Summer@Eastman Spotlight: Summer Organ Academy

In preparation for Summer@Eastman 2023, Marketing Assistant Joyce Tseng talked with Eastman faculty Nathan Laube to learn more about the Summer Organ Academy. In this weeklong institute, students get to experience life at Eastman and study organ with world-class faculty. Students will also have access to a variety of instruments in the Rochester area. Here are some highlights from the interview:

 

JT: What are the objectives and focus of the Summer Organ Academy?

NL: We love the idea of giving the Summer Organ Academy students the opportunity to ‘walk in the shoes’ of an Eastman student for a few days – and to experience that very special ‘triangle of communication’ that is so ripe for learning among the faculty, fantastic students, and a unique collection of instruments. Our whole program thrives on the incredible diversity of our students’ and faculty’s backgrounds and their wide-ranging artistic aspirations, melded into a special alchemy of praxis and theory that make the learning process unusually deep across the board. That’s what we like to share in a ‘bite-sized’ format: this institute is a week of intense listening, engaging discussions, and most importantly, making music on gorgeous organs in very different situations which require us to make music in very different ways – one of the most exciting dimensions and challenges of the craft of organ playing.  

 

JT: What instruments do students have access to? Could you tell us more about them?

NL: Part of what makes the Rochester organ scene so special is its diversity of pipe organs, covering a 300-year span of organ building around the globe. Students can experience everything from the only full-sized Italian Baroque church organ in North America in Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery, to the enormous 4-manual Skinner organs of the Roaring 20s at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Church of the Ascension.  The Craighead-Saunders organ at Christ Church, a 2008 process-recreation of a 1776 organ by Adam Gottlob Casparini in Vilnius, LI, reminds us how far the influence of the Central German tradition which thrived during Bach’s lifetime spread across Europe – and now to NY. All of its drama and brilliance find a stunning, burnished foil in the 19th-century American Romantic organ in the chancel of Christ Church by E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings. And of course, there are so many more – by Taylor & Boody, Hope-Jones, Austin, and Parsons, just to name a few. It’s always exciting to see how students interact with these different sonorities and mechanisms, and most importantly, how that influences the way they make the music come alive!

 

JT: Who should apply to this workshop?

NL: The Summer Organ Academy is designed for both high-school students with well-developed playing skills (i.e. some substantial Bach pieces, representative French works, etc.) who are thinking about continuing their organ studies at the university level, as well as undergraduate students who are considering a master’s degree in organ. We love to share the incredible resources that the Eastman School offers to students, and certainly, those who already have a strong command of the instrument and a deep inner curiosity about it will be able to take advantage of those resources most fully!

 

JT: What is a sample day like?

NL: Typically, there are different sessions of private and group lessons each day, in addition to masterclasses with the faculty, lectures on certain topics relating to the organ or Sacred Music, faculty recitals, field trips to interesting organs in the area, and a final student recital at the end of the week.  We try to maintain a nice balance between work and social time, and it’s always very beautiful in the summertime in Rochester.  

 

JT: What unique opportunities will be offered?

NL: Opportunities include:

• Student Recital on the two organs at Christ Church & (typically) Third Presbyterian
• Masterclasses with all faculty
• Private lessons
• Lectures on Sacred Music and Organ themes
• Field trip to Parsons Pipe Organ Builders (visit parsonsorgans.com to learn more about what they offer)
• Tour of Eastman’s Sibley Music Library 
• Access to the collection of Eastman’s practice organs and related instruments (Pedal Clavichord, Pedal Piano, Mustel Harmonium)

 

JT: What repertoire should students prepare?

NL: Repertoire choice is really up to the students – it’s always best to work on a repertoire they love and have a lot of questions about. Knowing that they can experience, for example, the music of Bach and his contemporaries on the Craighead-Saunders organs in a rarified way on this continent, that’s usually a big point of interest. Similarly, we’ve often worked on transcriptions at St. Paul’s on the Skinner, Frescobaldi, and Sweelinck at the Memorial Art Gallery, and the big symphonic works on the large 4-manual organs around town, not forgetting that the Hook & Hastings can serve up a delicious Franck or Reger. In short, if you bring it, we will be delighted to explore it with you.

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The Summer Organ Academy runs from July 9-14, 2023. Participants are chosen by audition. Visit our website for more information and audition requirements.