Phantoms of the Organ at Church of the Holy Trinity

Halloween wouldn't be the same without an organ concert.

On Friday night, Dad and I went to "Phantoms of the Organ" at Church of the Holy Trinity. It is put on by the Royal Canadian College of Organists. (I joined the RCCO in September of this year.)
They invited some very talented people to play spooky music in this concert.

The program included:

Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach

Sarah Svendsen

Sonata No. 2 - II Ruhig bewegt by Paul Hindemith

Kwon Youn Jung

Prelude C minor by J.S. Bach

Esther-Ruth Teel

Little G Minor Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach

Lionel Rupic and William Tessier

Suite Medievale - Intro and Tiento by Jean Langlais

Sebastian Moreno

Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod

John Tuttle

Canon in B minor by Robert Schumann

Nicholas Wanstall

Fuge uber ein Thema von Germanotta by Giovanni Dettori

Manuel Piazza

Suite Gothique by Leon Boellmann

Introduction - Choral  - Stephen Frketic

Menuet gothique - Stefani Bedin

Priere a Notre-Dame - Matthew Boutda

Toccata - Rebecca Philips

I loved Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette and Schumann's Canon in B Minor. They were both really great pieces and wonderfully played.

Suite Gothique has always been a favourite of mine and the concert did not disappoint. The organists really brought it to life.

In the piece Sonata No. 2 - II Ruhig bewegt by Paul Hindemith, the 'modern' harmonies make it a bit spooky. I never noticed that before now. It's very interesting that Kwon Youn Jung chose that piece. It's quite original for a Halloween concert. Well done!

The Fuge uber ein Thema von Germanotta by Giovanni Dettori brought out some laughs. It's a fugue on the theme "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I have never heard Lady Gaga played in a church or on an organ before!

It was a really fun performance!
Thank you to all of the organists and to the RCCO for a great concert!

My organ recital

Today, I did my first organ recital.
It was at St. James' Cathedral.

The programme included:

• Prelude and Fugue in C Major by J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)
• Largo e spiccato by A. Vivali (1678 - 1741) arr. J. S. Bach
• Prelude and Fugue in G Minor by J. S. Bach
• Voluntary in A Minor by William Boyce (1711 - 1779)
• Berceuse by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937)
• Trumpet Air by Bert van der Hoek (b. 1932)
• Siciliano by Max Reger (1873 - 1916)
• Gaelic Fantasy for Organ by Hans-Andre Stamm (b. 1958)

The prelude in C Major went smoothly, but I stumbled a little in the fugue.  I had a 'fat finger' in a couple pieces but the good news is I think that any future recitals will be easier than this one. I learnt how to recover from my mistakes while performing in public.

Here is a video of Largo e spiccato from my recital:

A huge "Thank you" to Ian Sadler, my teacher and Robert Busiakiewicz, the Director of Music at St. James' Cathedral for allowing me to do lessons at the Cathedral, plus practice time and for letting me perform.

It is hard to believe, Robert introduced me to Ian, last year on October 18th and I had my first organ lesson on October 30th.
Here is a picture from the day I met Ian.

A special thank you to everyone who came out to hear me play, including Julia, Elaine, Kelly, Ken, Christine, Lisa, Mervin, Lucy, Barbara, Sage, and all the homeschoolers.

And thank you to Mom and Dad, I couldn't have done this without you!

My First Organ Recital

I have some exciting news!
Next Tuesday, I will do my first organ recital.
It will be at St. James Cathedral's "Music at Midday."
I am so excited!

Here is the poster with the information for the concert: