of the Lincoln Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
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Sunday, November 1, 2009 -- 3:00 p.m.
Jan Kraybill , Organist
Independence, Missouri
First United Methodist Church
2723 N. 50th Street
Lincoln, NebraskaJan Kraybill is Principal Organist and Director of Music at Community of Christ (formerly RLDS) International Headquarters in Independence, Missouri. She performs regularly on the famous 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner (1959) Auditorium Organ and the Temple's magnificent 103-rank Casavant organ (1993), and oversees a staff of about thirty volunteer organists who, for fifty consecutive summers, have presented daily recitals on these two instruments. She plans and provides music for worship services, coordinates a concert series, designs and conducts international hymn festivals, teaches workshops, and serves as a resource person for church musicians and worship planners. Her degrees are Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music (piano performance) from Kansas State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts (organ performance) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Kraybill performs as both a pianist and organist throughout the United States and abroad. She has performed in many venues in the United States as well as Canada, Germany, Poland, South Korea, Russia, and Tahiti, and has undertaken multiple tours of the United Kingdom, including performances at Chester Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, and London's St. Paul's Cathedral. She has appeared on regional and national musicians' conventions, including the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the American Choral Directors' Association, the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and has been featured frequently on Kansas Public Radio. She has performed as harpsichordist and organist with the acclaimed Baroque group the Bach Aria Soloists, the Kansas City Symphony and the Grammy-winning Kansas City Chorale. Her solo CDs are Two by 2: Two Organ Symphonies on Two Magnificent Organs, recorded at Community of Christ's Auditorium and Temple organs and released December 2004. Her next CD will be released during the 50th anniversary celebration of the installation of the Community of Christ Auditorium's organ, in November 2009.
Dr. Kraybill has served in volunteer leadership in many elected offices in the American Guild of Organists, and is currently Regional Councillor for AGO Region VI, representing ten states on the National Council.
Friday, November 20, 2009 -- 7:00 p.m.
John Scott , Organist
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue
New York City
Westminster Presbyterian Church
2110 Sheridan Boulevard
Lincoln, Nebraska
Organ Specs
John Scott was born in 1956 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, where he became a Cathedral chorister. While still at school he gained the diplomas of the Royal College of Organists and won the major prizes. In 1974 he became Organ Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge, where for four years he acted as assistant to Dr. George Guest and held the University John Stewart of Rannoch Scholarship in Sacred Music. His organ studies were with Jonathan Bielby, Ralph Downes, and Dame Gillian Weir. He made his debut in the 1977 Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, playing Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm. He was the youngest organist to appear in the Proms.
On leaving Cambridge, he was appointed Assistant Organist at London’s two Anglican Cathedrals, St Paul’s and Southwark. During this time he won the first prizes from the Manchester and Leipzig J. S. Bach International Organ Competitions in 1978 and 1984 respectively.
In 1985 he became Sub-Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral and in 1990 he succeeded Dr. Christopher Dearnley as Organist and Director of Music where he served for fourteen years before moving to New York.
His work at St Paul’s involved the training and direction of the choir, and the overseeing and development of the Cathedral’s busy music program. In recent years he was responsible for the music at a number of high-profile events, including the National Service of Thanksgiving for the Millennium, the services to mark the 100th birthday of HM The Queen Mother and the Golden Jubilee of HM The Queen (for which he was asked to compose an anthem) and the service held on 14 September 2001 following the terrorist atrocities in the USA. Under his direction, the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir has toured extensively in Europe, Japan, and North and South America, made many widely acclaimed recordings, worked with a number of distinguished orchestras and ensembles and given world premieres of many works commissioned especially for them.
His career as a recitalist has taken him to five continents. In November 1989 he inaugurated the new Rieger organ in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and in 1990, he was one of five international Cathedral organists invited to play in Washington National Cathedral to celebrate the completion of the Cathedral. Recent engagements have included recitals in the USA, Germany, Hong Kong, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Notre Dame in Paris and Slovakia, and a complete cycle of organ works of J.S. Bach and the Vierne and Widor Symphonies in concert in St Paul’s. In 2003 he gave a series of recitals in St Paul’s featuring the complete organ works of Franck in five recitals, and in 2004 he performed the complete organ works of Buxtehude in a series of ten recitals at St Paul’s.
John Scott’s many recordings include the organ sonatas of Elgar, organ music by William Mathias, the complete organ works of Duruflé and Mendelssohn, as well as two discs of music by Dupré. He has also recorded the solo organ part in Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
John Scott is a Council member of the Royal College of Organists and the Royal School of Church Music. He is President of the Percy Whitlock Trust, a Past-President of the Incorporated Association of Organists and in 1998 was nominated International Performer of the Year by the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He was a member of the Jury for the Concours International d’Orgue “Grand Prix de Chartres” in 2002 and chaired the Jury for the Dallas International Organ Competition in 2003.
In the summer of 2004 he moved to New York to assume the post as Organist and Director of Music at Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York, in succession to Dr. Gerre Hancock, where he directs the renowned choir of men and boys. Just prior to his move to the United States, he was awarded the title Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO), a personal honor from Queen Elizabeth II. In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Nashotah House in Wisconsin, an Episcopal-Anglican theological seminary.
Sunday, February 7, 2010 -- 3:00 p.m.
Ahreum Han
New Haven, Connecticut
First Presbyterian Church
840 S. 17th Street
Lincoln, Nebraska
Organ SpecsAhreum Han was born is Seoul, Korea. She holds a bachelor's degree in organ performance from Westminster Choir College and an artist's diploma from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where she studied as a full scholarship student of alan Morrison. Ms. Han has received top prizes from numerous competitions and is active as an organ soloist. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music Degree at Yale University studying with Thomas Murray. She also serves as an organist at Marquand Chapel of Yale University and the Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University, and St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Stamford, Connecticut.
Saturday, March 6, 2010 -- 7:00 p.m.
Aaron David Miller , Organist
House of Hope Presbyterian Church
St. Paul, Minnesota
Music Centr Recital Hall
Concordia University
800 N. Columbia
Seward, NebraskaAaron David Miller is a renowned concert organist and composer, having won numerous international awards and given concerts across the United States. Dr. Miller’s performances have been heard on National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Pipe Dreams, and many television programs. His compositions have been performed by such ensembles as the Zurich Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Toledo Symphony. Dr. Miller’s work was recently honored with the 2004 Hellenikon Idyllion Composition Prize offered by the Olympic Committee in Athens, Greece.
In 1996, Dr. Miller won the Top Prize in Improvisation at the American Guild of Organists National Convention in New York. In 1998, he went on to win the Bach and Improvisation Prizes at the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition. Subsequently, he was invited to perform at the New York, Calgary, and Los Angeles Bach Festivals. His other prizes include the 1999 Helen Cohn Award for Music Research for his study of late Medieval and Renaissance keyboard music.
Dr. Miller has been commissioned to compose works for numerous organ dedications and orchestra festivals. In 1999, the Zurich Symphony premiered and recorded his Concerto for Two Organists and Orchestra, a four hand-four feet concerto featuring organists Kenneth Cowan and Justin Bischof. In 2004, Dr. Miller was commissioned to write Glass City Fanfare, a new work commemorating the 60th Anniversary of The Toledo Symphony. In the summer of 2006, Dr. Miller’s new work for organ and orchestra, Sleepy Hollow, will be premiered at the National Convention of the American Guild Of Organists in Chicago. Dr. Miller’s many solo organ, choral, and orchestra compositions are published through Augsburg Fortress, Paraclete Publishing, and Kjos Publishing House.
Dr. Miller began his studies in organ performance under the guidance of Carlene Neihart in Kansas City and continued in Chicago with David Schrader. At this time, he attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he studied composition with Bruce Horst. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1995 from the Eastman School of Music, studying organ performance with David Craighead, Russell Saunders, David Higgs, and Michael Farris, and composition with Samuel Adler and Joseph Schwantner. Dr. Miller completed his graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music, earning his Master of Music degree in 1997 and his Doctor of Musical Arts in 1999. He studied composition and organ performance with McNeil Robinson.
Dr. Miller was a member of the theory faculty at the Manhattan School of Music from 1996- 1999. He served as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago from 1999-2000. Dr. Miller is currently the Music Director at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Minneapolis, MN, where he lives with his wife, Nina, and their son, Zachary.
Aaron David Miller is represented by Penny Lorenz Artist Management at Penny Lorenz Artist Management.
Sunday, May 2, 2010 -- 3:00 p.m.
Jean-Baptiste Robin, Organist
Poitiers, France
Saint Paul United Methodist Church
1144 M Street
Lincoln, NebraskaJean-Baptiste Robin studied at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris where he received seven Premier Prix diplomas (organ, harmony, counterpoint, 16th Century composition, 20th century composition, orchestration, Basso continuo) and two postgraduate diplomas with honours, in theory and in organ performance.
He studied organ with Marie-Claire Alain (two years in the CNR Superieur of Paris), Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard (Paris) and Louis Robilliard (Lyon). He also studied composition with Marc-Andre Dalbavie and George Benjamin at King's College, London.
While still ony twenty-three, and after a competitive selection examination, Jean-Baptiste Robin was appointed to the prestigious post of organist of the Cathedral of St Peter in Poitiers. This instrument, made by Francois-Henri Clicquot, is certainly of the most famous French historic organ. He is also professor of Organ at the Conservatoire National de Region of Versailles.
Jean-Baptiste Robin has now a career as an organist and a composer. As an organist he has given recitals at numerous countries in Europe, in USA and in Japan. In Europe he has performed in international organ festivals in Europe: Toulouse-les-orgues, Roquevaire, Masevaux, Organ festival in Haarlem, Silbermann festival in Freiberg, Mendelssohn festival in Coblenz, Saint-Bertrand de Comminges, Saint-Riquier, Monaco, Internationaler Orgelfestival im Schloss, International Orgelsummer in Potsdam-Sans Souci and has given recitals on many famous instruments, including those of Notre-Dame de Paris, the Chapel Royal in Versailles and the Royal Festival Hall in London, etc.
He has given master classes on French organ music for the American Guild of Organists, at the International Summer Academy in Haarlem (Holland), the Sapporo Organ Academy (JP), the Hochschule of Tübingen and Rottenburg (Germany), Conservatory of Music of Cincinnati and each year at the Academy in la Chaise-Dieu and the Poitiers Summer Academy.
His recordings, which include the complete works of Felix Mendelssohn, Louis Marchand (Triton label) and François Couperin (published by Naxos), have been hailed by the specialied press and awarded highest distinctions in France (Golden Diapason of the Year, Choc by the Monde de la Musique, Recommandé by Classica and Répertoire)..
Jean-Baptiste Robin is the composer of some fifteen pieces ranging from solo instrument to symphony orchestra, and was a prize-winner of the Lagardere Foundation and Institut des Beaux-Arts. His pieces were performed in Europe and Japan and were commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Radio France (for the Maîtrise), and the Orchestre National de Lyon. He was awarded the François Prize in Roubaix, and won the Composition Competition of the City of Nice, the Grand Prix of the City of Bordeaux and the Audience Prize at the Dom Bedos Composition Competition.
In 2009 two new realese will appear: the Organ works by Jean-Baptiste Robin on two great Parisian organs (label Naxos) and the complete recording of Jehan Alain music (label Brillant Classics). In 2010 Jean-Baptiste Robin will have a first premiere by Pierre Boulez who will conduct l'Ensemble intercomtenporain in Salle Pleyel/Paris (commission from Ensemble intercontemporain).
 Director: |
Christopher Marks |
| Treasurer: |
Gene Bedient |
| Secretary: |
William Long |
| Ticket Director: |
Christopher Marks |
| Publicity |
Sinda Dux/ |
| Board Members: |
Dan Ahlin Kurt Knecht Mark Miller C. Richard Morris |
| Ex-officio: |
James J. Lytton, ChM |
In 1981, Lincoln Organ Showcase was founded as a way to unite the efforts of various churches and academic institutions into one recognizable series. In the past 25 years, the arts scene in Lincoln has changed considerably, with more events available than ever before. In that time, Showcase has presented over 100 artists in more than 20 locations in Lincoln and surrounding communities.
Lincoln Organ Showcase is a standing subcommittee of the Lincoln Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. As such, Showcase falls under the chapter's 501(c)3 status, and can legally solicit tax-deductible contributions to support the series. Showcase is run by a board of volunteers. A chair or co-chairs, treasurer, secretary, and ticket chair are key officers.
The series co-sponsors concerts with participating churches and institutions. Host sites are scheduled on a biennial basis, and each one contributes to the series financially. Once the sites are selected, the board helps to schedule the artists. Often the host site has already chosen an artist to perform in their venue. Showcase tries to schedule a diverse group of artists each year -- artists who will provide concert goers with a variety of musical styles over the course of the season.
Each participating church (or institution) is allowed unlimited free single-admission tickets for their members (or students) for the concert at that church or institution.
In the effort to foster interest in the organ among young people, admission to the concerts is FREE to young people under the age of 12. Complimentary season tickets are offered through private instructors to junior high and high school piano or organ students. A ticket is also given to the chaperone/driver who brings the student to the concert.
Tickets for Showcase are very reasonably priced so that no one will be discouraged from attending concerts. With the rising cost of travel and artist fees, Showcase has had to step up its fundraising efforts to keep pace. Our supporters have responded admirably, and with their continued support, Showcase looks forward to the next 25 years!
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2009-2010 Season
2009-2010 Season Programs
