ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Set for October 12 – 15, the 2006 Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI) Festival will feature American organ building in the 20 th century and in particular two great American organ builders: E.M. Skinner (1866 – 1961), whose work includes the Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall organ, and master organ builder John Brombaugh, who will be at the event as a guest speaker and to help celebrate the kickoff for the next important stage of EROI—renovation of the Kilbourn Hall Skinner organ.
The annual festival is a celebration of the long-range EROI project designed to nurture and extend the School’s distinguished tradition of the study and teaching of organ. The event includes presentations and concerts, many open to the public. Highlights this year include: keynote address by Eastman alumna Orpha Ochse, professor of music emerita at Whittier College and the author of The History of the Organ in the Unites States; presentation on “E.M. Skinner—The Man” by Barbara Owen; Organ Walk along East Avenue offering a chance to hear lectures and demonstrations of the American organs in some of Rochester’s largest churches; joint recital by Eastman’s organ faculty, Hans Davidsson, David Higgs and William Porter on the John Brombaugh organ at Sacred Heart Cathedral and a recital by Francesco Cera on the School’s Italian Baroque organ—the focus of last year’s festival—at the Memorial Art Gallery.
For more information about the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative and the 2006 Festival, please call (585) 274-1010 or visit www.esm.rochester.edu/eroi.
Concerts & Events Open to the Public
Thursday October 12
8:30PM
Opening Concert at Asbury First United Methodist Church
Eastman Organ Students
Austin Organ Company, Opus 2215 (1956)
George Bozeman, Jr. and Company, Opus 24 (1984)
Tickets $12 ($8 students) available at the door 1 hour prior to concert. Cash or check only
Friday October 13
1:00 PM
Sacred Heart Cathedral (RC): John Brombaugh, Opus 9 (1972)
Afternoon Recital: Mark Brombaugh
Tickets $7.50/$5 students available at the door 1 hour prior to concert. Cash or check only8:30PM
St Mary’s Church (RC): Austin Organ Company, Opus 2186 (1952)
Choral and Organ Concert
Music by David Conte and young Eastman composers; Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy, director; David Higgs, organist; Eastman organ students
Tickets $12 ($8 students) available at the door 1 hour prior to concert. Cash or check only
Saturday October 14
12:15PM
St. Luke and St. Simon of Cyrene Church (Episcopal)
Eastman Organ Student Recital
Skinner Organ Company #517 (1925)
Tickets $7.50/$5 students available at the door 1 hour prior to concert. Cash or check only
EAST AVENUE ORGAN WALK
1:45PM
First Church of Christ Scientist
Casavant Frères, Opus 37 (1916)/M.P. Möller Organ Company (1957)2:30PM
Third Presbyterian Chapel
Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company #1250 (1952)3:30PM
George Eastman House
Aeolian Company Op. 947 (1904) & Op. 1416 (1917)4:45PM
St. Paul’s Church (Episcopal)
Skinner Organ Company #655 (1926)5:30PM
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word
Holtkamp Organ Company (1964); Samuel Bohler (1868)Presentations: Orpha Ochse, Barbara Owen, Jonathan Ambrosino
Demonstrations: James E. Bobb, William Porter
Organ Walk Pass: $10/$7 students; $12 family
Includes admission to the concert at St. Luke and St. Simon Cyrene
Available at St. Luke and St. Simon or Organ Walk tent near Third Presbyterian Church
8:30PM
Sacred Heart Cathedral (RC): John Brombaugh, Opus 9 (1972)
Organ Concert with David Higgs, Hans Davidsson, William Porter
Tickets $12 ($8 students) available at the door 1 hour prior to concert. Cash or check only
Sunday October 15
5:30PM
Organ Recital at the Memorial Art Gallery
Francesco Cera
Tickets $12/$8 students; available at the door one hour prior to the concert; cash or check only
Contact: Memorial Art Gallery
www.mag.rochester.edu
585-473-77209PM
Concluding Compline at Christ Church:: Paul Fritts and Company, Opus 7 (1988)
Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy, director: William Porter, organ
Free
Tickets for all events (excluding Francesco Cera’s concert at the Memorial Art Gallery) can be purchased at the following times in the Eastman Main Lobby for discounted rates:
October 5, 2006 12-4pm
October 6, 2006 12-4pm
October 11, 2006 12-4pm
October 12, 2006 12-4pm
The Kilbourn Hall E.M. Skinner Organ Renovation
During the time George Eastman was creating and building the Eastman School of Music, he asked Harold Gleason, his private organist, to create the School’s organ department and oversee plans for the construction and installation of an organ for Kilbourn Hall. In 1921, Gleason chose the Skinner Organ Company of Boston to build the organ.
An American Romantic organ, it was designed in the symphonic style and was at the time considered a very progressive design. It served as the main recital organ at Eastman for many years and was subsequently rebuilt in 1951. After years of heavy use, however, the organ has fallen into disrepair making it unsuitable for performance; its public use was discontinued altogether in 2004.
Because of its tremendous value and significance, the organ will be completely restored as part of the School’s long range EROI project. Early in 2006, a reference group for the project was formed. The group includes three distinguished American experts on this particular organ tradition: Jack Bethards; Thomas Murray; and Jonathan Ambrosino, and the Eastman organ faculty: David Higgs, Eastman organ department chair; Hans Davidsson, professor of organ and EROI project director; and William Porter, p rofessor of harpsichord and organ, as well as Eastman organ technician Rob Kerner. The group has concluded that there is enough existing material from the time the organ was first installed to allow for restoration to its original design. The renovation is expected to take place over three to four years.
The Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative
When the Eastman School of Music opened in 1921, it housed the largest organ collection in the nation thanks to the vision and efforts of George Eastman. Over the years, Eastman has built on this vision and is now recognized as one of the most distinguished organ programs in the world.
Building on this tradition, the Eastman School of Music is in the process of completing a multi-phase project intended to assemble a collection of new and historic organs unparalleled in North America—the first global organ facility. The collection will offer access to organs of diverse styles and traditions to musicians, tourists, scholars, music lovers and the entire community. Plans for the initial phase include the placement of European-style organs in the Memorial Art Gallery and Christ Church, both very close to the Eastman campus as well as renovation of the E.M. Skinner organ in the School’s Kilbourn Hall and the renovation or replacement of Eastman’s 14 practice organs.
The value of the EROI project has already been evidenced by the success and popularity of its first completed project—the Italian Baroque organ installed in 2005 at the Memorial Art Gallery.
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High resolution photos are available for the Kilbourn Hall Organ, the Italian Baroque Organ, the Christ Church Caspirini Organ, David Higgs, Hans Davidsson, and William Porter.
