March 19: Free organ concert at St. Helena, international star organist Gail Archer : Beaufort Tribune.com

Return to Front Page Thursday, March 11, 2010 articles (index)
March 19: Free organ concert at St. Helena, international star organist Gail Archer

March 19: Free organ concert at St. Helena, international star organist Gail Archer The spring series of free organ concerts at the historic Parish Church of St. Helena in downtown Beaufort continues Friday, March 19, at noon with internationally renowned star concert organist Gail Archer playing an all-Bach program. In response to Dr. Archer’s second solo CD, A Mystic in the Making (Meyer Media, 2007), John Terauds of the Toronto Star wrote: “Gail Archer has become one of the world’s few star concert organists.” Gail Archer is college organist at Vassar College and a member of the organ and history faculty at the Manhattan School of Music. She serves as director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University and conducts the university choirs. Ms. Archer is artistic director of the artist and student organ series at historic Central Synagogue in New York City. Her first CD, the Orpheus of Amsterdam on CALA Records, London, received international critical praise; her second CD, A Mystic in the Making, music of Olivier Messiaen, recorded on the Aeolian-Skinner organ at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University was released in April, 2007, on Meyer-Media. Ms. Archer played the complete Messiaen organ works in six Manhattan churches in spring, 2008. The New York Times declared, “a survey of Messiaen’s organ music by Gail Archer is sure to be among the year’s highlights—Ms. Archer’s well-paced interpretation had a compelling authority. She played with a bracing physicality in the work’s more driven passages and endowed humbler ruminations with a sense of vulnerability and awe.” Time-Out New York named the Messiaen cycle “Best of 2008″in classical music and opera. In spring 2009, Ms. Archer celebrated the 200th birthday of Felix Mendelssohn with a recital series at Central Synagogue and Temple-Emanu-El in New York City; an on-line release of live recordings of these concerts is available on Meyer-Media. Ms. Archer’s CD, An American Idyll, featuring American organ music from 1900 to the present played on the E. M. Skinner organ at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida was released in August, 2008 on Meyer-Media. Her new CD, Bach the Transcendent Genius the “Great 18″ chorale preludes, recorded on the Fritts organ at Vassar College, was released on January 26, 2010. The organ concerts at St. Helena have become known far and wide for attracting musical artists of the highest quality to play on St. Helena’s famed classical tracker Taylor & Boody organ. The presentations include four concerts each fall and four each spring. The Gail Archer performance is the third of the four in the spring 2010 series. The remaining concert this spring will be held on April 9. The organ at St. Helena’s is modern yet reminiscent of the organ-building practices used during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. This fine instrument is an example of the pinnacle of organ craftsmanship, a period known as the “golden age” of organ building and organ music, reached in Europe between 1600 and 1750. Three centuries later, the legacy of excellent organ building continues to elevate the spirit. Installed in 1985 by Taylor & Boody Organ Builders of Staunton, Virginia, the two-manual organ has 19 stops and more than 1,150 pipes housed in a beautifully crafted oak case. When and where: Friday, March 19, noon Parish Church of St. Helena 505 Church Street Beaufort South Carolina The concert is free Gail Archer, organ Program: Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her BWV 768a Canone all’ottava Canone alla quinta Canto firmo in canone Canone alla setttima Canon per augmentationem Sonata in D minor BWV 527 Andante Adagio et dolce Vivace Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540

Comments are closed.

Click on ads for more info