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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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