St. Mark's Welcomes Associate Pastor, Reverend Alan Wesley Peacock

On July 20, 2008 the people of St. Mark's welcomed to its ministry Alan Wesley Peacock who was ordained by The Reverend Edward R. Benoway, Bisohp of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Hymns were sung as "Alan" became "Pastor Alan Peacock" and the entire mood of the service was joyfully upbeat. The Reverend Richard Dow, Sr. Pastor at St. Mark's, delivered the sermon. Surrounded by other Pastors of the ELCA, family, friends, and an excited congregation, Pastor Peacock began his ministry among us.

Pastor Peacock was Vicar at Shepherd of the Woods and many people from that congregation (including Pastor Johnson and Pastor Iverson) were in attendance. Several members of the SOTW choir joined members of the St. Mark's Festival Choir in singning "Offertory" by John Ness Beck.

Welcome to St. Mark's Pastor Peacock!

St. Mark's: http://www.stmarksjax.org/
The Florida-Bahamas Synod: http://www.fbsynod.com/
Photo by Bill Daugherty

ALCM Region 2 Conference in Savannah

Savannah, Georgia was the site for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Region 2 biennial conference. Our host church, established in 1741, was the historic Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension on Wright Square (pictured above) where Edie Hockspeier, A.I.M, is the Director of Music. Southern Hospitality was all around us. . .even though Edie is really a farm girl from Iowa. People from the congregation were also on hand to assist. Ascension was the site of worship services built around the theme "Hungry. . .Fed. . .Satisfied," plenary sessions, and workshops regarding a variety of topics. I attended workshops on the Psalms, Children's Voices, Organ Repertoire, and others. The sessions I attended were all carefully planned and helpful.

One highlight of the conference was an organ recital by Bruce Neswick at Independent Presbyterian Church. His workshop on Children's Choirs at St. John's Episcopal Church was also worth attending. (Thanks to the choristers from St. John's who acted as a demonstration choir!)

There was lots of good food in Savannah and plenty to see. On Tuesday night there was a riverboat dinner cruise complete with dolphins swimming in the river.

The officers of ALCM Region 2 are: Donald L. Armitage, President; David Rhyne, Vice-President; Kevin Barger, Secretary/Treasurer. Along with Edie Hockspeier, they did an incredible job of planning this conference. All of the venues were within walking distance and we had time to enjoy a bit of the city while we were learning. The attention to detail was evident. Thanks to all of these persons for an inspiring, educational three days!

For information on the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, a pan-Lutheran orgainization, please visit www.alcm.org.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension's website is: www.elcota.org.
For a great source of information on Bruce Neswick see: http://www.concertartists.com/BN.html

Information (including great photos of their organ) about Independent Presbyterian Church is available at: www.ipcsav.org.

ALCM Savannah: Compline at Christ Church

Recently the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Region 2, held its biennial regional conference in Savannah. The first event on our calendar was Compline at Christ Church (Episcopal) which dates from the 1700's. Compline is the last service of the daily offices at about 9:00 p.m. Pictured is the church, but also a poster that sits outside the church announcing the service of Compline. In the Episcopal service of Compline, the congregation's particpation is "inward" rather than outward. Still, the service is not a performance but ". . .it is a transformance of the individual worshipper."

About an hour before the service, persons from the church walk through Savannah's historic squares and invite the people they meet, many of them tourists, to prayer by handing them a post card sized version of the poster below.

The prayers, psalms and hymns are sung by the choir while the congregation follows the service in darkness, save for the light of a few candles. At Christ Church, this ecumenical choir of musicians and choir directors from are churches is under the expert direction of Mark K. Williams, Parish Musician. If you find yourself in Savannah on a Sunday evening, I encourage you to see if the service is being held and then to attend. I promise that you'll be glad you did.

AGO Sunday and Introduction

Wow, my first national AGO (American Guild of Organists) biennial convention! The convention is 5 days packed with organ concerts and education. The site for this year's convention was Minneapolis, Minnesota. When I registered for the convention a couple of months ago, I had to make selections for concerts and workshops. There was a huge amount of events to choose from and there was no way to see and hear everything. So I did the best I could. Following is a list of some of the events I attended and some photos that I took. I hope you enjoy reading about the convention.

Sunday afternoon was spent at St. Paul's Lake of the Isles Episcopal Church in Minneapolis listening to the Rising Star Recitals. These performers are all 22-32 years of age and we heard a total of seven concerts. That may sound like a lot, but each program was about 20 minutes long and we had 5 - 10 minutes between each program to stand and stretch. These young organists were all amazing and have bright futures as concert artists if that's what they want to do! Several of them played pieces I had never heard before including Anton Heiler's Tanz Tocatta played by Keenan Boswell. (I don't remember it now, but in my program I wrote "perhaps the coolest piece of organ music ever!) Marshall Cuffe played Emma Lou Diemmer's I Danced in the Morning and Brent J. Stamey played Petr Eben's Hommage a Buxtehude. The other artists were Jonathan Hehn, Raymond Nagem, Adam Piethmann, and Kirk Rich.

The evening event was our opening worship service at Central Lutheran Church just a short walk from the hotel. Before worship, we heard a carillon concert by David Johnson. The service included the premiere of Steven Stucky's The Kingdom of God (In no strange land) for organ and choir. The choir was made up of several Twin-Cities local choirs. There were more than 1,800 church musicians in attendance, so you can imagine what the singing was like! What a way to start a convention!!
Photo: St. Paul's Lake of the Isles Episcopal Church

AGO Monday

Monday started out the Basilica of St. Mary for a concert on the 1949 Wicks organ by Elke Voelker. Before I talk about the concert, let me talk about the space. It is immense and ornately decorated with incredible stained-glass windows. It's like being in a huge cavern - and it sounds like it too. Before her concert, Ms. Voelker tested the organ for the recording equipment by playing one chord. When she released that chord, it rolled to the back of the church and could still be heard a full five seconds after the release. Ms. Voelker specializes in the organ music of Sigrfrid Karg-Elert, but she played her Wagner transcription and Bach pieces with equal flourish. There were points that the acoustics worked against her. I could see her fingers working in spots that I couldn't hear notes being sounded - they were getting lost in that immense cave. The concert was amazing. If you are ever in Minneapolis and have an opportunity to see this church, you must go!

The next concert was at St. Olaf Catholic church and was played by Stepen Tharp. The organ, a 2001 instrument built by Lively-Fulcher, was well suited to the works of Widor, Jean Demessieux, and Messiaen. It was a very enjoyable concert.

Also at St. Olaf was an Eastern Orthodox Vespers service. (I know, it was only 11:30 am, but when you're at a convention, you have to make allowances for this kind of thing .) The service was sung by the Rose Ensemble and opened with a piece composed especially for the convention by Cary John Franklin, a Minnesota-based composer. As I write this, my program has been misplaced so I can't give you the title, but it was piece for organ and C-instument that was well-suited to opening worship.

Next, the exhibit hall was opened so it was time to go shopping for organ music! Augsburg Fortress and Concordia Publishing were both happy to see me coming. . .

St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral was the site for the evening event: Evensong sung by the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir from London, England! For me, this was like dying and going to heaven. The space is immense and more than accomodated all 1,800 of the AGO attendees. The public was also able to buy tickets to the event. Superlatives can't define the exquisite music-making of this choir. If you ever have a chance to hear them (they did come to Jax once several years ago), then you must go.
Top: St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral Bottom: St. Olaf Catholic Church

AGO Tuesday

The morning started with a continuation of the Rising Star Recitals at Jehovah Lutheran Church on the 1983 Van Daalen organ. Noah Wynne-Morton, a junior at the Julliard School, played a Bach Prelude and Fugue, then a piece titled Hommage a Igor Stravinsky by Naji Hakim (born 1955). Wynne-Morton was followed by Andrew Yeargin of Raleigh, NC who is studying for his master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music. He chose the famous Bach Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, then a piece I'd never heard by Ad Wammes (born 1953) and titled Miroir which was very cool! His program rounded out with W. A. Mozart's Fantasy in F Minor.

After the Rising Star Recitals I was off to Bethel University for a concerto program performed by James Diaz and Stephen Cleobury. It's always exciting to hear the organ played with an orchestra. My favorite piece was Grand Concerto No. 3 played by Diaz and composed by Stephen Paulus, AGO's composer of the year - but the entire concert was amazing!

The next stop was Saint Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, MN. A church with very modern architecture, the organ was built in 1927 by Casavant and then expanded by Schantz in 2001. John Weaver played a short concert including his own Partita on Kingsfold which I enjoyed very much. (Kingsfold is one of my favorite tunes - in fact, we're singing it Sunday!)

The next performer was Cameron Carpenter who has been called "the ultimate maverick of the U.S. organ community." (I borrow from the author Anne Rice and think of him as the "brat-prince of organists.) His playing is simply amazing. John Weaver, one of his teachers, said that Carpenter is a prodigy such as has not been seen since the time of Mozart. He is incredible. If you ever have a minute then just google him and watch some of the YouTube videos. You will be amazed!! I promise. His rendition of Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Minor is shocking to many organists, but I've heard it played the "right way" so many times that Carpenter's version was incredibly entertaining and I loved every second of it. If you are ever anyplace that Cameron Carpenter is playing a concert, GO. . .and take the family!!

That afternoon I attended a workshop on AGO certification.

The evening event was a concert of music by Olivier Messiaen - and there was not a single organ piece on the program! I don't think I've ever heard any non-organ Messiaen music so this was an enjoyable and educational experience. My favorite was the selections from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus/Twenty Glances on the Child Jesus. This is a work for piano and was played by Lydia Artymiw, a leading piano recitatlist of international fame. We also heard Fete des belles for Six Ondes Martenot. The Martenot is a unique instrument that somehow changes electricity into sound. It can only play one note at a time, so any harmony or polyphony requires more than one instrument. The instument had a unique quality and, although the piece was interesting and well-played, it was a little esoteric and long for my taste. (Perhaps the fact that it was nearly 10:00 pm when it started was a factor.) Still, it was a unique offering and I'm glad I had the chance to hear it.

Top photo: St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral Bottom: St. Andrew's Lutheran Church

AGO Wednesday

Wednesday started the way every day should start - with a service of Matins (Morning Prayer) sung by the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral all the way from London, England. It was a service of organ and choral music with works by Howells, Bairstow, Vaughn Williams, Walton, Elgar and others. The service was held at the Basilica of St. Mary whose acoustics (already discussed) were extremely favorable to English choral music.

The next event was at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church on its 1979 Sipe organ. This was an enjoyable concert by Todd Wilson who is head of the organ department at The Cleveland Institute of Music, with my favorite piece being one for organ and french horn - Calvin Hampton's Variations on Amazing Grace. The french horn was played by Merilee Kemp.

Then we were off to St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral where we heard perhaps my favorite concert of the week. The original organ was built by Welte (1928) then added to by Moller (1964) and Gould and Sons (1976, 1983). This is an organ whose low tones reverberate in your very soul! The concert was played by Peter Sykes with assistance from Victoria Wagner. They played selections from a transcription of Gustav Holst's The Planets. This piece is generally played by one organist in a normal layout but at some points an additional organist is needed to play one line. In Neptune "at one moment all four manuals and pedal, with four hands, two feet, and even a pencil holding a long note" is required. This was an incredible concert, but it ran a little long so I missed the workshop that afternoon. . . .IT WAS WORTH IT!!

The next event was the annual meeting at which election results were given. Eileen Guenther, DMA became the new president and John Walker, FAGO, DMA became the new vice president.

Finally, that evening we boarded the bus for Wooddale Presbyterian Church where we participated in a recording of Pipe Dreams, the radio show of organ music that is hosted by Michael Barone. The concert had a great deal of variety with many well-known organists but two that I'd never heard of before: Barbara Dennerlein wowed all of us with her jazz improvisation (truly, incredible!) and Isabelle Demers amazed us with Stephen Paulus' As If The Whole Creation Cried, from Triptych. We also heard Ken Cowan, Aaron David Miller, Scott Montgomery, Douglas Reed, Herndon Spillman, and Calvn Taylor. I was really exhausted that night and came very close to skipping this event. . .but I'm sooooo glad I went.

Top Left: The organ at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church Middle: The facade of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral (The organ pipes were mostly not visible.)

Bottom: The organ at Wooddale Presbyterian Church

AGO Thursday: Daily Activities

Today I heard two concerts. The first concert was performed at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church in St. Paul, MN where Jeremy Filsell, principal organist of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in our nation's capitol, played a newly-installed (2007) Casavant organ. From his program of Rachmaninoff and Dupre, I most enjoyed the Trois Hymnes of Dupre.

Following that was a concert by Stewart Wayne Foster at Augustana Lutheran Church. The organ there was built by Glatter-Gotz and later work was done by Rosales (a builder whose work I much admire!). We heard a varied program of Bach, Buxtehude, Karg-Elert, and others. I particularly enjoyed Brian Sawyers' Rising Sun and selectons from Karg-Elert's Seven Pastels from the Lake of Constance. From the latter, I shall look for a recording of The Sun's Evensong which, to my ears, had lots of jazz influence.


Also on this day I attended a seminar about Scandinavian Organ Music and the regional divisions had their meetings.

Top photo: The organ at Augustana Lutheran Church
Bottom: The organ at Natvity of Our Lord Catholic Church.

AGO Thursday: Closing Concert

The closing concert was an incredible experience. It included music by Messiaen, Stephen Paulus ("Pilgrim's Hymn" from the opera The Three Hermits), and John Taverner. The crowing work, however, was the U.S. Premiere of Te Deum by German composer Siegfried Matthus (born 1934). An epic work of praise, war, re-building, and finally again, praise, it was written to celebrate the reopening of Dresden's Frauenkirche which was destroyed by Allied Forces during WW II. The work featured soloists, the Minnesota Boys Choir, an orchestra, and an SATB choir (at least 200 voices strong) all under the direction of Phillip Brunelle. If you ever get a chance to hear this work, do not miss it. It will make you weep. It was an incredible way to finish a week of great concerts and education!

Picture: St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral, site of the closing concert.