Mid-Winter Workshop, February 25, 2012
"Embracing the Past-Embracing the Future"
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 18001 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH

Please join members of the Cleveland Chapter AGO as we discuss trends of the past which defined the musical aesthetic in worship and their relation to where we are headed with current trends of musical aesthetic in worship.

The morning begins with a social from 9:30-10:00 AM at which coffee, tea, and refreshments will be served.

Following the social will be two break-out sessions:
    1)    10:00-10:45 AM (How to embrace the organ in various styles of worship.)
    2)    11:00-11:45 AM (How does the local AGO chapter remain relevant in a changing society?)

A Panera Bread Box Lunch (sandwich, chips, and cookie) will be served from 12:00-1:00 PM.  Options include Mediterranean (Vegetarian), Bacon Turkey Bravo, Chicken Caesar, Napa Almond Chicken Salad, Italian Combo, and Asiago Roast Beef.  Please email Jonathan Moyer  jonathanwmoyer@gmail.com with your reservation and choice of sandwich by Wednesday, February 22.  A free-will offering will be collected for the lunch.

A music-swap table will be available where participants may feel free to share music they are no longer using with others.

The Nominating Committee presents the following people for election.  Ballots will be mailed to the membership in mid-March.
 
DEAN:  FERN JENNINGS, CAGO
 
As a young teenage organist my organ teacher, Gordon Brooks, gave me a membership to the Youngstown AGO. I did not participate much in the Guild at that time but was impressed that this was an organization of professional organists. I attended concerts and once accompanied my choir from the Canfield Methodist Church at an AGO choral showcase. Since then I have continuously been an AGO member. I have been involved in leadership roles in the Canton, Akron, and Cleveland Chapters. In Canton we used to have monthly meetings that were always preceded by a member recital.
 
I served as Sub-dean and then Dean of the Akron Chapter. After finishing my (delayed) music degree at Case Western Reserve University, where I studied with Todd Wilson through the joint program with the Cleveland Institute of Music I served a two year term as Dean of the Cleveland Chapter. The highlight of that term was the dedication of the restored Severance Hall organ and the gala events surrounding that occasion. We also applied to host a regional convention. Subsequently, I served as program chair for the convention, under the able leadership of Carol Neff. The convention was a successful and rewarding endeavor.
 
Since then I have served the Chapter as Education and Exams chair. I have coordinated the Professional Exams that our Chapter administers at all levels. Last summer I was appointed Region V Coordinator for Education and Exams.
 
The AGO has been a constant throughout my life. I count among my oldest friends colleagues from the AGO. I have had the opportunity to travel to conventions and meet leaders in the organization at the National and Regional level. I would be honored to serve as Dean for the coming term. I will build on the excellent work done by Dean James Riggs, the Executive Committee and Web-Master Tim Robson in communications and programming. Areas that I think we need to work on are membership and perhaps downsizing the Executive Committee to meet the reality of today's volunteer pool.
 
SUB DEAN:  BARBARA MACGREGOR, AAGO
 
Barbara MacGregor is Professor of Music Emeritus in the College of Creative and Professional Arts, The University of Akron, where she taught organ, harpsichord and music theory courses and also served as Keyboard Studies Chair and Coordinator of the Performance Division. She was Director of Music and Organist at First United Methodist Church in Akron for 20 years and Director of Music and Organist at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Akron for 15 years.  She has served as director of several concert series' including the Keyboard Artist's Recital Series (The University of Akron), Music at First Church (First United Methodist Church, Akron) and Trinity Organ Concert Series, (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron).   She was organist for the Chautauqua program at Lakeside-on-Lake Erie and organist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra for many years. Currently, she serves on the Program Board of the Tuesday Musical Association in Akron and Music from the Western Reserve in Hudson.
 
AGO Activity includes the offices of Dean, Sub-Dean, Executive Committee, Placement Chair and Education Chair for the Akron, Ohio Chapter; Committee for the first Pipe Organ Encounter in Pittsburgh and faculty for 5 subsequent POEs in Regions IV and V; she has also been an adjudicator, clinician, workshop leader, or performer for many chapters across the country and has been a dual member of Cleveland and Akron chapters for many years.
 
Barbara is active as a performer and clinician throughout the country and has been a clinician and featured performer at regional or national conferences of Music Educators National Conference, National Federation of Music Clubs, the American Guild of Organists and church denominations. Concert performances include appearances at Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, South Carolina, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Washington National Cathedral, Interlochen, Carnegie Hall, Cleveland Museum of Art and Severance Hall. She has also studied and performed in Europe and has performed with a variety of artists including Sir David Wilcocks, John Rutter, Dave Brubeck and Eugenia Zukerman.

SECRETARY:  LINDA KEMPKE
 
Linda Kempke, a retired Associate in Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the interim Cantor at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Brooklyn, and currently a member of the Executive Committee. She holds degrees from Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and also holds the AGO Colleague certificate.  Additionally, she attended Oberlin Conservatory. Active in church music for many years Linda is currently the Region 1 President of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.
 
TREASURER:  DON JACKSON
 
Don Jackson has a business degree from Virginia Commonwealth Univ. where he also studied organ and church music.  Don lived in the DC area for 20 years where he was employed by Potomac Electric Power Co. and was also active as a substitute organist.  He served at various times as treasurer and registrar of the Potomac (Maryland) Chapter, and registrar and program committee member of the DC Chapter.  After moving to Cleveland, he was organist-director at Parma Lutheran and for the last seven years he has been organist at Prince of Peace Lutheran, Westlake.  Don is also parish administrator and bookkeeper at Christ Episcopal, Shaker Heights.
 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
 
ROBERT (Bobby) SULLIVAN is the Organist and Director of Music/Liturgy and Parish Administrative Assistant at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Canton, Ohio, a position he has held for 15 years.  He is responsible for the acquisition of the 2004 Kegg Pipe Organ at St. John Church, the Gallery Choir and the day to day operation of the parish.  Bobby is also the Executive Secretary for the American Institute of Organbuilders.  Mr. Sullivan has served as Sub-Dean and Dean of the Canton Chapter of the AGO.
 
CLIFFORD HILL is the President and Music Buyer for Cliff Hill Music Company. An expert in choral and organ literature, Mr. Hill is consulted by church musicians throughout the world. He frequently conducts choral reading sessions and has contributed to www.beliefnet.com, a web site devoted to religions of the world. In addition, Mr. Hill sings with the cathedral choir at Trinity Cathedral. He is a graduate of Westminster Choir College where he earned the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. He is active in the Association of Anglican Musicians and The American Guild of Organists.
 
JAMES D. CLOUSER is the Director of Music Ministries/Principal Organist at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Strongsville.  Jim is a member of the Cleveland and Akron chapters.  He was the first prize winner of the 2004 Quimby/AGO Region V Competition and holds the Colleaugue (CAGO) and Choirmaster (Ch.M) certification. After studying Organ Performance with Todd Wilson at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Jim worked as an apprentice and office assistant at the Leek Pipe Organ Company in Oberlin.  He continues to work with the firm as an independent contractor as a project assistant/consultant, newsletter editor, and organist/speaker for educational events.
 
PATRICK WICKLIFFE holds a Master of Music in performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Antonio Pompa-Baldi and a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Robert Shannon and Peter Takács. Mr. Wickliffe currently serves as Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. His church career has spanned eight years and has included assistantships, key internships, and staff positions at area churches including St. Angela Merici Catholic Church, First United Methodist Church of Macedonia, and Plymouth Church, UCC, of Shaker Heights, where he studied music ministry and organ with Jim Riggs, current Dean of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Mr. Wickliffe maintains active membership in the AGO as well as the National Pastoral Musician's Association (NPM), and has been a past member of the Music Teachers National Association, and the College Music Society.

Every Wednesday from 4:30-5:00pm, the Church of the Covenant in University Circle holds an informal "service of caring" designed to reach out to patients, care givers, and other people in need from surrounding healthcare facilities. Musicians from our area are invited to present meditative musical offerings (typically a prelude, interlude, and postlude). Organists are welcome to play the 1930/1957 Skinner Organ. If interested please contact Jonathan Moyer, jonathanwmoyer@gmail.com.

Dear Guild Members,
I will be leading an organ tour of New York set up by Witte Tours with Loren Veigel as our tour manager and want to let you know of this opportunity. Below is a short description of the tour, but if you visit the website listed you can get complete details of the event. We need to have a minimum of 15 people for the tour to take place, so tell all your organist friends about it!

Mark Thewes
 
Few places on earth captivate the imagination like New York City. From the celebrated theater district to the colorful neighborhoods pulsing with the rhythms of diverse cultures, from the renowned museums to modern and historical landmarks, the Big Apple is in a class by itself.

Against the glittering backdrop of New York City, we'll see - and sometimes hear and play - several of the most famous organs in the U.S. Among the instruments we anticipate experiencing are those at St. John the Divine, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, St. Mary the Virgin, St. Thomas Church, St. Bart's, Trinity Wall Street, and the Frick Museum.

Our confirmed visits will be reflected in the final itinerary for our tour, which will be made available two to three weeks prior to departure. In addition to a full program of organ visits, there will be free time to explore independently, take in a concert or current musical or dramatic production, seek out quintessential New York eateries, and shop.

Our New York City Organ Study Tour includes:
8 to 10 organ visits
Nonstop flights round trip from Cleveland to LaGuardia
Get-acquainted sightseeing tour with a native New Yorker
All transfers via private motorcoach or minibus
Four nights of accommodations at a Midtown Manhattan hotel
Full breakfast at the hotel each morning
Two restaurant dinners
Porterage of luggage in and out at the hotel
http://www.wittetravel.com/calendar-tours/new-york-city-organ-study-tour/

Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m.:  St. Paul's Episcopal Church 317 East Liberty Street, Medina, Ohio.  Brown Bag Concert   Bring your own lunch or brown bag lunches are available for $5.00.  Just call the church office 24 hours prior to the concert at 330.725.4131.
February 21:   "Oberlin Trio" featuring jazz keyboard artist , Julia Chen,  Matt Adomeit on the bass  and  Nathan Friedman on the drums.

Tuesdays at 12:10:  Messiah Lutheran Church, 21485 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, Ohio 44126.  440.331.2405.  www.messiahchurchfairview.org. Music for Tuesdays at 12:10 starts up again on February 14. This will be a wonderful series of programs-a lot of music that you'll not hear anywhere else this year! The programs are held in the sanctuary and are open to the public. Bring your brown bag lunch-we provide coffee, tea, and cookies. The programs conclude before 1:00 p.m. and are entirely informal...come when you can, and leave when you must.  While a donation is not turned down, it's not obligatory.
February 21:  David Robison, piano; David Gooding, organ.  Music for Two Keyboards by Antonio Soler
February 28:  Christopher Toth, organ

Wednesdays:  Music Near the Market at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2031 West 30th St., Cleveland.  CONTACT: Florence Mustric:  216.321.1393.  Featuring the world-famous von Beckerath organ.  FREE concerts AT NOON   on Wednesdays.  
 
Wednesdays at 12:10 p.m.:  Brownbag Concerts at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115.  216.771.3630.  www.trinitycleveland.org.  Bring a lunch or purchase one for $5.00.  Concerts range from jazz to classical chamber music, big band, pipe organ with brass, vocal music of George Gershwin and much more. All programs take place in the beautiful Gothic nave of Trinity Cathedral. There is no admission fee - a freewill offering is taken at each concert.  The Trinity Commons parking lot entrance is on Prospect Avenue at East 22nd Street (Free parking). Overflow parking is available in the Cleveland State University Prospect garage.  Please join us this year as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Brownbag Concert Series - a Music and Art at Trinity Cathedral tradition that began in 1976.  Music and Art at Trinity Cathedral is offering the opportunity to sponsor a Brownbag Concert "in honor" or "in memory" of someone special. Sponsorship levels begin at $500. For information, contact Todd Wilson, 216-774-0421.
February 22:  Ash Wednesday  No Concert
February 29:  Emerging Artists Series - Chamber Music.  Students from the Cleveland Institute of Music, with pianist Elizabeth DeMio in a program including the Piano Quartet in G minor by Gabriel Fauré.

Thursdays at 12:15 p.m.:  Old Stone Church, 91 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio.  Thursdays at Old Stone.  Free brownbag concerts every Thursday from 12:15 p.m., lasting 30-40 minutes.  
February 16:   French songs: Jacquelyn Mouritsen, soprano, Patrick Parker, piano
February 23:  Scott Hayes, Organ
March 1:  Hye Ji Hwang, organ

Saturday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m.:  St. Ignatius High School, the Breen Center, West 30th and Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.  216.556.4405.  www.singersclub.org. The Singers Club of Cleveland under the direction of Mel Unger.  All Work and Some Play!  A light-hearted program featuring songs of work and leisure.  Special guests will be the Obertones, Oberlin College's premiere all-male a capella group - "the best act in Oberlin."  Tickets required.

Tuesday. February 28 at 8:00 p.m.:  Plymouth Church, 2860 Coventry Rd., Cleveland, OH; 216.921.3510 x 34.  Hagen Quartet.  Presented by the Cleveland Chamber Music Society.  Tickets are required and available online at ticketsales@clevelandchambermusic.org.

Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.:  Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106.  www.CovenantWeb.org.  216.421.0482.  The Choirs of Covenant and CWRU combine with the University Circle Symphony Orchestra.  Behold I Build an House by Lucas Foss.  Toward the Unknown Region by Vaughan Williams.  Symphony No. 3, "The Organ"  by Saint-Saëns.  Admission:  $5 general, students free.

Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.:  Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115.  Cantores Cleveland.  The Sounds of Change:  Part 1.  "The Pleasure of Sweet Harmony."  Patron Reception following.  Tickets required:  $10 - General Admission; $25 - Patron Admission.  Tickets can be purchased at:  www.CantoresCleveland.org
 
Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.:  The First Congregational Church of Hudson, 47 Aurora Street, Hudson, Ohio 44236.  Cantores Cleveland.  The Sounds of Change:  Part 1.  "The Pleasure of Sweet Harmony."  The concert is free.  

Sunday, March 4 at 3:00 p.m.:  Plymouth Church, 2860 Coventry Rd., Cleveland, OH; 216.921.3510 x 34. American Choral Music.  The choirs of Fairmount, First Baptist, and Plymouth Churches and conductor Frank Bianchi join in celebrating Shaker Heights' centennial with a program of American choral music, featuring Randall Thompson's The Peaceable Kingdom, spirituals, and American folk hymns, at Plymouth Church.

Sunday, March 4 at 3:00 p.m.:  Fairlawn Lutheran Church, 3415 West Market Street. Akron, Ohio 44333, 330.836.7286.  The Valparaiso Chorale will present a sacred concert of Lenten and Easter Music.  The concert is free and refreshments will be served after the concert.

Sunday, March 4 at 4:00 p.m.:  Brecksville United Church of Christ, 23 Public Square, Brecksville, OH 44141, 440.526.4364.  On Sunday March 4 at 4:00 p.m., Brecksville United Church of Christ will host a free concert titled, "Opera à la carte: Favorite arias from the world's most loved operas!" The program will feature senior vocal performance majors from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music singing selections from various opera classics, including Mozart's Don Giovanni, which will be B-W's main stage winter production. A free-will offering will be received, and a light reception will follow the concert. Brecksville UCC is located near the intersection of Routes 82 & 21 at 23 Public Square in downtown Brecksville. Parking is available off 82 or one block south of 82 off Arlington St. The building is handicapped accessible. For more information, call 440-526-4364.

Monday, March 5 at 10:00 a.m.:  Secrest Auditorium, 334 Shinnick Street, Zanesville, Ohio.  Hector Olivera Children's Concert.  The Zanesville Concert Association Foundation and the Columbus Chapter of the American Guild of Organists are co-sponsoring this outreach event for the children of the Zanesville / Muskingum County Schools. Mr. Olivera will be bringing both his Rodgers four manual Classical Touring Organ and his Roland two manual "Atelier" Orchestral Organ to the performance, which will be tailored to the children and will include both classical and popular selections. Chapter members are most welcome to attend.

American Guild of Organists Cleveland Chapter
2860 Coventry Road
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120
216-921-3510

 

Gerry Mass, our Cleveland Chapter Placement Officer collects and updates job openings in the area.  Although they are not listed in the weekly updates, there is a link in the "Quick Links" section every week that will take you to the updated list on the chapter website.  Questions or need help finding a position? Email: placement@agocleveland.org