Category: Concert

Earlier this year, Pittsburgh was host to the American Guild of Organists Regional Convention.  As a part of the promotional efforts, I was featured as on the Pittsburgh AGO’s Youtube channel, along with some other excellent local organists.  Along with an interview, posted below, we also recorded the organ and I used Hyfrydol as my theme.  It’s a pretty fun improvisation and shows off a little of what the organ can do.  Warning: it was the summer and the organ was not in the best tuning at the time.  The final chord is a little rough, but go big or go home.

I had been hoping to produce the Miniatures about once a week, but the start of the school year has made that a little trickier than I expected.  That is a great excuse to present something from the CD that my church choir recorded a few years ago, namely a lengthy improvisation.  If any of the other improvisations are an indication, I am rarely afforded the opportunity to improvise at length during the liturgies due to the relative shortness of the offertories and communions.  (I suppose I could go longer with the Prelude or Postlude, but most often forget to record those.)  Here, on a CD, I was able to spend the “right” amount of time to flesh out my ideas.  I also wore my French influences on my sleave more than usual – Alain, Duruflé, Langlais, and Messiaen.  Perhaps, one of these days, I’ll record an improvisation outside of the liturgy to express some of the other ideas I like exploring that are less appropriate to the liturgical setting.  I have been spending a lot of time studying the spectral movement and that certainly has influenced my improvisations and compositions.  In the mean time, enjoy, and happy Labor Day Weekend!

PS: I recommend headphones for this one – it’s a relatively quiet improvisation.

This past week here in Pittsburgh was the American Guild of Organists, Mid-Atlantic Regional Convention.  Whew!  A lot of words there.  As I was and am a part of the steering committee, I have had my hands ties up with many things not organ-improvising related.  BUT, one of our local members, as a part of promoting the event, has gone around and visited many churches and recorded their instruments.  I was featured recently and I improvised on the tune HYFRYDOL, something well known that I could throw easily into a prelude/fugue/toccata; something typically flashy and French.  Enjoy!

(PS: In my most French manner, I am wearing street shoes and they make a cameo!)

For some reason, New Child + Easter + End of Semester = I have no time ever.  That being said, I haven’t stopped improvising or recording.  In fact, I’m posting an improvisation from Holy Week that I was particularly happy with.  This particular performance was the last on that particular Teller and won’t be back until the Summer of 2015.  It was recorded from the center of the church, but unfortunately I couldn’t find the file.  Thankfully, I recorded it with my camera!  Though the sound quality isn’t as nice as I would like it, the improv is nicely captured.

ImprovAgony – Full Score

The improvisation is based around three ideas preconceived by myself for this performance.  I tried to program the ideas of Agony, Blood, and Will (as in decision or choice) into musical ideas and the outcome is always interesting.  You will here each idea in the form of the piece as it’s built in three parts with the three ideas.

On a side note, HAPPY EASTER SEASON!  The Agony in the Garden is one of my favorite stories and makes the Easter Season all the more real because of its humanity.  This summer should prove a more prodigious summer than the last, especially in regards to composition.

Despite having the most ridiculous schedule since, well, the last post, I have had a number of fairly successful improvisations.  This one is from a recent visit to Paris where I was given opportunity to improvise at Notre-Dame-d’Auteuil.  Duquesne University hosted a tour through Paris, visiting all the wonderful churches and instruments found there.  The theme is a 12 tone series written by one of the students, Jacob Temple.  What made this particularly fun was the fact that Ann Labounsky and I improvised back to back on the theme.  I’ve included both improvisations as it’s really interesting to see how we both treated the theme very differently.  (I want to add that I was playing in my street shoes – when in France, do as the French do!)