Baylor To Hold Midwinter Organ Conference Feb. 13-15

by Richard Veit

Baylor's 11th annual Midwinter Organ Conference will begin Sunday, Feb. 13, with a 4 p.m. concert in Powell Chapel at Truett Seminary by Dr. Joyce Jones, Baylor Organist-in-Residence, showcasing the many colors of the Carter Family Organ with works by Bach, Ives and Liszt.
Other Sunday events open to the public are a hymn festival at 6:30 p.m. in Powell Chapel, led by Stephen Morris, and a program of French symphonic music played by Baylor organ students at 8 p.m. in Jones Concert Hall.
Monday night will feature a concert by Paul Jacobs, brilliant young virtuoso and the youngest person ever to head the organ department at the famed Juilliard School in New York. His program includes works by Handel, Bach, Messiaen and Duruflé.
Baylor alum Andrew Risinger closes the conference with a concert on Tuesday. Risinger is another outstanding virtuoso who is known for his great musicality. His concert includes the Tournemire Improvisation on "Victimae paschali", which he played at the AGO national convention in New York City.
Both concerts are in Jones Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.
"I hope that the Baylor and Waco community will come to hear these outstanding guest performers," Jones said. "People who think of organ music as dull and uninteresting will be astonished at the virtuosity of these performers and the variety of sounds from the Powell Chapel and Jones Concert Hall organs. Baylor has some of the most outstanding organs in the Southwest."
The three-day conference will include master classes and lectures, as well as recitals by Synchronicity, the Baylor Chamber Singers and Baylor students and alumni. Advance registration for the organ conference is the highest it has ever been, with people coming from as far away as Canada, Illinois, Virginia and Florida. For more information, call (254) 710-1417.