COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY 2024
JASON MOY, SOLO HARPSICHORD
Organ Recital Hall, UCA / Sunday, Jun 9, 2024 at 4 PM
TODD WILSON, SOLO ORGAN RECITAL
First Presbyterian Church / Monday, Jun 10, 2024 at 7:30 PM
KEN COWAN, SOLO ORGAN RECITAL
First Methodist Church / Tuesday, Jun 11, 2024 at 7:30 PM
MAURICE STEGER, RECORDER
JASON MOY, HARPSICHORD; JOEL BACON, ORGAN
Organ Recital Hall, UCA / Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024 at 7:30 PM
CLOSING CONCERT WITH CSU ORGAN WEEK STUDENTS
Organ Recital Hall, UCA / Thursday, Jun 13, 2024 at 6 PM
2024 ORGAN WEEK CONCERT: JASON MOY, SOLO HARPSICHORD
SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024 AT 4 P.M. ORGAN RECITAL HALL
Program
Toccata in G Major, BuxWV 165
Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Amarilli di Julio Romano Peter Phillips (1560/61-1628) from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
Suite in C Major, FbWV 612
Lamento sopra la dolorosa Perdita della Ferdinando IV
Gigue
Courant
Sarabande
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667)
The Queen’s Alman William Byrd (1540-1623)
from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
Pièces de clavecin in A Minor Louis Couperin (1626-1661)
Prélude a l’imitation de Mr. Froberger
Allemande L’Amiable
Courante I
Courante II
Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 846
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) from Das Wohltemperierte Clavier, Book I
Les Baricades Mistérieuses François Couperin (1668-1733) from Pièces de Clavecin, Livre II
Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Harpsichordist JASON J. MOY is the Artistic Director of Ars Musica Chicago, and one of the most sought-after early keyboard specialists in the Midwest. He serves on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and at DePaul University, where he holds the School of Music’s first-ever endowed chair as the Monsignor Kenneth J. Velo Distinguished Professor of Music. He received his harpsichord and Early Music training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and counts Hank Knox, Ketil Haugsand, Andrew Lawrence-King, and the late Bruce Haynes among his most influential mentors and teachers.
Jason is a founding member of the award-winning period instrument ensemble Trio Speranza, and principal keyboardist of the Bach Week Festival Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist and continuo player throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, with notable appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, the York Early Music Festival (UK), and on the International Music Foundation’s Dame Myra Hess and Rush Hour Concert Series in Chicago. He is a frequent guest artist with such esteemed ensembles as the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Haymarket Opera Company, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Bella Voce, and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.
A NOTE ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT
“I’m honored to play today’s recital on Colorado State University’s newest harpsichord, a wonderful double-manual instrument made in 2022 by Bruce Kennedy in Tuscany, Italy. It is based on an original harpsichord made between 1702 and 1704 by the esteemed harpsichord builder Michael Mietke, and preserved at the Charlottenburg Castle in Berlin.”
2024 ORGAN WEEK CONCERT: TODD WILSON
JUNE 10, 2024, 7:30 P.M.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FORT COLLINS
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Three “Schübler” Chorale Preludes J. S. Bach
Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 649
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 648
Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter, BWV 650
Silent film: BIG BUSINESS (Laurel & Hardy, 1929)
An Elf on a Moonbeam Florence Price (1887-1953)
Carmen Georges Bizet (1838-1875) arr. Edwin Lemare
Silent film: Final scene from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Lon Chaney, 1925)
Regarded across America and around the world as one of today’s finest concert organists, TODD WILSON serves as head of the Organ Department at The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at Severance Music Center (home of The Cleveland Orchestra).
Todd Wilson has been heard in recital at many major venues throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, including Symphony Hall (Birmingham, UK), Westminster Abbey (London, UK), St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (Ireland), Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Milwaukee’s Uihlein Hall, Washington National Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, and the 21,000-seat Mormon Conference Center in Salt Lake City. He also was a recitalist for Austrian Radio in Vienna, and in 2005 presented his first solo recital in Tokyo, Japan.
Mr. Wilson has appeared with many orchestras around the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic for whom in 2004 he was featured organ soloist on the first orchestra subscription series concerts featuring the new Walt Disney Concert Hall organ, the Nashville Symphony, the Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Naples (Florida) Philharmonic, and The City of London Sinfonia.
Todd Wilson has many recordings to his credit on the Raven, Naxos, JAV, Delos, Gothic, Disques du Solstice and other private labels, including his most recent two-disc release “The Murray Hill Organ at St. James in-the-City, Los Angeles”, his landmark recording of the Duruflé organ works, the organ works of Gerre Hancock, Terry Riley’s “At the Grand Majestic” recorded with the Nashville Symphony, discs featuring the organ works of George Thalben-Ball and Frank Bridge, a solo recital of American music recorded at Washington National Cathedral, a two-disc collection entitled “In a Quiet Cathedral” featuring meditative organ music recorded at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, a recording of “Great French Virtuosic Organ Music” recorded at the University of Alabama, a recording of music for cello and organ recorded with his daughter, Rachel, a recording of duo organ works with David Higgs entitled “Double Forte”, and a recording of Tournemire organ works played on the organ at Chartres Cathedral in France.
Mr. Wilson received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied organ with Wayne Fisher and piano with John Quincy Bass. Further coaching in organ repertoire was with Russell Saunders at The Eastman School of Music. He won numerous competitions, including the prestigious French Grand Prix de Chartres, the Fort Wayne Competition, the Strader National Scholarship Competition and the national competition sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Mr. Wilson holds the Fellow and Choirmaster certificates, receiving the S. Lewis Elmer Prize for the highest national exam score in 1982. He has been a featured recitalist at many Guild conventions including national conventions in 1992 (Atlanta), 1996 (New York City), 2008 (Minneapolis), 2012 (Nashville) and 2018 (Kansas City).
A sought-after adjudicator, Mr. Wilson has been a jury member for many of the world’s most prestigious competitions, most recently at the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Competition. He has also served on juries for the Longwood Gardens International Competition (USA), the Pipeworks International Organ Competition (Ireland), the Nürnberg Competition (Germany), the Dallas Competition (USA), the Royal College of Organists’ Performer of the Year Competition (UK), the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition (Canada), the Grand Prix de Chartres and the Toulouse Festival Competitions (France), the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition, and the Ft. Wayne Competition (USA).
Previous positions held include Visiting Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan, Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Cleveland Ohio), Director of Music and Organist at The Church of the Covenant (Cleveland Ohio), Head of the Organ Department at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music (Berea Ohio), and Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York.
Mr. Wilson frequently presents repertoire master classes as well as workshops focused on specific aspects of service playing and accompanying. An active interest in improvisation has led to his popular improvised accompaniments to classic silent films.
2024 ORGAN WEEK CONCERT: KEN COWAN
JUNE 11, 2024, 7:30 P.M.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, FORT COLLINS
Program
Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) (arr. Samuel Prowse Warren)
Poème Symphonique pour le temps de l’Avent, Op. 69 (2015) Rachel Laurin (b. 1961)
Carillon de Westminster Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Sonata in G, Op. 28 Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
III. Andante espressivo
IV. Presto (comodo)
Live Wire Ian Farrington (b. 1977)
Regarded as one of North America’s finest concert organists and praised for his dazzling artistry, impeccable technique, and imaginative programming by audiences and critics alike, Ken Cowan maintains a rigorous performing schedule that takes him to major concert venues in America, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
Recent feature performances have included appearances at Verizon Hall in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonie, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Vienna Konzerthaus, Maison Symphonique in Montreal, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Upcoming performances include recitals in Richmond, VA Louisville KY, Cincinnati OH, and Montreal Canada. Mr. Cowan will also be a featured performer this summer at the National conventions of The American Guild of Organists in San Francisco CA, and The Organ Historical Society in Baltimore MD.
Numerous critically acclaimed compact disc recordings by Mr. Cowan are available. Most recent, with Mr. Cowan serving as organ accompanist, is Maurice Duruflé: Complete Choral Works (Signum Records), recorded with Robert Simpson and the Houston Chamber Choir, for which the Houston Chamber Choir was awarded a GRAMMY award in 2020 for Best Choral Recording. Also available is Dynamic Duo, (Pro Organo), featuring Mr. Cowan and Bradley Hunter Welch in a program of original works and transcriptions for duo organists performed on the monumental Casavant organ at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX. Other recordings include Ken Cowan plays The Great Organ (Pro Organo), recorded on the newly-restored organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City; Works of Franz Liszt (JAV), recorded on the Michael Quimby organ at First Baptist church in Jackson Mississippi; and Ken Cowan Plays Romantic Masterworks (Raven), recorded on the 110-rank Schoenstein organ at First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Cowan also joined organist Justin Bischof in the 1999 world-premiere recording of American composer Aaron Miller’s Double Concerto for organ, recorded with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra on the Kleuker organ in the Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland (Ethereal Recordings). Many of Mr. Cowan’s recordings and live performances have been regularly featured on the nationally distributed radio program PIPEDREAMS from American Public Media.
A native of Thorold, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Cowan received the Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ with Thomas Murray. Prior to attending Yale, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with John Weaver. Following initial studies with his father, David, his principal teacher during his high school years was James Bigham, Music Director at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, in Buffalo, NY.
In 2012 Mr. Cowan joined the keyboard faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he is Professor of Organ and head of the organ program. He is additionally Organist and Artist-in-Residence at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, TX. Previous positions have included Associate Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award, and Associate Organist and Artist in Residence at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in New York City.
2024 ORGAN WEEK CONCERT: MAURICE STEGER, RECORDER
JASON MOY, HARPSICHORD JOEL BACON, ORGAN
JUNE 12, 2024, 7:30 P.M.
ORGAN RECITAL HALL
Program
Sonata in C Major, HWV 365
Larghetto
Allegro
Larghetto
Tempo di Gavotta
Allegro
Vater unser im Himmelreich
Trio Sonata in D Minor, BWV 527
Andante
Adagio e dolce
Vivace
Sonata “La Bernabea,” op. 4, no. 1
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)
Georg Böhm (1661–1733)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
INTERMISSION
Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (1624–1687)
Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1020 J. S. Bach
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Sonata in A Major, op. 5, no.11
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
It is not surprising that he is called “Paganini”, “wizard”, “the world’s leading recorder player” or an “electrifying and inspiring conductor”. In order to live up to such high expectations, one requires not only astonishing technique, but also charisma, intellect, and a special sensitivity for the music. MAURICE STEGER has been proving all of this to his audiences, inspiring with his intense tone and unstoppable energy in various concert formats all over the world.
As a soloist, conductor, or both at once, he regularly performs with the top period instrument ensembles, such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel, Venice Baroque Orchestra, The English Concert, Il Pomo d’oro or I Barocchisti. He also performs with leading modern orchestras such as the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Canadian Violons du Roy, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the NDR Radiophilharmonie. It always astonishes that all these orchestras sound transformed after a period of work: sonically sensitive and individual, always historically informed, and playfully expressive in the here and now.
Chamber music plays a notable role in the richly varied spectrum of Maurice Steger’s artistic endeavours. With fellow musicians and friends such as Hille Perl, Rachel Podger, Avi Avital, Daniele Caminiti, Sebastian Wienand, Diego Fasolis, Sol Gabetta and the French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, he dedicates himself to a continuously updated repertoire of Early music. Also, he is available for experimental or new formations, for example, he performs with the pianist Martin Stadtfeld and the percussionist Christoph Sietzen. Within the framework of a world premiere, together with the Kuss Quartet, Steger will apply himself to a new concert form in 2021.
Maurice Steger loves the interaction between different cultures and getting to know other ways of working and interpretive approaches, working as a concert artist, professor, and juror not only in Europe but throughout the world. Tours through North and South America, Asia and Australia have brought him together with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He was the first recorder player from the West to perform with the Traditional Taipei Chinese Orchestra.
His commitment to musical education is also extremely important to him: besides the directorship of the Gstaad Baroque Academy at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, which he took over in 2013 in addition to diverse master classes, he invented the character of Tino Flautino in order to encourage young children to playfully engage with classical music. The recorder playing Tino Flautino is a children’s hero in Steger’s home country, Switzerland, and the musician now presents his latest adventure with the tomcat Leo Leonardo in many countries and languages.
Through his own unending thirst for knowledge, he succeeds time and again in showing how much there is still to be discovered about Baroque music. For example, on his recording Souvenirs, he presented works that he found in the private library of Count Harrach in Naples. His album Baroque Twitter with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the singer Nuria Rial was inspired by birdsong. The latest recording, Mr. Handel’s Dinner, with La Cetra Barockorchester Basel was released in the spring of 2019 and reflects on Handel’s opera performances and especially their intermissions in London. The recording was received with enthusiasm by listeners and the press.
Steger regularly tracks down baroque and early classical rarities, conducts and plays them or releases them on CD. Maurice Steger has received many awards for his work, including the Karajan Prize and the ECHO Klassik.
One sometimes wonders where Maurice Steger finds all the energy with which he has helped the recorder to make a comeback, as Arte recently presented in a documentary The Recorder: A Comeback.
But when you see how much love for the recorder, the music, and the audience he demonstrates in each of his many projects, it becomes clear that Maurice Steger is carved from the same special material as his beloved instrument.
JOEL BACON is the Stewart and Sheron Golden Chair of Organ and Liturgical Studies and the Fr. Don Willette Chair of Catholic Studies at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
As a concert organist, his recent performances have focused on music by W. A. Mozart, Herman Berlinski, and Petr Eben, as well as works for organ and orchestra. His teaching and research are centered on topics related to Catholicism and the creative arts, especially Gregorian chant.
He has performed throughout Europe and North America, and his performances have been broadcast on Austrian Radio and Public Radio International. He has played with numerous orchestras and chamber groups, including the Borromeo String Quartet and the Canadian Brass.
He directs and teaches an annual summer course for young organists (CSU Organ Week) and has directed many Pipe Organ Encounters of the American Guild of Organists. He has taught at the Oundle International Festival (Cambridge, UK), at organ courses of the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, and at numerous other courses in the US and Canada. He has been a juror for regional and national competitions of the American Guild of Organists.
He earned a Ph.D. in historical musicology through a joint degree program of Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts and the University of Vienna, with a dissertation on the use of the organ in orchestral music. In his work as a musicologist, he has lectured widely on topics related to the organ and liturgical music. Most recently, he has researched the composer Herman Berlisnki (1910–2001), whose organ concerto, “The Tetragrammaton,” he performed in a world premiere in Munich in 2019.
From 2008 to 2020 he conducted the St. John XXIII Schola Cantorum, a choir specializing in Gregorian chant. He is currently organist and artist in residence at First United Methodist Church, Fort Collins.
