Stan's Music Parlor--Hauptwerk Recitals in Los Angeles

To receive an invitation, please send me your email address.

Dr. Han has chosen the following 5 large virtual pipe organs for this recital:

1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html
CAEN

1973 Marcussen & Son: Laurenskerk, Rotterdam, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... organ.html

1999 Aquincum/1915 Steinmeyer: Cathedral of Szombathely, Hungary
http://02.hauptwerk-augustine.info/Savaria-History/

2000 Eisenbarth: St. Bartholomäus Church, Friesach, Austria
http://piotrgrabowski.pl/friesach.html

2001 Vladimir Grygar: Church of the Holy Cross, Litomysl, Czech Republic
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/m ... model.html

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Han studied piano from age eight, and now holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees in both Organ Performance and Applied Linguistics from UCLA. She has honed her naturally sensitive and fluid, technically robust music making working with coaches like Marie-Claire Alain, David Craighead, Jean Guillou, Paul Jacobs, Marilyn Keiser, Luigi Tagliavini, and Todd Wilson.

Namhee has been featured at National and Regional Conventions of the American Guild of Organists. She performs in major Southland’s concert settings, as well as on selected church organs nationally and internationally. Some of her recent performance venues include Cal Poly Arts (San Luis Obispo), St. John the Divine and Grace Church (New York), St. Paul’s Cathedral (Melbourne), and Christ Church St. Laurence (Sydney). She has collaborated with the country’s leading professional choir, Los Angeles Master Chorale, world-renowned period instrument orchestra, Musica Angelica, Pacific Symphony, and Southwest Chamber Music

Recording projects include playing solo and duo organ pieces for “The Story of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ.” She can be heard in American Public Media, Pipedreams. Namhee has been the organist at Westwood Presbyterian Church in LA for the last 20 years, where she relishes her contributions to its long tradition of classical choral music program. For more information, including performance samples, visit http://organmusicfromtheheart.com .


PROGRAM

Gerre Hancock (1934-2012): Laredo fanfare
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Trio Sonata No. 5 Largo-Allegro
Guy Bovet (b. 1942): Salamanca from “Trois Préludes Hambourgeois”
Gaston Litaize (1909-1991): Variations sur un Noël Angevin (Douze Pièces, 1938)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Danse Macabre (transcribed by Edwin Lemare)
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Fantasia in C Major, “Capriccio,” Hob. XVII:4
César Franck (1822-1890): Final
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868): Overture from “William Tell” (transcribed for the Organ by Edwin H. Lemare)


Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Saturday, January 12
Doors close for music: 8 pm
(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)
Reception follows.

Donations for the musicians are appreciated!


Stan's Music Parlor
Lafayette Square

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Saturday, February 2
Doors close for music: 8 pm
(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)
Reception follows.

Dr. Sather has selected the following virtual pipe organs on which to perform his recital:


1735 Gottfried Silbermann: St. Peter's Church, Freiberg, Germany
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/m ... irche.html


1737 Michael Engler: Mary's Church, Krzeszow, Poland
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... oland.html


1745 Johann Andreas Silbermann: Protestant Church, Wasselonne, France
http://www.jeuxdorgues.com/jeux-d-orgue ... n/?lang=en


1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html


1983 Schoenstein/1957 Aeolian-Skinner: First Covenant Church, Oakland, California
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/m ... organ.html


1999 Aquincum/1915 Steinmeyer: Cathedral of Szombathely, Hungary
Savaria - history


To receive an invitation, please send me your email address.

Flu season is here. When ill, please cancel reservations and get well soon!

BIOGRAPHY

CURT SATHER was born in Wisconsin where he began music lessons on the accordion at age 7, and started playing the organ for church at age 12. Music degrees were earned from ASU, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. After serving as Organist & Choirmaster of the Episcopal Parish of St. Barnabas on the Desert, Scottsdale, AZ, for 13 years, he joined the Benedictine monastery of San Miniato al Monte, Florence, Italy. After returning to the US, he has served as church musician, music instructor, organ technician, and board member of the American Guild of Organists in Milwaukee, WI; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; and Olympia, WA. He currently resides in New York where he has started a new career working for a bank founded in 1839, and frequently attends performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Hobbies include traveling and the study of Arabic.

PROGRAM

I. We Thank You, Lord, We Thank You, BWV 29 -Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
II. Trio Sonata in Eb major, BWV 525 -J. S. Bach
III. Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 65 -Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Con moto maestoso
Andante tranquillo
IV. Air, BWV 1068 -J. S. Bach
V. Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 -J. S. Bach

-Intermission-

I. "Bull" Rondo -Richard Ellsasser (1926-1972)
II. Variations from Hommage à Frescobaldi -Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
III. The Squirrel -Powell Weaver (1890-1951)
IV. Variations on "I Got Rhythm" -Harold Britton (b. 1923)
V. Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly -Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
VI. Final from Symphonie No. 1 in D major -Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

To receive an invitation, please send me your email address.

Arrival: 2-2:30 pm Sunday, March 10

Doors close for music: 2:30 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

BIOGRAPHY

Gedymin Grubba – (born 1981) was awarded in 2017 by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage with the Honorary Badge "DESERVED FOR POLISH CULTURE". He is an international organist, composer, conductor performing about 100 concerts each year around the world.

Mr. Grubba is one of the most active Polish concert organists! So far he traveled around the world 5 times with the world concert tours in Europe, both Americas (including the 25 US), South Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania. In 2016, he marked the 20th anniversary of his artistic work. So far, he gave about 2,000 recitals!

Mr. Grubba has recorded a number of CD’s (20 incl. DVD) and numerous recordings for radio and television. He frequently conducts master-classes and is invited to be an adjudicator for organ competitions. From 1999, he is the Director of the International Festival of Organ Music at the Cathedral in Pelplin, which is one of the most significant and prestigious cultural events of its kind in Europe. Last year was 20th edition of the Festival. Since 2003, he is also Chairman of the Promotion of Art Gabriel Fauré Foundation which organize about 50 concerts a year.

http://www.gedymin.org



PROGRAM


1737 Michael Engler: Mary's Church, Krzeszow, Poland

http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... oland.html



Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Concerto in a (after Vivaldi) BWV 593
Allegro-Adagio-Allegro

Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier BWV 731

Praeludium and Fugue a minor BWV 543

Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter BWV 650

Passacaglia in c BWV 582



2004 Jacek Siedler: St. John Cantius, Kracow, Poland*

http://piotrgrabowski.pl/cracov-john-cantius.html


Max Reger (1873-1916)

Choral: Aus tiefer Not



Jan Janca (1933)

Variations on the choral: Hilf, Herr meines Lebens



Donations for the musicians are appreciated!

Stan's Music Parlor

Los Angeles, CA 90019

(323)646-7524

Trio Sonatas-Livia Schweizer, flute; Orest Smovzh, violin; and Thomas Mellan, organ!


1735 Gottfried Silbermann: St. Peter's Church, Freiberg, Germany (Dry)
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/m ... irche.html


BIOGRAPHIES


Italian-Swiss flutist Livia Schweizer started her studies at the Sibelius Academy in the class of Mikael Helasvuo in 2014. Ever since moving to Helsinki, she has participated in several contemporary music projects; she often played in the UMUU-ensemble in Helsinki with which she has been playing music of Sciarrino, Wolff, Brown and Davidovsky.
​
In the last few years she developed a very strong interest towards improvisation, in addition to leading different projects in Helsinki with the aim to explore the field of crossing arts. In 2018, Livia had her apprenticeship with the Finnish National Opera. She is a member of the Beethoven Now! chameber orchestra and has often performed with the Helsinki Sinfonietta, playing under the baton of conductors such as Christoph Alststaedt, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Leif Segerstam.

Now master student in the class of Mikael Helasvuo and Hanna Kinnunen. Livia is going to take part in an exchange program starting January in the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, studying there in the class of Jim Walker.


Ukrainian-born violinist Orest Smovzh is currently based in the United States. In addition to performing - Orest is dedicated to organizing festivals, promoting contemporary music, historically informed performance, music journalism and conducting. Orest is the co-founder of such projects as Melaka Classics – a classical music project in Malaysia, Collegium Managment- one of the most vibrant concert organizations of Ukraine, Dzenzelivka Classical Week - the first Ukrainian chamber music festival in a village, where he served as the Artistic Director for 8 years.

In his repertoire, Orest aims to expand as far as Renaissance, arranging for modern violin, but also working on the historical instruments. He commissioned and premiered around 40 works from leading composers of Ukraine, also Singapore and USA. In 2016, Orest had his conducting debut with Antoniy Baryshevskyi and Rivne Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in Lviv, Orest started to play the violin under the guidance of his mother and Nadiya Varyanko. For the last few years, he works under mentorship of Midori Gotō and is currently on scholarship at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. Orest also studied with Mariya Futorska, Yaroslava Rivnyak, Dmytro Tkachenko, Qian Zhou in Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, and USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles.

Orest collaborated in chamber performances with members of Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, musicians from Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy, pianists Thomas Hoppe, Albert Tiu and cellist Michael Kannen. He also worked on a diverse chamber repertoire with Gyorgy Takacs-Nagy, Jeffrey Kahane, Bernard Lanskey, Members of Tokyo String Quartet, Ellen Mack, Norman Fisher and Shlomo Mints.

As a soloist, Orest took part in historically informed performances with Masaaki Suzuki, also working with Nigel North, Ryo Terakado, and received continuous coachings from Adam and Rotem Gilbert.

Over the past few years, Orest led Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Chamber Orchestra, USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra, USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra, YST Conservatory Strings, European Youth Orchestra and Tchaikovsky Academy String Orchestra for performances in Kyiv, Singapore, Beijing, Los Angeles, Baltimore and several cities in Italy.

In numerous outreach projects with Midori Gotō, Orest played at orphanages, jails, hospitals and halfway homes in towns of Mexico and Los Angeles.

Orest had an inspirational pleasure of participating in masterclasses and lessons with Vadym Repin, Ilya Gringolts, Ivry Gitlis, Pierre Amoyal, Nam Yun Kim, Augustin Dumay, Petru Munteanu, Kszysztof Węgrzyn, Takashi Shimizu, David Takeno, Jacqueline Ross and Oleh Krysa.

Winner of 2015 Tadeusz Wroński Violin Solo Competition, and a finalist of 2018 George Enescu Violin Competition - Orest has performed on instruments by Guarneri del Gesù, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Carlo Landolfi, Lorenzo Storioni and Stefan-Peter Greiner, loaned by late Mr Rin Kei Mei and private collections.

Among his most notable recent concert projects are Bach in Joinery – performance of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas in Lviv, Schnittke and Bach in duo with Midori and Ukrainian Festival Orchestra, Ukrainian premiere of Busoni’s Violin Concerto op. 35 with UFOrchestra and Ivan Ostapovych. He also appeared as a soloist with George Enescu Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra, Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra and number of Ukrainian orchestras in such iconic halls as Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and others.

Orest’s artistic geography includes Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, San Marino, Spain, Great Britain, USA, Mexico, Israel, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore.



Born in Lyon, France in 1995, organist/composer Thomas Mellan was awarded first place in the keyboard division of the 2015 and 2016 national competitions sponsored by the Musical Merit Foundation. In 2011, he was one of six organists invited to record on the official Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ DVD. He performed as Rising Star in the American Guild of Organists’ West Region Regional Convention and in the Centennial International Summer Organ Festival at the Spreckels Pavilion. As Young Artist of the Year, he performed a solo recital in the 23rd Organ Festival at St. Eustache in Paris, France. In 2018, he performed in the International Organ Festival of Lille, and that of St. Antoine l’Abbaye, in France. He gave the Ukrainian premiere of Messiaen’s Livre d’Orgue in 2018 as part of a multi-concert residency at the Organ Hall of Lviv.

His catalogue of over thirty compositions includes orchestral, chamber and solo works. His work …on transcendence…, for five solo cellos and orchestra, was premiered by the Sakura cello quintet and the USC Thornton Symphony under the direction of Donald Crockett in 2016. Compositions have been performed in such venues as the Chautauqua Institute (New York), Rider University and the Princeton University Chapel (Princeton, New Jersey), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego, California), Walt Disney Concert Hall, (Los Angeles, California), the University of Southern California and Église St. Eustache (Paris, France).

Mellan was the Outstanding Graduate of the undergraduate class of 2017 at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in organ performance and composition. He is pursuing a Master of Music degree at Thornton, retaining the double emphasis in organ and composition. He is studying organ with Cherry Rhodes and composition with Donald Crockett. Mellan received the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award in 2016. He was awarded the Thornton Faculty Award in 2013, the most prestigious scholarship awarded to an undergraduate at the Thornton School of Music.



PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1039:


- Adagio
- Allegro ma non presto
- Adagio e piano
- Presto

Johann Sebastian Bach: Trio Sonata, from the Musical Offering BWV 1079:

- Largo
- Allegro
- Andante
- Allegro

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Trio Sonata in G minor, Z.807

François Couperin, Sonade en trio, extrait de l’apothéose de Lully “La paix du parnasse"

- Gravement
- Sallie
- Rondement
- Vivement



Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Monday, March 11

TUESDAY, May 14 at 7:30 pm: Yuhan Niu plays Hauptwerk Virtual Pipe Organs!
To receive an invitation, please send me your email address.

Ms. Niu has selected the following Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs for this recital:

1831 Batz/1571 Peter Janszoon de Swart: Domkerk, Utrecht, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ory_tabbed

1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html

1973 Marcussen & Son: Laurenskerk, Rotterdam, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... organ.html

BIOGRAPHY
Yuhan Niu, organist, pianist and recording engineer, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Industry, a Graduate Certificate in Organ Performance from the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, and is currently pursuing Master of Music in Organ Performance at USC. Originally from Beijing, China, Ms. Niu studied Recording Arts at the Communication University of China from 2010 to 2013, during which she received the National Scholarship, the highest student award of the country. Ms. Niu has recorded concerts in various venues in Beijing including the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing Concert Hall and the National Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2013 Ms. Niu transferred to USC to continue majoring in Music Industry. Since then she has developed a specialty in recording pipe organs. She has recorded various organs around Los Angeles and San Diego including the Great Organ of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and the organ of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego. Inspired by those recording sessions, Ms. Niu expanded her passion for the organ and began study of the instrument in 2014 at USC with Dr. Ladd Thomas, Weicheng Zhao and is currently studying with Cherry Rhodes. She has given recitals at venues including Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles, Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church in San Marino. She has performed at the Basílica de Santa Maria in the 6th and 7th International Summer Organ Academy Mataró, Barcelona. Ms. Niu is the Music Director/Organist of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, La Crescenta.

PROGRAM

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, Op. 99 No. 3
(1835 - 1921)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654
(1685 - 1750)

ROBERT SCHUMANN 6 Fugues on BACH, Op.60
(1810 – 1856)
I. Langsam
V. Lebhaft
VI. Mäßig, nach und nach schneller


Intermission


JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768
(1685 - 1750)

MARCEL DUPRÉ Prelude and Fugue in g minor, Op.7 No. 3
(1886 - 1971)

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Tuesday, May 14

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Mr. Mellan has chosen 3 Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs for this program!


1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html


1916 E.F. Walcker: Martinikerk, Doesburg, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... organ.html


1973 Marcussen & Son: Laurenskerk, Rotterdam, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... organ.html



Donations for the musicians are appreciated!



BIOGRAPHY


Born in Lyon, France in 1995, organist/composer Thomas Mellan was awarded first place in the keyboard division of the 2015 and 2016 national competitions sponsored by the Musical Merit Foundation. In 2011, he was one of six organists invited to record on the official Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ DVD. He performed as Rising Star in the American Guild of Organists’ West Region Regional Convention and in the Centennial International Summer Organ Festival at the Spreckels Pavilion. As Young Artist of the Year, he performed a solo recital in the 23rd Organ Festival at St. Eustache in Paris, France. In 2018, he performed in the International Organ Festival of Lille, and that of St. Antoine l’Abbaye, in France. He gave the Ukrainian premiere of Messiaen’s Livre d’Orgue in 2018 as part of a multi-concert residency at the Organ Hall of Lviv.

His catalogue of over thirty compositions includes orchestral, chamber and solo works. His work …on transcendence…, for five solo cellos and orchestra, was premiered by the Sakura cello quintet and the USC Thornton Symphony under the direction of Donald Crockett in 2016. Compositions have been performed in such venues as the Chautauqua Institute (New York), Rider University and the Princeton University Chapel (Princeton, New Jersey), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego, California), Walt Disney Concert Hall, (Los Angeles, California), the University of Southern California and Église St. Eustache (Paris, France).

Mellan was the Outstanding Graduate of the undergraduate class of 2017 at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in organ performance and composition. He is pursuing a Master of Music degree at Thornton, retaining the double emphasis in organ and composition. He is studying organ with Cherry Rhodes and composition with Donald Crockett. Mellan received the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award in 2016. He was awarded the Thornton Faculty Award in 2013, the most prestigious scholarship awarded to an undergraduate at the Thornton School of Music.


PROGRAM

Franz Liszt (1811-1886):


Fantasy and Fugue on BACH (syncretic version by Jean Guillou)

Étude d’execution transcendantale No. 5: Feux Follets (trans. Thomas Mellan)

Totentanz (trans. Mellan)

Nuages Gris (trans. Mellan)

Variations on a theme of Bach: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen

(intermission)

Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad Nos, ad salutarem undam”, from Meyerbeers “Le Prophète”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ebke3vOt_k&t=551s

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Sunday, June 2

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Stan's Music Parlor
To receive an invitation, please send me your email address.

Mr. Muller has selected the following Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs to play in this recital:

1995 Casavant Frères: First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, Washington
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/u ... model.html


1916 E.F. Walcker: Martinikerk, Doesburg, Netherlands
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... organ.html


To attend, please message me with your email address.

BIOGRAPHY

Rudolf Müller (http://www.rudolfmueller.eu)
Born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany, Rudolf Müller started his musical education at the age of five, and organ lessons at the age of 13.

Later he went on to study at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (University of Music and Performing Arts) in Frankfurt am Main under professors Gerd Wachowski (sight reading, improvisation), Tomasz Adam Nowak (improvisation), Martin Sander (sight reading), Winfried Toll (conducting choirs) and Godehard Joppich (Gregorian chant). He concluded his studies with a degree in church music (2002), a Master’s degree in musical performance (2003) and a further degree in solo performance (2007). He has also attended master classes on improvisation held by Thierry Escaich, Hans Gebhard, Wolfgang Seifen, Peter Planyavsky and others.

Rudolf Müller has won a number of prizes at international organ competitions, among them first prize and audience prize both at the International Bach Competition in Wiesbaden and the International Competition for organ improvisation in Schwäbisch Gmünd, and third prize at the International Organ Competition held by the Valentino Bucchi Foundation in Rome. He was also awarded a cultural prize by Bad Soden am Taunus (for an organ concerto for children) and was given a scholarship by the Schlosskirche Bad Homburg (Bad Homburg Castle Church) board of trustees.

Müller took up the post of organist at Mariannhill Monastery Church in 1994. He has been a full-time church musician at Mariannhill Monastery Church since 2005. He is Artistic Director of the international organ concert series there. In 2006 he started teaching organ and improvisation at Matthias Grünewald Grammar School in Würzburg. In 2014 he founded the Mariannhill Chamber Orchestra.

Concert work has taken him to prestigious music festivals in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Israel and South Africa. CD recordings for the labels Priory Records and Rondeau Production.


PROGRAM

Christoph W. Druckenmüller (1687-1741)
Concerto D major
Allegro
Largo
Vivace

Györgi Ligeti (1923-2006)
Musica ricercata VII

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Sonata b flat major op. 65/4
Allegro con brio
Andante religioso
Allegretto
Allegro maestoso e vivace

Georg Böhm (1661-1733)
Vater unser im Himmelreich
(à 2 claviers et pédale)

Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748)
Concerto b minor after Antonio Vivaldi
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro


Intermission


Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata con Fuga g minor BWV 915
[arrangement for organ: Max Reger]

Ad Wammes (*1953)
Toccata Chromatica
(echoes of Sweelinck)

John Weaver (*1937)
Toccata for Organ

Zsolt Gárdonyi (*1946)
EGATOP
(Hommage à Erroll Garner, Art Tatum und Oscar Peterson)

Pierre Cochereau (1924-1984)
Scherzo symphonique (1974)
[reconstituées par Jeremy Filsell]


Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Sunday, June 16

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Donations for the musicians are appreciated!

Stan's Music Parlor

Los Angeles, CA 90019

(323)646-7524

Mr. Smith has selected 2 Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs for this recital:

1735 Gottfried Silbermann: St. Peter's Church, Freiberg, Germany
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/m ... irche.html

1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html


To attend, please send me your email address.

BIOGRAPHY

Philip Smith is Minister of Music and Organist at The Church of Our Saviour, Episcopal in San Gabriel, a historic parish in Los Angeles, since 2008. He was appointed Organ Conservator, Walt Disney Concert Hall in July 2004. His duties include playing demonstrations for groups, introducing the organ to guest artists and being an ambassador for the organ in Los Angeles. He has been High Holy Days Organist at Stephen Wise Temple for the last 8 years. Previous work has been as the Organist and Choir Director at Temple Israel of Hollywood (1998-2008) and Wilshire United Methodist Church, Los Angeles (2002-2007). In June 2015, Mr. Smith was given the title of Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Los Angeles.

In 2006, he was featured in the new book about the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, “A Forest of Pipes” and released a demonstration CD on the organ with expert Manuel Rosales, who built the famed organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall. And most recently, he is featured in the new DVD, “The Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ”. The newest edition of this book, “10th Anniversary Edition” is now available with more pictures and interviews.

He was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organ from Spring Arbor College in Michigan (1974) and a Master of Music Degree in Organ and Church Music from the University of Michigan (1978). His teachers have been Carol Toploski, Mary Anderson, Albert Bolitho, Robert Clark and Cherry Rhodes.

Whether appearing as a soloist, a member of the Price/Smith Duo for trumpet and organ, or as an accompanist for choral groups in Southern California, Phil has earned bravos worldwide – from Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Wiesbaden, Germany; and Dublin, Ireland in Europe to concerts across the United States; Grace Cathedral and St. Mary of the Assumption, San Francisco, National Presbyterian, Washington DC, Germantown Presbyterian, Philadelphia, Saginaw First Presbyterian, Michigan, First Baptist and First Congregational, Jackson, Michigan, ,Walnut Creek Presbyterian, Pasadena Presbyterian and First United Methodist, Pasadena, All Saints’ Beverly Hills, St. Paul’s Episcopal, Tustin, St. Edmund’s, San Marino, First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Encino, Wilshire United Methodist, Westwood United Methodist, St. James’, Los Angeles, and has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, California Philharmonic, Los Angeles and the Long Beach Symphony.

He has the organist for the yearly “Holiday Sing-along” in December at Walt Disney Concert Hall during the Christmas season. Philip is past Dean of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.


PROGRAM


Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
-Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 545
-Chorale Prelude “Schmücke dich, o liebe seele”, BWV 654
Alio modo a 2 Clavier e Pedale from “Eighteen Chorales”
-Chorale Prelude “Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ”, BWV 649
a 2 Clavier e Pedale from “Schübler Chorales”

Henry Mulet (1878-1967)
-Esquisses byzantines (1934)
-I Nef (Nave)

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
-Chorale in A minor


Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Saturday, June 22

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Donations for the musicians are appreciated!

Mr. Haman has selected the following Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs for this program:

1700's Petar Nakic Adriatic Organ Model: St. Maria d'Alieto Church, Izola, Italy
1775 fr. Isnard: Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, St. Maximin, Provence, France
1885 Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
2019 Jabons Bacheks: 1868 A. Cavaille-Coll Notre Dame Cathedral Tribute Organ V3 (Sonus Paradisi Composite: Caen plus Rotterdam and St. Omer demos), Paris

To attend, please send your email to me.

BIOGRAPHY

Ethan Haman from Fremont, CA, has just graduated as a Presidential and Discovery Scholar in the USC Thornton School of Music's class of 2019. He was a double major in B.Mus. Organ Performance studying with Prof. Cherry Rhodes and B.Mus. Composition with Prof. Morten Lauridsen (previously with Andrew Norman, Donald Crockett, Sean Friar, and Daniel Temkin). In the fall, Ethan will begin pursuing a M.Mus. Organ Performance degree at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music studying under Prof. Jon Laukvik, and will be the regular organist for Noroton Presbyterian Church in Darien, CT. During his time at USC, Ethan was the regular organist for Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena and a freelance organist playing for several churches and ensembles throughout Southern California, as well as an organ improvisation instructor for the San Francisco Peninsula Organ Academy. Previously, he was the organist for the Extraordinary Form Latin Mass offered by the Fraternity of Saint Peter at St. Victor Catholic Church in West Hollywood, where he improvised most of the organ music in addition to accompanying Gregorian chants alongside a choir which sang polyphonic Renaissance settings of the mass. Ethan studied organ and composition from 2008 to 2015 with Angela Kraft Cross, and was the organist of Christ Episcopal Church Los Altos from 2011 to 2015. He earned his Colleague of the American Guild of Organists (CAGO) credential in April 2013. Ethan went on four study trips to Lyon and Paris, France in 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2019 on scholarships from USC and the San Francisco Peninsula Organ Academy to study organ interpretation and improvisation with such notable teachers as Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Frédéric Blanc, Christophe Mantoux, Aude Heurtematte, Olivier Penin, Louis Robilliard, and Marie-Louise Langlais. He has played numerous full organ recitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, Salinas, Los Angeles, Reno, and Harvard University as well as shared concerts in several notable venues such as San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall, Stanford University's Memorial Church, Notre Dame d'Auteuil in Paris, Los Angeles' Union Station, and the 2018 Oregon Bach Festival. Ethan served on the faculty and performed in the Pipe Organ Encounter summer camps of the American Guild of Organists at Stanford in 2016 and Los Angeles in 2018, teaching organ interpretation and improvisation to young organists. He performed his composition “Improvisation on Pentecost Themes” for the Organ Academy Closing Concert of the July 2017 Montréal Organ Festival. In November 2016, Ethan's setting of the "Gloria Patri" Latin text for choir and pipe organ won the USC University Chorus Composition Competition and was premiered by the University Chorus at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles for their fall concert. In December 2017 the same chorus premiered his composition "Hodie Christus Natus Est" for choir and 8 trombones as part of the USC Winter Gala Concert at USC's Bovard Auditorium, and performed the piece again for the USC Winter Gala Concert of 2018. His compositions can be found at SheetMusicPlus.com. Ethan also enjoys recording organ videos for his YouTube channel as well as studying foreign languages; he currently speaks English, Spanish, French, European Portuguese, Cantonese, and is learning Mandarin Chinese.

PROGRAM
- Toccata Settima by Michelangelo Rossi (1602-1656)
- Hymne Veni Creator by Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703)
- Choral nº 1 by César Franck (1822-1890)
- Tree of Life by Angela Kraft Cross (b. 1958)
- Postlude on Hyfrydol by Ethan Haman (b. 1997)
- Improvisation on themes chosen by the audience

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Friday, July 5

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.


Donations for the musicians are appreciated!


Stan's Music Parlor

BIOGRAPHY

Born and raised in New York City, Stephen Main has music in his blood. His mother taught piano and his father, Tom Main, was a professional jazz trombonist with Si Zentner’s band in the 60s. As a choirboy Steve sang at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue under Gerre Hancock. He went on to study violin, piano, organ, theory and composition at the Choate School and then at Oberlin Conservatory. At the same time, he earned his B.A., M.A., and eventually his Ph.D. in Religious Philosophy from the University of Chicago. He is currently the Music Director at Piedmont Community Church, in the Bay Area, where he composes and conducts regular choral and orchestral performances. Stephen is active as an organist, harpist and conductor, with recent appearances in San Francisco, throughout Northern California, New York, Columbus and Los Angeles. He lives in San Francisco and LA.

PROGRAM

Music of Buxtehude, Pachelbel, Bruhns, Bach, and Vierne on a surprising array of instruments (Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs, violin, harp, and lute)!

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Sunday, August 11
Doors close for music: 8 pm
Reception follows.

To receive an invitation, please message Stan Harris with your email address.
Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Saturday, August 31
Doors close for music: 8 pm

Mr. Mellan has selected 2 Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs for this program:

1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html

2000 Eisenbarth: St. Bartholomäus Church, Friesach, Austria
http://piotrgrabowski.pl/friesach.html


BIOGRAPHIES

Born in Lyon, France in 1995, organist/composer Thomas Mellan was awarded first place in the keyboard division of the 2015 and 2016 national competitions sponsored by the Musical Merit Foundation. In 2011, he was one of six organists invited to record on the official Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ DVD. He performed as Rising Star in the American Guild of Organists’ West Region Regional Convention and in the Centennial International Summer Organ Festival at the Spreckels Pavilion. As Young Artist of the Year, he performed a solo recital in the 23rd Organ Festival at St. Eustache in Paris, France. In 2018, he performed in the International Organ Festival of Lille, and that of St. Antoine l’Abbaye, in France. He gave the Ukrainian premiere of Messiaen’s Livre d’Orgue in 2018 as part of a multi-concert residency at the Organ Hall of Lviv.

His catalogue of over thirty compositions includes orchestral, chamber and solo works. His work …on transcendence…, for five solo cellos and orchestra, was premiered by the Sakura cello quintet and the USC Thornton Symphony under the direction of Donald Crockett in 2016. Compositions have been performed in such venues as the Chautauqua Institute (New York), Rider University and the Princeton University Chapel (Princeton, New Jersey), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego, California), Walt Disney Concert Hall, (Los Angeles, California), the University of Southern California and Église St. Eustache (Paris, France).

Mellan was the Outstanding Graduate of the undergraduate class of 2017 at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in organ performance and composition. He is pursuing a Master of Music degree at Thornton, retaining the double emphasis in organ and composition. He has studied organ with Cherry Rhodes and composition with Donald Crockett. Mellan received the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award in 2016. He was awarded the Thornton Faculty Award in 2013, the most prestigious scholarship awarded to an undergraduate at the Thornton School of Music.


As an active performer and composer in Los Angeles, Tristan Heinicke studies Music Composition at the University of Southern California with Ted Hearne, and has previously with Sean Friar.

Tristan’s music explores the space between what is unspoken and what is understood, translation of mediums, maximalism, and personal identity as the lens for the performer and audience’s understanding. He frequently uses musical and visual mediums interchangeably, as well as guided and free improvisations.

PROGRAM

Chopin Études:
- Chopin/Mellan: Etude Op. 25 #10 “octaves”
- Godowsky/Mellan: Etude No. 4, Ignis Fatuus (after Chopin’s Op. 10 #2)
- Chopin/Mellan, Etude Op. 10 #4

Bach and Messiaen:
- JS Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
- Olivier Messiaen: Apparition de l’église éternelle
- JS Bach: Herr Jesu trio, BWV 656
- Olivier Messiaen: Verset pour la fête de la dédicace

(Intermission)

Schoenberg and medieval organ tablatures:
- (Anonymous, 14th century): Min Hertz in Hohen Fröuden
- Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): Fantasy, Op. 47 (with Tristan Heinicke, electric guitar)
- Georg de Putenheim (14th century): Min Hertz in Hohen Fröuden
- Arnold Schoenberg: Variations on a recitative, Op. 40

Reception follows.

To receive an invitation, please message me with your email address.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Namhee Han studied piano from age eight, and now holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees in both Organ Performance and Applied Linguistics from UCLA. She has honed her naturally sensitive and fluid, technically robust music making working with coaches like Marie-Claire Alain, David Craighead, Jean Guillou, Paul Jacobs, Marilyn Keiser, Luigi Tagliavini, and Todd Wilson.
Namhee has been featured at National and Regional Conventions of the American Guild of Organists. She performs in major Southland’s concert settings, as well as on selected church organs nationally and internationally, always crafting programs to suit the instrument and audience for the occasion. Some of her recent solo performance venues include the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Grace Church (New York), St. Paul’s Cathedral and All Saints’ Anglican Church St. Kilda (Melbourne), Christ Church St. Laurence (Sydney), and Cal Poly Arts (San Luis Obispo). A versatile keyboardist, she has performed with the celebrated Los Angeles Master Chorale, as well as the Pacific Symphony, the Colburn Orchestra, the GRAMMY Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music (harmonium & harpsichord), and the world-renowned period instrument orchestra Musica Angelica (positive organ), and has collaborated with notable conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Martin Haselböck, Grant Gershon, Donald Neuen, and Carl St. Clair.

Recording projects include playing solo and duo organ pieces for “The Story of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ” DVD. Namhee can be heard in American Public Media, Pipedreams. She has been the resident organist at Westwood Presbyterian Church in LA for the last 20 years, where she relishes her contributions to its long tradition of classical choral music program. An effective, sought-after teacher, her students have entered prestigious music schools.


PROGRAM

Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944): Variations de Concert

1935 A. Convers/Cavaille-Coll Basilica of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Tribute Organ (Organo) (70/3+P)*
V1 (Sonus Paradisi Composite: Caen and Santanyi plus Utrecht and Brasov demos)
https://organareginaecaeli.wordpress.co ... e-therese/



Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Pieces for Musical Clocks

1984 Bachmen OrganCrafters pipe organ

1850 Istvan Kolonics: Transylvania village organ, Hungary
1850 Janos Sachs: Transdanubia village organ, Hungary
https://01.hauptwerk-augustine.info/Hun ... e-History/



JS Bach (1685-1750): Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, BWV 534

1979 Alfred Führer: Monastery Church of Riddagshausen, Germany
http://www.pipeloops.com/product_info.p ... ucts_id=45



Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933): Valse mignonne (from Drei stücke für Orgel, Op. 142)

1928 E.M. Skinner: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Chicago, Illinois
https://www.milandigitalaudio.com/instr ... nstruments



William Bolcom (b. 1938): Graceful Ghost Rag (1971)
Steinway grand piano



Guy Bovet (b. 1942): El Tango de Los Tangos

2004 Eppo Rynke Ottes: Church of Mostoles, Spain
https://www.hauptwerk.nl/mostolesen.php




César Franck (1822-1890): Grand Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17

1885 A. Cavaille-Coll: St. Etienne Abbey, Caen, France
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/t ... ienne.html



Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Sunday, September 15
Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

To receive an invitation, please message me with your email address.

Mr. Murray has chosen the 1730 Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost virtual pipe organ from the Evangelische Lutherische Stadtkirche, Waltershausen, Thüringen, Germany for this performance!

BIOGRAPHY

EDWARD MURRAY was for close to 30 years Director of Music and Organist at historic Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. He holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Southern Methodist University and has done advanced work at the University of Southern California. He has been a prize-winner in numerous important competitions, notably the American Guild of Organists National Organ Playing Competition, the Concours Suisse de l’orgue and the international competition in Geneva. Well-known in the Southland as a harpsichordist, he played more than ten seasons with the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra and has performed with Musica Angelica, American Bach Soloists, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, and others. He has also championed new music for organ, giving local and regional premieres of works by Petr Eben, Daniel Pinkham, Libby Larsen, George Crumb, David Diamond and others, including Olivier Messiaen’s monumental Livre du Saint Sacrement. He gave the southern California premiere of Stephen Paulus’s first Organ Concerto before a capacity crowd in San Diego’s Balboa Park. He has served on the adjunct faculties of California State University at Los Angeles, Occidental College and U.S.C. He has performed as organist with many Southern California choirs, including the Pasadena Master Chorale, Pasadena Pro Musica, Los Angeles Master Chorale and Millennium Consort Singers, among others. Mr. Murray has recently been elected to the board of the Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Fund.


PROGRAM

MUSIC OF J. S. BACH (1685-1750)

Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 545)

Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’ (BWV 711)
Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten (BWV 691a)
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein (BWV 734a)
Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV Anh. 73)

Sonata in G Major (BWV 530)
Vivace
Lento
Allegro

Concerto in C Major (BWV 595)

Siciliano (BWV 1031/ii) arr. Louis Vierne
Sonatina (BWV 106/i) arr. Alexandre Guilmant
Ertöt durch deine Güte (BWV 22/v) arr. Guy Weitz

Prelude and Fugue in G Major (BWV 541)



Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Saturday, October 5

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Dr. Lent combines the full resources of the 1998 Johannus SW 30 organ and the 1928 Chicago Our Lady of Mt. Carmel EM Skinner Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ for symphonic accompaniment of Roger Wright playing piano concertos!

BIOGRAPHIES

"Aristocratic, exhilarating” The Washington Post exclaimed of Roger Wright’s performance at The Phillips Collection “He has a powerful technique and he enjoys reveling in it…a projection of personality that makes interpretation highly individual but illuminates rather than exploits the music. A major pianist...a pianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers."

These sentiments, echoed by critics and audiences alike, have catapulted Mr. Wright to international renown. By popular demand he has returned to perform with the Glacier Symphony for the acclaimed Mozart Festival in Kalispell and Libby, Montana as well as for the distinguished Classical Encounters Concerts and LA County Museum’s Sundays Live Series. The San Antonio Express-News described last season’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Maestro Chosei Komatsu and the San Antonio Symphony as “both elegant and furious.” Other recent engagements include the Calgary Philharmonic, the Las Vegas Philharmonic Connoisseur Series, the 2009 Music Festival of the Hamptons (New York), and performing Beethoven’s “Emperor” with the Mission Chamber Orchestra in San Jose, California.

The Texas-born artist began his piano studies at the age of twelve, making his concerto debut at age eighteen with the Houston Symphony. In 1998 he captured international attention when he won the 24th Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition in New York City, which led to his debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. In 2000 he did it again. Responding to the overwhelming support he received from the audience, radio listeners and critics at the Sydney International Competition, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation released Piano Masterpieces, a CD of his performances at the competition. Music critic, Neville Cohen rated the album as "CD of the Year" (the West Australian, January 2001). His recording of Between Five Bells from this CD earned composer Peter Sculthorpe the Australian Performing Rights Associations (APRA) Award for the Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition of 2001.

Mr. Wright has also been the recipient of the Gold Medal as well as the Best Performance of a Romantic Work and Best Performance of a Commissioned Piece at the 2003 San Antonio International Piano Competition. In 1994, he won First Prize in the Ruth Burr Competition and in 2001, he was one of only 32 competitors selected worldwide for participation in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
His performances have been broadcast on ABC, CBS, and NBC San Antonio, ABC Australia, CBC Radio Canada, WFMT-FM Chicago, Texas Public Radio, 105.1 K-Mozart in Los Angeles and WQXR in New York City, recently on David Dubal's celebrated series, Reflections from the Keyboard.

A versatile artist, Roger Wright has collaborated with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra, Camerata San Antonio, the Taos Chamber Music Group and twice received the coveted fellowship award at the Aspen Music Festival in 2000 and 2001.

Upcoming highlights include performing Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 with Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica and solo concerts at Festival Hill at Round Top, Texas, The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and The Nethercutt Collection and Champagne Concert Series in Los Angeles.

Roger Wright received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from the University of Houston and his master’s degree from Rice University. His principal piano instructors include Ruth Tomfohrde, John and Nancy Weems, Abbey Simon, Horatio Guiterrez and John Perry.


Dr. James Lent is a native of Houston where he attended the Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of Houston. Since completing his Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale, Dr. Lent has been based in Los Angeles. Once there, he held a teaching fellowship in collaborative piano. James is currently on the faculty of UCLA as the head of collaborative piano and vocal coaching for the music department, and as coordinator of staff pianists, a resident vocal coach, and musical director at AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood. He has also served on the summer faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA as a pianist and opera coach for the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and the Napa Music Festival.

​He has received numerous awards from the New York Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the National Chopin Competition, the Washington International Piano Competition at the Kennedy Center, the Olga Koussevitsky Piano Competition in New York, and the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg National Young Artist Competition. He was a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal.

As a performer he frequently performs throughout Southern California, and recently in venues including the Beverly Hills Hilton, House of Blues, LA Live, and the Ritz Carlton Hotel. He has been featured as a pianist in Cabaret, Chicago, Chess, A Chorus Line, The Fantasticks, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Oklahoma. James is available as a soloist or he can provide additional performers including strings, drums, winds, and/or brass.

As a music director he has directed and played for productions of Spamilton, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweet Charity, Willy Wonka, West Side Story, Seussical, AMDA’s Toonsical, Rent, and for the LA Stage Star Competition.

He made his Alabama Symphony debut to critical acclaim performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 on 24 hours’ notice to replace Andre Watts. Lent has performed with the renowned Paris-based Ensemble Intercontemporain under the direction of Pierre Boulez in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, and his performances have been heard on National Public Radio. He has performed with the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Utah Symphony and the Florida West Coast Symphony, among others, and as solo recitalist at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, for the National Chopin Foundation in Miami, at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he premiered a new work written for him by American composer Frederic Rzewski.

PROGRAM

The program features pianist Roger Wright playing Camille Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 2 and Sergei Prokofieff’s Concerto No. 1.

James Lent will accompany with orchestral reductions on the organ.


Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Sunday, October 6

Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Donations for the musicians are appreciated!

To receive an invitation, please message me.

Arrival: 7:30-8 pm Tuesday, November 26
Doors close for music: 8 pm

(If you arrive late, please wait for applause between pieces to knock for admission.)

Reception follows.

Donations for the musicians are appreciated!

Stan's Music Parlor, Los Angeles

Mr. Mellan will play the Chicago Our Lady of Mt. Carmel 1928 EM Skinner virtual pipe organ for this concert with clarinetist, Espen Aas!

BIOGRAPHIES

Espen Nystog Aas is a Norwegian clarinetist who is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at USC with world renowned clarinet professor Yehuda Gilad. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music and a Graduate Certificate from USC Thornton School of Music. Espen is a versatile player with experience in many different genres. He was awarded a fellowship with the Norwegian Wind Orchestra for his free classical improvisations, which led to concerts in Frankfurts Alte Oper, NDR Hamburg and a premiere at Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Together with Åsbjørg Ryeng on Bandoneon, Espen enjoys a break from the classical world with genres such as klezmer, balkan and tango music. With “Swing’it Dixieband,” he has played in jazz festivals across Europe and recorded two albums. When not playing music, Espen can be found cycling in the canyons or sailing the blue Pacific.

Thomas Mellan is an organist, composer, harpsichordist and pianist. Since 2019, he is the organist in residence of the Jacaranda concert series in Los Angeles. He has performed in spaces including Église St. Eustache in Paris, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, St. Antoine l’abbaye and others. In 2018, his European tour culminated in a residency at the Lviv Organ Hall in Ukraine, where he gave the Ukrainian Premiere of Messiaen’s Livre d’Orgue. His compositions have been performed in the US, France, Ukraine, Portugal, Canada and Malaysia. He studied organ with Cherry Rhodes and Jean Guillou, and composition with Andrew Norman, Frank Ticheli and Donald Crockett. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in organ and composition in 2017 and a Masters in organ from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2019.

PROGRAM

Igor Stravinsky: Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet

Francis Poulenc: Clarinet Sonata FP. 184

W.A. Mozart: Church Sonata No.17 K. 336 (arr. for Clarinet and Organ)

Traditional: Folk Songs from Norway

Erland von Koch: Monolog No.3 for Solo Basset Horn

J.S. Bach: Cello Suite No.1 BWV 1007, Menuet I & II (on the Basset Horn)

Mellan & Aas: Improvisations for Organ and Clarinet