What do a church organist and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck have in common?
They both improvise at the keyboard.
In fact, according to David Higgs of the Eastman School of Music, the organ is the only instrument that has maintained improvisation throughout centuries of music history.
“Much of the music that we think of today as classical repertoire began its life as an improvisation–composers often composed in the moment at the keyboard, and then fine-tuned and transcribed to paper what they improvised,” said Higgs, who is chair of the organ department. “Often this written-out music was intended to be used as a model for someone else’s improvisations. At this year’s EROI Festival, you might hear the beginnings of what will become one of the greatest classical hits of the future!”
This year, the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI) Festival, presented in partnership by the Eastman School of Music and the American Guild of Organists, will focus on “Improvisation and Organ Pedagogy.” The event, scheduled from Thursday, Nov. 10, through Sunday, Nov. 13, includes public concerts of improvisation that will showcase the aesthetic characteristics of several different organs across Rochester.
“The EROI Festival concerts features nine world-renowned improvisers,” noted Professor of Harpsichord and Organ William Porter, who himself is internationally recognized for his improvisation skills and as a leading authority on the topic. “In each concert, several performers will improvise in a style appropriate to that particular organ, and in doing so, will also display their individual musical personalities. Improvising at the organ is really ‘composing while playing,’ and requires not only study and preparation, but also the ability to respond instantly to the impulse of the moment.”
The concerts will be heard in a various venues, ranging from the organs at Christ Church, Third Presbyterian Church, and Sacred Heart Cathedral, to the Wurlitzer organ in the Auditorium Theater. The organists will be asked to improvise on themes drawn at random from a given pool.
“Despite the impression the word ‘improvisation’ creates, it requires study and practice,” said Professor of Organ and EROI director Hans Davidsson. “The musician learns and practices the components of various musical languages, generating principles and patterns in different styles, and then in performance brings them together in the different forms resulting in wonderful pieces of music.”
The 2011 EROI Festival is being presented in conjunction with the 16th biennial AGO National Conference on Organ Pedagogy, and will draw more than 125 attendees from the United States, Canada, and Europe. The event will alternate master classes featuring students at a variety of levels, panel discussions addressing the teaching of improvisation, and sessions that will provide attendees with resource material in the pedagogy of improvisation. The scholarly portion will include panel presentations on a variety of topics.
The distinguished faculty of internationally renowned organists and teachers working in the discipline of organ improvisation will include David Arcus, Duke University; Jeffrey Brillhart, Yale University; Tony Caramia, Eastman; Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Royal College of Music, London; Hans Davidsson, Eastman; Michael Dodds, University of North Carolina School of the Arts; Gerre Hancock, Butler School of Music, University of Texas; David Higgs, Eastman; Denise Lanning, Denver Chapter, AGO; Rudolf Lutz, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis; William Marvin, Eastman; Bruce Neswick, Indiana University; David Peckham, Horseheads United Methodist Church, Horseheads, N.Y.; Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, author of Bach and the Art of Improvisation; John R. Shannon, Sweet Briar College; and Daniel Zager, Eastman.
The EROI Festival, launched in 2002, is a celebration of the long-range EROI project designed to nurture and extend the Eastman School of Music’s distinguished tradition of the study and teaching of organ by making Rochester a global center for organ research and performance
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Calendar Listings:
Thursday, November 10
EROI Festival 2011: Hans Davidsson, David Higgs, William Porter. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
8 PM
Christ Church, 141 East Avenue
Tickets: $15 (discounts with University of Rochester ID); available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100.
Friday, November 11
EROI Festival 2011: Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Rudolf Lutz, William Porter. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
1 PM
Christ Church, 141 East Avenue
Tickets: $15 (discounts with University of Rochester ID); available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100.
Friday, November 11 — PLEASE NOTE: THIS RECITAL HAS BEEN CANCELLED
EROI Festival 2011: Gerre Hancock. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
4:30 PM
Third Presbyterian Church, 4 Meigs St.
Tickets: $15 (discounts with University of Rochester ID); available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100.
Friday, November 11
EROI Festival 2011: David Peckham, William Porter. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
8 PM
Auditorium Theater, 875 East Main St.
Tickets: $15 (discounts for Rochester Theatre Organ Society and with University of Rochester ID); available at the door only.
Saturday, November 12
EROI Festival 2011: William Porter, Jeffrey Brilhart, Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
10:45 AM
Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park
Tickets: $15 (discounts with University of Rochester ID); available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100.
Saturday, November 12
EROI Festival 2011: David Arcus, Jeffrey Brilhart, Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin. World-renowned organists demonstrate their improvisation skills in a series of public concerts on Rochester’s notable instruments.
8 PM
Third Presbyterian Church, 4 Meigs St.
Tickets ($15, discounts with University of Rochester ID) available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100
Sunday, November 13
Rochester Celebrity Organ Recital Series: Bruce Neswick
2 p.m.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park
Tickets: $10/$5 students; available through the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main Street, 585-454-2100.
Sunday, November 13
Compline with Christ Church Schola Cantorum, Stephen Kennedy, director
9 p.m.
Christ Church, 141 East Avenue
Free