‘Year of the Jaeckal’ celebrates Schwartz Center pipe organ

October 31 , 2005
‘Year of the Jaeckel’ celebrates Schwartz Center pipe organ

By Sally Corbett

Sitting in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall is the culmination of some 14 years of discussions and instrument design—the beautiful and massive pipe organ known as Jaeckel Op. 45—and the instrument’s extraordinary range will be revealed during Emory’s “Organ Celebration Weekend,” Nov. 4–6. The celebration is part of “The Year of the Jaeckel,” 14 free events throughout 2005–06 named in honor of the organ designer.

Jaeckel Op. 45 is the brainchild of University Organist Timothy Albrecht and organ builder and designer Daniel Jaeckel (www.jaeckelorgans.com) of Duluth, Minn. They began their collaboration with the support of University Secretary Rosemary Magee, then executive director of Emory’s Arts Center Project, and developed organ specifications simultaneous with the planning of Emerson Concert Hall. Installation and voicing (fine-tuning pipes for optimal sound) took place during school breaks over 16 months.

Albrecht, professor of church music in the Candler School of Theology and professor of organ in the graduate school, organized the year-long celebration to showcase the organ as a solo instrument and as a partner with chorus and orchestra.

The celebration schedule follows:
• Vincent Dubois, organ, “French Fireworks,” Nov. 4, 8 p.m. Dubois began organ studies at age 11 in St. Brieuc, continuing at the Paris Conservatory. He is a prize-winning touring artist known for masterful improvisation. His program includes improvisation and works by Louis Vierne, César Franck, Maurice Duruflé and Marcel Dupré.

• “A Conversation with Daniel Jaeckel,” Nov. 5,
1 p.m. Jaeckel and Albrecht will discuss the organ’s construction and tonal design and respond to questions. Since 1978, Jaeckel’s shop has produced more than 55 mechanically linked, key-action organs of various sizes, based on 500-year-old organ-building principles. He is an organist, composer and historian of liturgical music with additional background in mathematics, engineering and architecture.

• Emory Organ Alumni Recital, Nov. 5, 3 p.m. This homecoming features works by Dietrich Buxtehude, Henri Mulet, Bach, George T. Thalben-Ball and Marcel Dupré performed by Monica Wood Sparzak, ’02G, assistant director of music, Lake Shore Church, St. Clair Shores, Mich.; Hyoun Joo Song, ’03G, organist, Presbyterian Church in Duluth, Ga.; Trey Clegg, ’97G, music director/principal organist, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta; Mariko Morita, ’99G, Ph.D. student, Indiana University; Rodney Cleveland, ’97G, organist/music director, Lakewood Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Raina Wood, ’96G, organist/music associate, Church Street United Methodist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.

• “The Jaeckel Op. 45 with Chorus and Orchestra,” Nov. 5, 8 p.m. Emory University Chorus with conductor Eric Nelson and Emory Symphony Orchestra with conductor Richard Prior are joined by Emory graduate organ students Melissa Plamann and Randall Harlow. Their program is “Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C” by Charles Stanford and “Symphony No. 3 in C minor ‘Organ’” by Camille Saint-Saëns.

• Gail Archer, organ, “Sweelinck & North German Baroque,” Nov. 6,
3 p.m. The finale will feature works from the 1500s and 1600s, including three by Amsterdam’s great teacher and virtuoso Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and selections by his students Samuel Scheidt and Heinrich Scheidemann. Archer, a prominent concert and recording artist, is chair of the music department at Barnard College, Columbia University, and professor of organ at Manhattan School of Music.

Details of “The Year of the Jaeckel” are available at http://schwartzcenter.emory.edu/organ/index.html.

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