Baylor School of Music Will Present 17th Annual Midwinter Organ Conference
Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMediaCom
Baylor University's School of Music will welcome organists from across the country to celebrate Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and the Romantic Tradition in the 17th annual Midwinter Organ Conference from Sunday, Feb. 13, to Tuesday, Feb. 15, on the Baylor campus.
The events, funded by a permanent endowment from retired U.S. Army Chaplain Robert Jones and his wife, Baylor organist-in-residence Dr. Joyce Jones, are free and open to the public.
This year's conference will feature performers and lecturers, all of whom are Baylor alumni and faculty. They will include: Jones, Bradley Hunter Welch, Kiyo Watanabe, Chiemi Watanabe, Joanna Elliott Whitsett, Joel Bacon, Eric Birk, Bernadette Hoke, Stephen Morris, Bynum Petty and C. Randall Bradley.
The opening recital, featuring Baylor organ students and alumni, will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, in Roxy Grove Hall, 624 Speight Ave., followed by registration at 5 p.m. in the Roxy Grove Hall foyer.
Bradley Hunter Welch will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Jones Concert Hall of the Glennis McCrary Music Building, at 110 Baylor Ave. The program will include the Cesar Franck "Grande Piece Symphonique." A welcome reception will follow in the McCrary Music Building foyer.
Dr. Randall Bradley, Ben H. Williams Professor of Music at Baylor, will lecture on "Prioritizing Worship: Making This Year Count" at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 14, in the Markham Organ Studio of the McCrary Music Building.
The rest of the day will include recitals by the Birk and Hoke duo (organ and piano), Joanna Elliott Whitsett (organ and harp), and Kiyo and Chiemi Watanabe (solo organ and organ duo). There also will be a preview of Waco Hall's new Walker organ, which will be heard in its inaugural performance this spring, and a Valentine's Day dinner at 5:30 p.m. in Piper Great Hall of George W. Truett Theological Seminary, 1100 S. Third St.
Bynum Petty, who built the McLane Organ in Jones Concert Hall, will present a lecture, "19th-century Organs of Thuringia, Sachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt," at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Recital Hall II of the Waco Hall/Roxy Grove Hall complex.
Stephen Morris (piano and organ) will present a lecture-recital on Liszt and Bach at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday in Roxy Grove Hall, followed by a performance by the Baylor Chamber Singers, conducted by Alan Raines, at 11:30 a.m. in Armstrong Browning Library, 710 Speight Ave.
The Tuesday afternoon events include a lecture presented by Jones, entitled "Franz Liszt As a Teacher," and a recital by Joel Bacon featuring the music of Liszt. Both will be held in Paul Powell Chapel of Truett Theological Seminary.
The conference's closing performance will be presented by Jones as the 2010 recipient of the Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year Award. She will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Jones Concert Hall of the McCrary Music Building.
To register or for more information, call (254) 710-1417. For a schedule, visit https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/128246.pdf.
by Katy McDowall, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805