Saturday
I arrived in Washington D.C. and attended one of the Bach series concerts at Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown. The tracker organ was built by David Moore. The chairs in the sanctuary had been turned around to view the balcony where the organ console resides. The organist, Professor Roland Stangier from Essen, Germany, played wonderful runs and trills. He used a lot of the mixtures and 2/3 combinations. Professor Stangier did not address the gathering leading to the belief that he is not proficient in English. Professor Stangier was given music for improvisation thirty minutes before the concert. He did a very long interpretation moving from somber to lively and back. Excellent. This concert was not part of the AGO convention.
Sunday
I attended mass at St. Thomas Apostle Catholic Church, Washington D.C. The sanctuary is basically a square with the Kilgen organ in the back balcony. The organist's postlude was the music given out to the AGO attenders on Saturday. Great idea to incorporate this into 4th of July worship knowing some AGO people would be at church. He realized those of us who remained for the entire postlude were most likely AGO attendees.
Monday
The Opening Convocation for the AGO Convention was held at the National Episcopal Cathedral, Washington D.C. It was goose-bump-causing to sing hymns with over 2000 musically minded people. The AGO chaplain, Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Troeger, addressed the group and one thing he said was, “Everytime you make music, you are calling people back to the better spirits of their nature.”
Next I heard Dr. Paul Jacobs play the Orgues Letourneau organ at St. Ann’s Catholic Church. He is amazingly gifted using both hands and both feet, no music, and constantly changing stops. The unmanned camera broadcast on the screen at the front of the church allowing us to watch Dr. Jacobs work.
The second concert of the morning was at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church with Dr. Kimberly Marshall playing the Flentrop Orgelbouw tracker organ. She used music with the church music director turning pages for her. I could not see her feet, but later was told that she often plays in heels. Her selections were from a 500 year span all written for rulers. I needed to have a better understanding of music history and world history to appreciate her combination of choices.
Following the afternoon workshops I attended Bach Vespers at St. Paul’s Lutheran. The service was in German with accompaniment by the Washington Bach Consort including old instruments. Scott Dettra, National Cathedral Organist, accompanied the Bach group as well as playing the Schantz organ for congregational singing.
The final event for Monday, July 5th, was the opening concert again at the National Episcopal Cathedral. Scott Dettra, along with the National Gallery Orchestra, played Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva. This cathedral has been a long-standing favorite of mine and the two events increased my enjoyment and fond memories. Hearing Scott play again after the trip to Ohio in April was wonderful.
Tuesday
Being early for my first concert of the day, I stopped to hear part of the handbell prelude at the National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle. Beautiful.
Diane Belcher played wonderfully at the Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes Episcopal. The Orgues Letourneau console was in the balcony with no video feed. Toward the end she had a cipher, got it fixed, apologized, and finished apparently unfazed. Now that's professional.
St. John’s Episcopal Church was the venue for Jean-Baptiste Robin to play the Lively-Fulcher organ along with Elizabeth Blakeslee on the harp for the beginning and ending numbers. Mr. Robin played the middle two selections solo without music. The second solo piece was one Mr. Robin had written himself. The final harp and organ work was commissioned for this AGO Convention. Mr. Robin used the 32' pedal extensively. Due to my seating in the balcony, I not only had an excellent view of him, but also reaped all the benefits of the bass notes housed next to my seat.
The evening took me to Annapolis to attend the concert at the Naval Academy Chapel. The playlist was very diverse with Bach next to theater music. Dr. David Higgs played a lovely rendition of “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.” He only used music for the piece commissioned for the event. There was great applause for Marianne Webb who established an endowment to fund concerts at the biennial AGO Conventions. This was the first of the concerts.
Wednesday
I attended Faythe Freese’s concert at Foundry United Methodist Church. She used music with two helpers, one on each side, to turn pages. She wore a very dressy dress with very practical organ shoes. Having only recently learned to play with shoes at all, I appreciated her attire. She was in nice view at the front of the church. My very back-of-the-balcony seat allowed a wonderful view.
My last concert was Isabelle Demers at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church. She did an outstanding job, as they all did. She was in the balcony with no video feed. Her mother was in the audience.
Attending the AGO Convention was extreme immersion for me with all the concerts. The organists are unbelievably gifted and I enjoyed hearing their gift of music thoroughly.
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