Eastern New York AGO
Program Calendar


OUR NEXT EVENT!

MEMBERS RECITAL

Come out to support your fellow chapter members as they play a varied program on the three-manual Kerner & Merchant organ.

Come early to peruse the latest additions to the chapter's music collection (music for sale).  Proceeds benefit the chapter's scholarship fund. 

 

Date:         Saturday, May 19, 2012

Time:         12:00 noon recital;  music sale before and following

Where:      First United Presbyterian Church 

                   1915 Fifth Ave. in Troy 

                   Maury A. Castro, host organist

 

 

For further information, contact:

Todd Sisley

518-225-0928

tsisley@gmail.com

 

 


PAST PROGRAMS

PEDALS, PIPES & PIZZA!

For young people ages seven and older

Come for a “hands-on” day of learning about the pipe organ, the “King of Instruments”

 

Date:         Saturday, February 11, 2012

Time:         10:00 am–2:00 pm

Where:      First Presbyterian Church and St. George’s Episcopal Church

                   in Schenectady’s Stockade District

 

Participants will have the opportunity to play three pipe organs, see how a pipe is made, see the inside of a pipe organ, and lots more!  Piano students are encouraged to bring sheet music.

Drop off and pick up will be at First Presbyterian Church (115 Union St., Schenectady).

To register and for more information, phone Andrew Krystopolski, 518-374-3163

 

SCHEDULE

10:00   Registration and welcome at First Presbyterian Church 

            (115 Union St., Schenectady)

10:10   Performance: “REX: The King  of Instruments”

10:20   Introduction to the Casavant organ console at First Presbyterian

10:30   Participants get to play the organ

10:50   Snacks

11:05   “How a Pipe Is Made” (Part I)  / “How the Organ Works”

11:25   Tour of main organ and antiphonal division

11:40   Silent movie: “The Dog Outwits the Kidnapper” (1908)

11:50   Transition; walk to St. George’s Great Hall for pizza and

            “Pulling Out All the Stops” DVD

12:35   Performance: “Jacob’s Ladder”

12:50   Introduction to the Moller console at St. George’s

12:55   Try the organ and look inside

1:15     Portativ organ (Schreiner, Opus 5) in Lady Chapel

            “How a Pipe Is Made” (Part II)

1:45     Walk back to First Presbyterian Church

            Finale: Carillon de Westminster performance

2:00     Everyone goes home

January 21, 2012 / 9:00 am–12:30 pm 

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Albany (21 Hackett Blvd.

Jonathan B. Hall, FAGO, ChM

"Lift Up Their Hearts: Tools for Effective & Joyful Hymn Leadership"

Dr. Hall will discuss and demonstrate an array of skills needed to enhance hymn playing and heighten worship in the 21st century.

Book and Sheet Music Sale precedes and follows workshop

Steven Rosenberry, host organist

Casavant organ (1966)

Three manuals, 68 ranks

May 21, 2011 / 11:00 am   Student Scholarship Winners

Organ Recital, Annual Meeting, and Lunch

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Albany

Neil Keen, host organist

Jonathan Denham

Alanna Wilson

Eric Lebel

Schlicker organ (1977)

Three manuals, 75 ranks

Luncheon and annual meeting to follow at TASTE

February 16, 2011 / 7:30 pm Organized Rhythm

Union College Memorial Chapel, Schenectady.  

Clive Driskill-Smith, organ

Joseph Gramley, multi-percussion

Music of Bach, Holst, Cochereau, and Saint-Saëns

Casavant organ

 

January 23, 2011 / 4:00 pm Members and Friends Concert

St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, Loudonville (23 Crumitie Rd.); Charles Jones, host.  Celebrating the Year of Collaborative Music, we will meet for a reading session followed by a brief recital of music for organ and “others.” Do you have a favorite duo you’ve always wanted to play through with someone, but haven’t had access to a player?  Here’s the opportunity!  Several instrumentalists will be joining us, including a violinist, pianist, and brass player, to read through a piece that you bring.  Our guests will also be performing a prepared work with chapter members.  If you would like to bring a friend and perform a prepared piece at the end, please contact Program Chair Todd Sisley at 518-462-2405 or e-mail: tsisley@gmail.com.

 

November 20 / 10:00 am–noon Healthy Vocal Technique for Your Choir (with Anne Z. Turner)

First United Methodist Church, Schenectady (603 State St.).  Organ music sale and refreshments; peruse the chapter’s Choral Music Library. 

 

October 29 / 6:00 pm The Very Scariest Organ Music

First United Presbyterian Church, Troy (1915 Fifth Ave.).  Half-hour concert featuring Maury A. Castro playing Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Gounod’s Funeral March of a Marionette,   Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, and Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre (assisted by Todd Sisley).  Organ demonstration for all ages follows (Dan Lemieux, organbuilder, Lemieux and Associates).

 

October 2 / 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Autumn Study Tour

Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.  Larry Schipull, college organist and associate professor of music, hosts us in Abbey Memorial Chapel, which houses two organs of very different styles: a four-manual electropneumatic action instrument by Hutchings/Skinner located in the front of the sanctuary and a two-manual Fisk organ (Opus 84, 1986) in its own balcony at the rear of the chapel.  The Fisk organ will be the primary focus of the trip.

 

 

 


 

2009–2010 PROGRAMS

May 22 / 11:00 am Student Scholarship Winners Organ Recital, Annual Meeting, and Lunch

Bethesda Episcopal Church, Saratoga Springs

41 Washington Street
Saratoga Springs
, NY 12866

518-584-5980

 

Farrell Goehring, host organist

Three-manual, 48-rank Casavant organ, Opus 2927

 

With organists Alanna Wilson, Jonathan Denham, Fritz Hermann, and Colin Sweeney

 

12:00 pm  Lunch follows at The Olde Bryan Inn

123 Maple Avenue
Saratoga Springs
, NY 12866

518-587-2990

 

Please contact Todd Sisley by May 18 if you plan to attend.

 

April 25, 2010 / 4:00 pm Fedak Choral Festival

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Albany (State St.).  Celebrating Al and Sue Fedak's 20 years of music ministry at Westminster Church.  Festival choir will sing anthems and hymns by Al.  Sue will conduct.  Guests: The Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw Jr., Gene Marie Callahan Kern, Donald Ingram, Kathryn Norman, and Eugene Tobey.

 

February 13, 2010 / 10:00 am Service Playing Test Preparation

First Reformed Church of Scotia.  Barbara Adler and Iteke Prins offer an overview on taking the Guild's Service Playing Test.

 

January 23, 2010 / 9:00 am “The Chorale as Cantus Firmus,” with Robert Fertitta

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Albany (Hackett Blvd.).  Come and warm up to an overview of chorale prelude composition—looking at numerous examples by the masters in which a pre-existing melody is set in a particular texture; using repertoire from early Baroque to Mendelssohn, Vierne, and Langlais.

 

November 20 / 8:00 pm Isabelle Demers, organist

First United Presbyterian Church, Troy.  This internationally acclaimed artist, who wowed the audience at the 2008 National Convention in Minneapolis, will play a recital of original works and transcriptions.  $10/non-members.

 

October 31 / 12:00 noon Phantoms & Pipes

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Troy (corner of State & Third Streets).  Introduction to the organ followed by a recital of spooky music.  Pizza party following.  For the young and "young at heart"; costumes welcomed!   Free admission.

 

October 19 / 8:00 pm Bach's Monumental "The Art of Fugue" with Jon Gillock & Dean Kauffman

Emerson Hall, Union College, Schenectady.  For many years musicians and theorists have considered The Art of Fugue a purely academic work in demonstrating the ultimate in the handling of the most complicated fugal techniques.  These two performers, during their coast-to-coast tour, will present this rarely performed work on two pianos (as arranged by Bruno Seidlhofer for the Neue Bachgesellschaft in 1937). Chapter members must reserve their seat by September 21.  $20 tickets will be offered to the public beginning on September 22.  (Members may make reservations for non-members, to be paid at the door, when they reserve before 9/22.) To reserve, contact Todd Sisley at tsisley@agohq.org or phone 518-462-2405.


2008–2009 PROGRAMS

 

May 9, 2009  Student Scholarship Winners Recital

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

58 Third St. (at State St.), Troy

11:00 am, followed by Annual Meeting and Buffet Luncheon at

Lo Porto Restaurant, 85 Fourth St.

$17 per person (paid individually)

Contact Charles Jones, if you plan to attend

 

March 22, 2009  Bach Birthday Concert

"Celebrating the Music of Johann Sebastian Bach"

Organists: Nancy Frank, Steven Rosenberry, Alfred Fedak, and Brian Hoffman

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

21 Hackett Blvd., Albany

3:00 p.m.

Students and chapter members free

For further information, phone 518-463-2257

 

Organ by Casavant, Opus 2819 (1965)

 

March 14, 2009  Introduction to the Pipe Organ & Church Music Workshops

First Presbyterian Church

400 Glen St.

Glens Falls, N.Y.

9:00 am–12:30 pm

 

February 14, 2009  Introduction to the Pipe Organ & Church Music Workshops

St. John's Episcopal Church

Johnstown, N.Y.

9:00 am–12:30 pm


February 7, 2009   Improvisation Workshop with Jason Roberts

St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church

23 Crumitie Rd., Loudonville

9:00 am to noon

 


January 10, 2009  Annual Skills Fair

"AGO Certification and Diagnosing Organ Problems"
First Reformed Church

8 North Church St., Schenectady

9:00 am to noon


November 14–15, 2008  AGO Choir Festival

"Music for Advent and Christmas": Choral Music of Daniel Pinkham

Janet McGhee (conductor), with choir, organ and brass

Saturday, 8 pm
Cathedral of All Saints, South Swan St., Albany

 


October 17–19, 2008  Organ Spectacular Weekend

Friday:  "From Sea to Shining Sea" Multimedia Presentation
Jeannine Jordan, organist

Westminster Presbyterian Church
262 State St., Albany
$10 adults, $7 students and seniors

SaturdayPedals, Pipes, and Pizza
Zion Lutheran Church
153 Nott Terrace, Schenectady

Sunday:  "Pipe Organ Spectacular in Downtown Albany"

"Organ and Instruments"

Nancy Frank, organist
First Presbyterian Church, 362 State St.

"Rex: The King of Instruments" by Daniel Burton
Alfred Fedak, organist; Sue Fedak, narrator
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 262 State St.

"Dueling Organists"
Neil Keen and Mary Bon
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 107 State St.

Organ Recital and Festal Evensong
Woody Bynum, director; Robert Richter, organist
Cathedral of All Saints, South Swan St.


September 21, 2008  Opening  Meeting
Pot luck dinner and organ demonstration
60th anniversary of the Austin organ at Old First Church in Albany


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