
Houston, Texas

1:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Clive Driskill-Smith
2010 Pasi
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Houston, Texas

3:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Bryan Anderson
1949 Aeolian-Skinner
First Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Daryl Robinson
2005 Létourneau
The Church of St. John the Divine
Houston, Texas

Tuesday October 22
10:00 a.m. Organ Recital by Marshall Joos
1967 Aeolian-Skinner, since revised
First Methodist Church
Houston, Texas

2:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Emily Amos, Valentina Qishan Huang,
and André Lombardi
1991 C. B. Fisk, Inc.
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

4:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Elena Baquerizo and Martin Jones
1995 Noack Organ Company
Christ the King Lutheran Church
Houston, Texas

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Ken Cowan
C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 109
Rosales organ Builders, Inc., Opus 21
Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall
Rice University
Houston, Texas

Wednesday October 23
2:00 p.m. Concert Honoring Marjorie Jackson Rasche
Organ Recital by Alison Luedecke,
with Joanna Whitsett, harp
1997 Schantz
Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church
Galveston, Texas

4:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Ronald Wyatt
1989 Austin
Trinity Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas


Thursday October 24

10:00 a.m. Duo Organ Recital by Grant Smith and Sunkyung Noh
1967 Aeolian-Skinner, since revised
First Methodist Church
Houston, Texas

1:00 p.m. Organ Recital by past and present organists at Covenant Church
Lorenz Maycher, Carl McAliley, and Jason Steiner,
with special guest, Brinton Smith
1893 Hook & Hastings
Covenant Church

3:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Matthew Dirst
2009 Paul Fritts
Saint Philip Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

7:00 p.m. Closing Recital by Richard Elliott
1949 Aeolian-Skinner
First Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

10/15/2024

Monday, October 21, Yuri McCoy will dazzle us at 11:00 a.m. at South Main Baptist Church, Houston.

Come join us!

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL

SOUTH MAIN BAPTIST CHURCH
HOUSTON, TEXAS
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024
11:00 A.M.

YURI MCCOY, ORGANIST


PROGRAM


Homage to Handel Sigfrid Karg-Elert
54 studies in Variation Form on a Ground Bass of Handel (1877-1933)

Homage to Fritz Kreisler arr. Robert Hebble
Londonderry Air (1934-2020)

La Croix du Sud, Op. 15 Jean-Louis Florentz
(1947-2004)

Every Time I Feel the Spirit arr. Iain Farrington
(b. 1977)

INTERMISSION


Grand Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17 César Franck
(1822-1890)

YURI McCOY is organist at South Main Baptist Church, Houston, and is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studied with organist Ken Cowan. Hailed by Gramophone magazine as an organist possessing “rare virtuosity,” Yuri has made his mark on the organ world through bracingly original programming and a strong desire to shed a spotlight on less traversed areas of keyboard literature. Whether it is Ligeti‘s Etudes on piano or his own daring transcription of Varese’s massive orchestral work, Amériques, for organ, percussion, and assistant, Yuri enjoys the opportunity to share new and unusual sounds with audiences. During the summer of 2019, he performed his transcription of Lutoslawski’s piano concerto alongside pianist Yvonne Chen at the Spoleto Music Festival. He also supports the music of living composers and in 2006 premiered “Voices of the Invisible Blue Butterflies” by Vache Sharafyan at the SoundSCAPE music festival in Cortona, Italy.

In 2021, Yuri released his first solo album on the Acis label. The disc, Symphonic Roar: An Odyssey of Sound from the Paris Conservertoire, was lauded by OrlgelNieuws for its “beautiful narrative” and by BBC Music Magazine for its “bonkers” arrangement of Varese's Amériques, which it proclaimed was “quite the ride.”

Many of Yuri’s performances and recordings have been broadcast nationally on NPR’s Pipedreams and With Heart and Voice. Yuri also regularly posts organ videos on his YouTube channel which involve everything from B-movie acting and special effects to claymation and slapstick.

In 2016, Yuri was honored to perform for the American Guild of Organists National Convention at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston under the direction of Dr. Brady Knapp. In the summer of 2015, Yuri traveled to Leipzig, Germany, to perform on historic organs while studying with Stephan Engels at the Hochschule für Musikund Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.”

In 2010, Yuri earned a Master of Music in piano performance from the University of Hawai’i at Mãnoa. While at the University of Hawai’i, he spent four years as the Organ Scholar of St. Andrew’s Cathedral working with the Cathedral’s Canon of Music, John Renke. Yuri and his wife, whom he met while studying in Hawai’i, have two daughters.

10/13/2024

Join us for our opening events for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival one week from today!

We open with an evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, with the Christ Church Choir and Robert Simpson, organist-choirmaster at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 20. This will be followed by our opening organ recital by Scott Dettra, also at the cathedral, at 6:15 p.m.. Please read on for Scott's program and bio, along with Robert Simpson's bio and photo. Both of these events are free of charge and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL
OPENING CONCERT

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL
HOUSTON, TEXAS
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024
6:15 P.M.

SCOTT DETTRA, ORGANIST


PROGRAM


Fantasia (In Festo Omnium Sanctorum), Op. 121, No. 1 Charles V. Stanford
(1852-1924)

Fantasia et Fuga in C Minor, BWV 537 Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)

Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV 709 J. S. Bach

Adagio und Allegro in F Minor, K. 594 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)

Prelude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le theme du Maurice Duruflé
“Veni Creator,” Op. 4 (1902-1986)

SCOTT DETTRA is acclaimed as one of America’s outstanding concert organ virtuosos. Hailed as a “brilliant organist” (Dallas Morning News), and an “outstanding musician” (The Diapason), his playing is known for its clarity, rhythmic intensity, and musical elegance, and has been described by The American Organist as “music making of absolute authority and sophisticated expression.” He serves as Organist of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, teaches on the organ faculty of Southern Methodist University, and is organist for The Crossing, the multi-Grammy-winning professional chamber choir based in Philadelphia.

Throughout 2022, Mr. Dettra undertook a celebrated national tour of the complete organ works of César Franck in commemoration of the composer’s bicentenary. Recent and upcoming performances include appearances in New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Kansas City. Festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Arizona Bach Festival, the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He has been a featured performer at national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Organ Historical Society, and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator for master classes, workshops, and competitions.

Mr. Dettra is featured on many recordings, including The Anglo-American Classic Organ, Majestus, and Tongues of Fire. Additional recordings may be found on the Gothic, Innova, Lyrichord, Pro Organo, and Linn labels. In addition to commercial recordings, his performances have been broadcast numerous times on such radio programs as American Public Media’s Pipedreams and Performance Today, the BBC’s Choral Evensong, and The New York Philharmonic This Week.

Mr. Dettra holds two degrees from Westminster Choir College, where he was a student of Joan Lippincott, and has studied organ and jazz piano at Manhattan School of Music.

www.scottdettra.com

ROBERT SIMPSON, AAGO, ChM, SMM, is Organist-Choirmaster at historic Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), Houston, Texas, and Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir. He also serves on the faculty of The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, as Lecturer of Church Music. An honors graduate of Brown University, Mr. Simpson was a student of Robert Baker at The School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, and Michael Schneider at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany. He has served as Adjunct Professor of Organ at Georgia State University and Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Texas, Austin. Mr. Simpson earned the Associate and Choirmaster Certificates from the American Guild of Organists, receiving the S. Lewis Elmer Prize for attaining the highest test scores. He served as Vice Chair of the Standing Commission on Church Music for the Episcopal Church and on the Editorial Board of the African American hymnal Lift Every Voice and Sing II.

10/07/2024

Dear Friends, we now have our schedule in hand for the 2024 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival in Exile, to be held October 20-24 in Houston and Galveston.

Pictured are some of our presenting artists.

The complete schedule, all concerts free and open to the public, follows:

THE 2024 EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL
HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF ROY PERRY (1906-1978)


Schedule at a Glance

Sunday October 20

5:00 p.m. Evensong
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Houston
Robert Simpson, organist-choirmaster
6:15 p.m. Opening Concert
Scott Dettra, recitalist
1938 Aeolian-Skinner Organ, since revised
Christ Church Cathedral
Houston, Texas

Monday October 21

11:00 a.m. Organ Recital by Yuri McCoy
2017 Nichols & Simpson, Inc.
South Main Baptist Church
Houston, Texas

1:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Clive Driskill-Smith
2010 Pasi
Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral
Houston, Texas

3:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Bryan Anderson
1949 Aeolian-Skinner
First Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Daryl Robinson
2005 Létourneau
The Church of St. John the Divine
Houston, Texas



Tuesday October 22

10:00 a.m. Organ Recital by Marshall Joos
1967 Aeolian-Skinner, since revised
First Methodist Church
Houston, Texas

2:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Emily Amos, Valentina Qishan Huang,
and Andrè Lombardi
1991 Charles Fisk
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

4:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Eleana Baquerizo and Martin Jones
1995 Noack Organ Company
Christ the King Lutheran Church
Houston, Texas

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital by Ken Cowan
C. B. Fisk Opus 109
Rosales Organ Builders, Inc. Opus 21
Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall
Rice University Shepherd School of Music
Houston, Texas

Wednesday October 23

2:00 p.m. Concert Honoring Marjorie Jackson Rasche
Organ Recital by Alison Luedecke
with Joanna Whitsett, harp
1997 Schantz
Moody United Methodist Church
Galveston, Texas

4:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Ronald Wyatt
1987 Austin
Trinity Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas


Thursday October 24

10:00 a.m. Duo Organ Recital by Grant Smith and Sunkyung Noh
1967 Aeolian-Skinner, since revised
First Methodist Church
Houston, Texas

1:00 p.m. Organ Recital by past and present organists at Covenant Church
Lorenz Maycher, Carl McAliley, and Jason Steiner
with special guests, Ann Frohbieter and Brinton Smith
1893 Hook & Hastings
Covenant Church
Houston, Texas

3:00 p.m. Organ Recital by Matthew Dirst
2009 Paul Fritts
Saint Philip Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

7:00 p.m. Closing Recital by Richard Elliott
1949 Aeolian-Skinner
First Presbyterian Church
Houston, Texas

07/08/2024

Well, it looks like Kilgore is about to be blown off the face of the planet. Never fear! If all our inventory is lost, you can still download or stream most of our recordings by these fabulous Aeolian-Skinner artists: Robert Anderson, Dora Poteet Barclay, David Baskeyfield, Charles Callahan, Ken Cowan, Catharine Crozier, Thomas Dunn, Maurice and Madeleine Duruflé, George Faxon, Ann Frohbieter, Edgar Hilliar, Clyde Holloway, George Markey, Robert Owen, Roy Perry, Richard Purvis, Albert Russell, Alexander Boggs Ryan, Walt Strony, William Watkins, John Weaver, and many more.

Click here: https://easttexaspipeorganfestival.bandcamp.com/

06/27/2024

Our latest compact disc release features David Baskeyfield live in recital during the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival on the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organs at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas; First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas; and St. Mark's Cathedral, Shreveport, Louisiana recorded by Michael Barone and Peter Nothnagle. With music by Dukas, Dupré, Mozart, and Willan, the disc is accompanied with a program booklet with artist's biography and photos, historic photos of the organ builders at work, and complete stoplists for each organ. Total playing time is 65:38

Order your copy today at www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

Commended for his “masterful artistry” (The Diapason) and “stunning virtuosity and musicality” (Choir and Organ), DAVID BASKEYFIELD has earned a reputation as a captivating performer, whose effortless technical facility is tempered by intelligent and mature interpretation, and informed above all by intuitive and communicative musicianship. His repertoire is wide and eclectic, at home with the music of the Old Masters of the 17th-century and the great 19th-century virtuosos. He is also one of relatively few organists in North America to improvise regularly in recital.

Mr. Baskeyfield is Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at East Carolina University, a post he holds concurrently with that of Organist and Choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Greenville, NC, whose organ, C. B. Fisk’s Opus 126, also serves as the primary teaching and performance instrument at ECU. He is also Artistic Director of the East Carolina Musical Arts and Education Foundation, which supports programming on the Fisk organ and seeks to promote the instrument through outreach at the local and national level.

Mr. Baskeyfield studied Law at Oxford University and holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He is the recipient of an unusual number of first prizes in playing competitions; these include the Canadian International Organ Competition, St Albans, Miami, and the AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation, all with audience prize. He has recorded for ATMA Classique and Acis Productions.

Alongside solo performance, he enjoys work as a collaborative pianist, continuo player, and occasional cocktail pianist. He has been broadcast a number of times on American Public Media’s Pipedreams, as well as NPR’s With Heart and Voice and, more locally, as part of the daily playlist on classical station WXXI. He has occasionally given theatre organ recitals.

He is enthusiastic about cooking, brewing, and offshore sportfishing. He shares his house with two springer spaniels, Lucy and Wilbur.

He is represented in North America by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

The three Aeolian-Skinner organs heard on this disc
were designed and tonally finished by Roy Perry
and installed by the Williams Family of New Orleans.

Track List:

1-3: Dupré Deuxième Symphonie, Op. 26

Tracks 1-3 recorded by Michael Barone, November 10, 2015,
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Shreveport, Louisiana

4-5: Mozart Adagio & Fugue in C Minor, K. 546

6: Dukas L’Apprenti Sorcier, transcribed by Marcel Dupré

7: Dupré Evocation, Op. 37 Allegro deciso

Tracks 4-7 recorded by Peter Nothnagle, November 10, 2016,
First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas

8: Willan Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue

Track 8 recorded by Michael Barone, November 12, 2014

05/11/2024

Roy Perry's arrangement of the Davies "Solemn Melody" will be forever associated with the organ at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas, where Mr. Perry was organist 1932-1972. He made this arrangement for G. Donald Harrison, president of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, and recorded it for the company's "The King of Instruments" series, which was the brainchild of Joseph S. Whiteford, then vice president of the company, in 1953. As in most recordings, there were alternate takes. This clip begins with the final take used on the LP - notice without the introductory measures - then moves to an additional take that does include those measures. Many thanks to our friend Frances Anderson for donating the original manuscript to The East Texas Pipe Organ Festival Archives, where it is on display at our headquarters in historic downtown Kilgore, Texas.

If you have not already done so, please consider registering for this year's festival, to be held in Houston and Galveston, October 20-24 through our website: www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

The East Texas Pipe Organ FestivalPresentsRoy Perry playing his arrangement of Sir Henry Walford Davies' "Solemn Melody," recorded in 1953 on the 1949 Aeolia...

05/03/2024

Friends!

We now have made available the magnificent opening recital that Vincent Dubois played for our 2022 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SHoEHlK-QU&t=32s

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL
OPENING CONCERT

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
KILGORE, TEXAS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2022
8:00 P.M.

VINCENT DUBOIS, ORGANIST

PROGRAM

Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 552 Johann Sebastian Bach

Cantabile César Franck

Symphony #5, Op. 42 Charles-Marie Widor
Allegro vivace

Danse Macabre Camille Saint-Saëns

Prelude and Fugue on the Name of ALAIN Maurice Duruflé

Evocation, Op. 37 Marcel Dupré
Allegro deciso

Improvisation on Submitted Themes Associated with Van Cliburn

EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT: Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.
www.concertorganists.com

Titular organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, and newly appointed Professor of organ interpretation and improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music), Saarbrücken, Germany, VINCENT DUBOIS is one of the finest concert organists in the world today.

A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he earned First Prizes in Organ (Olivier Latry’s organ class), Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue and 20th-century composition; Dubois took the world’s stage in 2002 by winning two major organ competitions: the Recital Gold Medal at the Calgary International Organ Competition, and the Grand Prize at the International Competition of Toulouse, France.

In January 2016 after a comprehensive audition and competition for the available post, Mr. Dubois was appointed the newest of three titular organists of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, where he continues to serve along with the two other titular organists, Olivier Latry and Philippe Lefebvre. Prior to his appointment at Notre-Dame in Paris Mr. Dubois served as titular organist at Soissons Cathedral (2001-2014), and Saint-Brieuc Cathedral (1996-2001).

Mr. Dubois has performed in major concert venues throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Pacific, including performances for numerous international music festivals. He has also appeared as guest soloist with many orchestras and ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the Hong-Kong Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France, the Orchestre National de France, the Orquesta Filharmonica del Gran Canaria, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Orchestre de Picardie, and the Orchestre de Bretagne. In 2017 he was a featured performer at the American Guild of Organists pedagogy conference held at the University of Kansas, and in 2018 he was a featured performer at The American Guild of Organists national convention in Kansas City, MO. In 2023 he will perform at two regional conventions of The American Guild of Organists.

Mr. Dubois is featured in solo recital on several commercial recordings, including a CD of the organ music of Franz Liszt on the Vox Coelistis label; a CD recorded at St. Sulpice in Paris on the JAV label; and a CD recorded at St. Etienne de Caen featuring the complete Symphonie No. 3 of Louis Vierne and the Op. 7 Preludes and Fugues of Marcel Dupré on Radio France’s Tempéraments label. His performances have also been broadcast over Radio France, the O.R.F. Vienna, CBC Radio Canada, Australian Radio and American Public Media’s Pipedreams.

Prior to joining the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik in Saarbrücken, Germany, Mr. Dubois held the distinguished post of Director General of the Strasbourg National and Superior Conservatory of Music in France from 2012 until 2022, and he taught organ at the Freiburg Musikhochschule in Germany from 2018 until 2022. Mr. Dubois has additionally taught organ master classes at such prestigious institutions in the U.S.A., as Yale University, The Eastman School of Music, The Curtis Institute of Music, Oberlin College, Baylor University, The University of St. Paul, Emory University, and the University of Michigan, where he served as Continuing Guest Artist for a two-year period from 2014 to 2016.

1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173
The Crim Memorial Organ

www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

04/29/2024

Meet our Artists:

Ronald Wyatt will be performing a recital for us on Wednesday, October 23, on our Galveston Day during this year's festival at Trinity Episcopal Church, where he is organist emeritus.

If you have not already done so, register for this event today at www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

And don't forget your tax-deductible contributions to the Roy Perry American Classic Pipe Organ Foundation at East Texas Giving Day tomorrow! To contribute, click on the following link

https://www.easttexasgivingday.org

We appreciate your loyal support to The Roy Perry American Classic Foundation, which oversees the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

RONALD WYATT holds degrees from the University of Texas and Trinity University, where he was awarded the Master of Arts degree in organ. He spent a year in Europe as a student of the celebrated Marie-Claire Alain, with whom he performed on network television. He was also a student of Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, the noted concert organist and wife of one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers, Maurice Duruflé.

Mr. Wyatt has played numerous recitals throughout the United States and Europe, in addition to holding professional posts in churches of various denominations. He was a founder of the first statewide organ playing competition in Texas, which draws students to San Antonio each year to compete for scholarships. He has also been featured in a weekly radio series and has participated in oratorio accompaniment and master classes at colleges and universities.

The scope of his musical activities ranges from performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti on the harpsichord with orchestra to playing the calliope in a parade celebrating the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

04/26/2024

We recently announced the upcoming East Texas Pipe Organ Festival to be held in Houston and Galveston October 20-24. We have intentionally maintained the same low registration fees for a number of years. Since these fees do not completely cover expenses, we must rely upon private and generous tax-deductible donations.

We are excited to announce our new association with East Texas Communities Foundation and our participation in this organization’s East Texas Giving Day. Tax-deductible donations are being accepted through April 30. We receive 100% of each and every contribution and would be most grateful if you would consider donating to the Roy Perry American Classic Foundation through the East Texas Giving Day. We are most grateful for your consideration of this appeal.

To contribute, click on the following link
https://www.easttexasgivingday.org/index.php?section=organizations&action=newDonation_org&fwID=918
We appreciate your loyal support to The Roy Perry American Classic Foundation, which oversees the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

If you have not already done so, please consider registering for this year’s festival at our website, easttexaspipeorganfestival.com.

We hope to see you in Houston this October.

Sincerely,
Lorenz Maycher
Founding Director

04/25/2024

MEET OUR ARTISTS

BRYAN ANDERSON will present an organ recital for us during this year's East Texas Pipe Organ festival on Monday afternoon, October 21 on the glorious Aeolian-Skinner organ at First Presbyterian Church, Houston (where Richard Elliott will also be performing our final concert).

Register today for this year's festival at www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

We will be in Houston and Galveston this year, October 20-24.

The exceedingly great level of musicality, the fearlessness of his performance, and the exacting technical prowess exhibited by BRYAN ANDERSON compelled the jury of the 2023 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition to name him, out of 10 stellar competitors, the First Prize Winner of this illustrious event, where he received the $40,000 Pierre S. DuPont Prize (the largest cash prize of any competitive organ event). The Diapason, which named Bryan to its “20 under 30” Class of 2017, has called his playing “brilliant;” Classical Voice of North Carolina has described his playing as “simply first class.”

In the 2023 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, Bryan also received the Philadelphia AGO Chapter Prize for the best performance of a prescribed work by the judges. He also took prizes at the 2021 Canadian International Organ Competition and the 2019 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition and is a past first-prize winner of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition. Bryan has performed at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society and has been featured numerous times on American Public Media's Pipedreams. He appeared on the album Pipedreams Premieres, vol. 3, performing music of Henry Martin alongside Isabelle Demers, Stephen Tharp, and Ken Cowan. Bryan has completed nearly one dozen original orchestral transcriptions, including works by Duruflé, Alkan, Debussy, and Dave Brubeck, and enjoys utilizing these arrangements in recitals.

In addition to solo work, Bryan enjoys an active performance life as a musical collaborator. As a continuo artist at the organ and harpsichord, Bryan is a regular performer with the early-music groups Harmonia Stellarum Houston and the Oklahoma Bach Choir, and has also appeared recently with Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Kentucky Baroque Trumpets, and the viols of Les Touches. Bryan is also an experienced collaborative pianist and chamber musician, with many years of work as an instrumental and choral accompanist, including as the current concert accompanist for the Houston Children’s Chorus. In the realm of orchestral music, Bryan has performed in works such as Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie, Copland's Appalachian Spring, Poulenc's Organ Concerto, Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony, and the chamber orchestration of the Duruflé Requiem. He is also one of the few current organists to tackle large oratorio repertoire at the organ without orchestra, having performed works such as Poulenc's Gloria and Mendelssohn's complete Elijah score alone in choral performances.

Bryan is employed as Director of Music at Saint Thomas’ Episcopal Church and School in Houston, TX, where he trains all ages of choirs from elementary ages through adults, oversees eight sung services per week, and organizes a concert season of guest artists and in-house ensembles. He serves as Co-Manager of the RSCM Gulf Coast choral residency program and has also worked as the Preparatory Choir Director for the Houston Children’s’ Chorus. He previously held positions at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston; Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England; and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and Tenth Presbyterian Church, both in Philadelphia. He also served as an assistant organist of the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, Philadelphia.

Bryan received his master’s degree in organ performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2018, where he studied with Ken Cowan. His undergraduate work was completed at the Curtis Institute of Music, resulting in his bachelor’s degree in organ with Alan Morrison and an Artist Diploma in harpsichord with Leon Schelhase. Previous teachers were Jeannine Morrison (piano) and Sarah Martin (organ).

Bryan Anderson, as part of his Longwood prize, is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.

04/09/2024

This is tremendous. The Doctor in action.

This previously-unseen footage of George Thalben-Ball rehearsing the Temple Church choir in 1958 may have been part of an hour-long programme called “Sunday ...

03/22/2024

We are happy to announce that our 2024 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival in honor of the life and work of Roy Perry is scheduled to take place October 20-24 in Houston, Texas. This annual festival features the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organs designed and tonally finished by Mr. Perry. We will feature Perry’s remaining Aeolian-Skinners in Houston, as well as many other notable instruments in Houston and Galveston by Aeolian-Skinner, Andover, Austin, Fisk-Rosales, Fritts, Hook & Hastings, Letourneau, Nichols & Simpson, Noack, Pasi, Pilcher, and Schantz.

This year's presenters include Emily Amos, Bryan Anderson,
Elena Baquerizo, Ken Cowan, Scott Dettra, Matthew Dirst,
Clive Driskill-Smith, Richard Elliott, Ann Frohbieter, Valentina Huang, Marshall Joos, Andre Lombardi, Alison Luedecke,
Lorenz Maycher, Carl McAliley, Yuri McCoy, Daryl Robinson,
Robert Simpson and the Christ Church Cathedral Choir,
Grant Smith, Jason Steiner, Christopher Teel, Joanna Whitsettt,
Clark Wilson, and Ronald Wyatt.

Register today for this memorable week of music and festivities at https://www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.com

While you are there, shop for some our fabulous Aeolian-Skinner recordings, which are also available for free streaming and for purchasing of downloadable versions at https://www.easttexaspipeorganfestival.bandcamp.com

Our official festival hotel is the Cambria Hotel Downtown. Make your reservation today at https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/MO73X3

If you would like to register for the festival by mail, our address is:
East Texas Pipe Organ Festival
P. O. Box 2069
Kilgore, TX 75663

Tax-deductible donations are always gratefully acknowledged and received at:

The Roy Perry American Classic Organ Foundation (RPACOF)
P. O. Box 2069
Kilgore, TX 75663

If you would like to help underwrite one of our concerts or meals for this year’s festival, please contact us at [email protected]

We hope to see you in Houston this October!

Sincerely,

Lorenz Maycher
Founding Director
The East Texas Pipe Organ Festival