Organists Marie-Louise Langlais, Eileen Guenther, Henry Lowe and Michael Britt will present a concert honoring organist John C. Walker, immediate past president of the American Guild of Organists, on Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 3 p.m. at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. They will be playing the church’s 1931 Skinner organ, Opus 839 (IV/45). Three choral works composed in Walker’s honor will also be performed.
The program includes works by Jean Langlais, Jehan Alain, Maurice Duruflé, Bruce Simonds, Robert Hebble, and Joe Utterback. Brown Memorial’s Chancel Choir will perform pieces by Daniel Gawthrop, Alfred Fedak and JoyAnne Amani Richardson. John Walker and JoyAnne Richardson, who directed the gospel choir when the two of them served together at The Riverside Church in New York City, will play organ and piano on the concert’s concluding work..
Marie-Louise Langlais was co-titular organist of the Basilica of Sainte Clotilde for many years with Jean Langlais, the renowned composer and organist. Widely celebrated for her “intensely musical playing, full of passion, and for her remarkable technique,” Mme Langlais has performed, lectured, and served on organ competition juries around the world. Emeritus Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatory of Music, she recently published Jean Langlais Remembered, a musical biography of her late husband.
Eileen Guenther, three-term president of the AGO, is Professor of Church Music at Wesley Theological Seminary where she is also Director of Chapel Music. She has performed recitals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, and also conducts workshops on global music. Author of Rivals or a Team: Clergy-Musician Relationships in the 21st Century (2012), Dr. Guenther recently published In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals.
Henry Lowe recently retired after 32 years as Director of Music at Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore. His career as a church musician, recitalist, clinician, conductor and teacher has taken him to many parts of the this country and Europe. He has presented recitals at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Former dean of both the Cincinnati and Baltimore Chapters of the AGO, he also taught organ at Towson University and Goucher College.
Michael Britt is a frequent recitalist of classical organ music who has performed at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. He also performs theater organ music and is in demand nationally as a silent film accompanist. He recently accompanied “Phantom of the Opera” at Princeton University Chapel for the tenth time. In addition to being Minister of Music at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Church, Britt also serves as Assistant Organist at Beth-El Congregation and teaches at the Community College of Baltimore County. He is former Dean of the Baltimore AGO chapter.
John Walker is Minister of Music Emeritus at Brown Memorial, having earlier served at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg and The Riverside Church in New York City. He is a member of the organ faculty at Peabody Conservatory of Music and distinguished Visiting Professor of Organ at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He has performed in the most distinguished venues throughout North America, Europe and Asia; he also has a noted discography. Before becoming AGO president, he served in many other capacities in the organization, including directing the Task Force which developed the first Pipe Organ Encounters.
Tickets to this Tiffany Series event are $20 general admission, $50 Patron level, and $10 students. Parking and shuttle service will be available. For more information, call 410-523-1542 or email.
The Tiffany Series is named for the historic Bolton Hill church’s unparalleled collection of 11 original Tiffany stained glass windows. Brown Memorial is wheelchair accessible.
