Organ Inauguration: Saturday, November 4 and Sunday, November 5
Photo by Marco Anelli.
Out of tragedy emerges a purposefully restored and reimagined world-class organ. You are invited to join a series of inaugural events, beginning with a weekend of programs featuring solo, orchestral, and choral literature. From children to long-time admirers, this organ comes alive in community. Be part of giving to New York City an inspiring instrument for the future.
KLAIS 1977
C.B. FISK 2023
"The best of the past preserved. A magical transformation for the future.”
Martin Jean, Director of the Institute of Sacred Music
Professor of Organ, Yale University
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When it was built in 1977, Saint Peter’s gave to New York City a significant instrument in the important lineage of historically-informed organ building. The work of Johannes Klais Orgelbau (Bonn, Germany), new heights achieved today owe much to instruments such as this. The organ’s distinctive case and console were designed by Massimo Vignelli which, with Frank Gehry’s design for the Walt Disney Concert Hall, remains one of only a handful of architect-designed organs of the modern era.
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In early 2021, a broken City water main pipe sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of water gushing into Saint Peter’s. Not only did the Sanctuary sustain significant water damage, dehumidification to avoid a mold outbreak and other mitigation efforts cracked, warped, and stressed every piece of wood—especially the organ. Because the water brought mud along with it, a thick layer of fine silt came to cover every surface.
To prevent further damage, the organ was quickly removed for safekeeping. Transported to and stored at their shop in Gloucester, MA, C.B. Fisk Organ Builders developed both a plan for restoring the organ and for reimagining it based on almost five decades of use as well as tonal and mechanical development.
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Now in 2023, guided by a historic preservation expert, the distinctive Vignelli-designed case and console have been restored. The instrument benefits from new action, five additional stops, total tonal re-voicing, and an improved acoustical environment. This principled and transformational effort brings once again to New York City an instrument capable of a wide range of literature with convincing, stylistic integrity.
JOIN THE CELEBRATION
Join us for a weekend of programs celebrating this remarkable instrument.
This organ inauguration is presented by The Arts and Architecture Conservancy at Saint Peter’s with the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Saturday, November 4
Children's Program
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Peep the Piper by Guy Bovet (b.1942)
This multi-media presentation promises to be a fun morning for the whole family! This reading, which introduces the unique nature and history of the pipe organ, is a great way to expose young learners to the the wonders of this magnificent instrument.
Illustrations from the story will be projected, with musical accompaniment by Bálint Karosi. Translations will be available in Spanish.
Organ Half-Marathon
1:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
This is an exciting opportunity to hear four thoughtfully-assembled programs performed by young organ students studying at prominent organ programs across the United States.
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Known for her red organ shoes, organist Amelie Held quickly became an internationally acclaimed artist. She recently debuted at some of Germany’s major cathedrals and concert halls, such as the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Philharmonie Essen and the international Speyer cathedral recital series. Her solo concert activities include performances in the world’s most important music centers, such as Milan, Paris, Zurich, London, Boston, New York and St. Petersburg (Mariinsky Concert Hall).
Raised in Munich, Germany, in a non-musician family, Amelie released her debut album in 2019 at the young age of 22. She has won several prizes at international organ competitions and was one of the youngest finalists of the prestigious French Concours International de Chartres (2018). The Diapason named her a member of the “20 under 30” Class of 2023.
She has a broad repertoire, both as a soloist and with orchestra and chamber ensemble, ranging from early music to contemporary compositions as well as her own transcriptions.
Extensive training with the most internationally renowned professors in her field has taken Miss Held throughout Europe and to the United States of America. She studied organ, piano and violin from a young age and became a pupil in the organ class of Heidi Emmert at the Regensburg Academy of Music. She went on to study violin and organ at the University of Music Detmold, Germany and the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, France (B.A. in both majors). Her teachers there included Martin Sander, Michel Bouvard and Olivier Latry. She completed her master's degrees with top marks at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart where she studied organ with Ludger Lohmann and both harpsichord and organ in the field of early music with Lorenzo Ghielmi in Milan, Italy. Currently living in New York City, she recently graduated with an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School where she studied with Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs.
In addition to music, Amelie is passionate about literature and speaks four languages fluently. In her free time, she indulges in dancing, working out or riding motorcycles.
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Daniel Jacky serves as the Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern at Brick Presbyterian Church for the 2023-2024 church year as he begins his studies at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. Daniel has been a regular substitute at Saint Peter’s since he interned with Dr. Karosi in 2018. Last year, Daniel was awarded as the inaugural AGO Organ Scholar at Duke Chapel where he had experience both conducting and playing the organ for a variety of liturgies and concerts throughout the academic year. Originally from Ohio, Daniel graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2022 receiving a degree in Organ Performance and another in Mathematics. Daniel has extensive experience and in continuo accompaniment and is particularly interested in the sacred cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Mi Zhou completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance at the University of Michigan this year, where she studied the organ with Nicole Keller, Todd Wilson and James Kibbie. She completed her Master of Music degree in Organ and the Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied under John Walker. Twice she received the prestigious Bruce R. Eicher award in Organ Performance. Prior to this, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in E-Organ (Electone) from the Shanghai Conservatory,where she was awarded third prize in the classic division at the Ringway International E-Organ Competition.
As an emerging organist, Mi Zhou has performed recitals at various venues in Michigan and Maryland areas, such as St. Andrew’s Epsicopal Church in Ann Arbor, Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, as well as in several venues Baltimore and Washington D.C.including Westminster Hall, Zion Lutheran Church, Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, St.David’s Church, and National City Christian Church. Additionally she collaborated with the Peabody Brass Ensemble to perform a Brass and Organ recital at Emmanuel Episcopal Church,as well as performing Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani with the Peabody Orchestra at Griswold Hall.
As a Chinese organist, Mi Zhou is a passionate advocate for new organ music that incorporates Chinese folk songs. She has collaborated withSingaporean composer Wei Gu. In 2019, the duo was awarded the American Guild of Organists’ Student Commissioning Project grant to compose a new work for the organ. Recently, three organ compositions based on Chinese folk songs were first performed as a suite in her dissertation recital at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor.
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Jonghee Yoon will begin study with Nathan Laube at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, in fall 2023 for an artist diploma. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in sacred music and organ performance under David Arcus and Colin Andrews at East Carolina University and is an organ scholar at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, North Carolina. Jonghee graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Ewha Woman’s University, Seoul, where she was taught by Min-Jung Gaang.
An active musician, she is a multiinstrumentalist, conducting and playing organ, harpsichord, and violin. Having played her debut recital at St. Peter’s Church in New York City in 2019, she has since performed in many other parts of the United States, as well as South Korea, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Denmark, and Spain.
She won the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra’s Rising Stars 2022 competition and performed as a soloist with them. Furthermore, Jonghee played for the independent movie Cofradia and has been a music director in several musical theatrical productions, including Les Miserables, Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Corpus Delicti. Jonghee has played continuo with Saint Peter’s Bach Collegium and solo organ with Gödi Baroque Ensemble in Hungary. She has also worked with organbuilders at C. B. Fisk, Inc., in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she observed and participated in making, designing, installing, and tuning pipes.
A light reception to follow.
Organ Recital
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
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Nathan Laube is a leading performer and pedagogue. Most recently on the organ faculty at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, Germany, where he succeeded his mentor, Ludger Lohmann, at his alma mater, Mr. Laube returns to Eastman as Associate Professor of Organ. Mr. Laube is also International Consultant in Organ Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the United Kingdom. His extensive international recital career takes him continually to major concert venues and festivals around the world. Known for his brilliant playing, gracious demeanor, and creative programming of repertoire spanning five centuries (including his own virtuoso transcriptions of orchestral works), Mr. Laube has earned high praise from critics and peers alike.
Mr. Laube’s recording of the Stephen Paulus Grand Concerto for with the Nashville Symphony was awarded a GRAMMY® for Best Classical Compendium at the 58th annual awards ceremony in February 2016. The celebrated release on the Naxos label features Mr. Laube as concerto soloist with Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero conducting the Nashville Symphony in a compendium of works by Stephen Paulus.
In April 2019, Mr. Laube launched the documentary-style radio program, “All the Stops,” on the WFMT Radio Network Chicago, consisting of four two-hour programs which feature many of the world’s most famous organs in Europe and the United States and explore their unique histories and repertoire. For more information, visit www.wfmt.com/programs/all-the-stops/.
Mr. Laube is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Alan Morrison. The recipient of a William Fulbright fellowship, he continued his studies at the Conservatoire Rayonnement Régional in Toulouse with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen. He received his Masters at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany, where he studied with Ludger Lohmann, under the auspices of a DAAD Grant.
This recital will showcase and demonstrate the stylistic possibilities of C.B. Fisk’s rebuilding of the 1977 Klais organ, including a wide range of literature from Bach down to today.
A reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to follow.
Concerti for Organ and Orchestra
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Nicole Keller, organist
Assistant Professor of Music, University of Michigan
Saint Peter’s Chamber Orchestra
Balint Karosi, conductor
František Xaver Brixi (1732 – 1771)
Organ Concerto in F Major
Bálint Karosi (b.1979)
World Premier: Organ Concerto No. 5 “In Memoriam György Ligeti”
Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
Organ Concerto in G minor, FP93
Reception with champagne toast and remarks to follow.
Sunday, November 5
Duruflé Requiem
10:30 a.m. with festival prelude at 10:00 a.m.
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1980)
Requiem, Op. 9
Colin Fowler, organist
The Choir of Saint Peter’s Church
Saint Peter’s Chamber Orchestra
Balint Karosi, conductor
Made possible as part of the Solemn Mass for all Saints Sunday by the Katherine and Harry Busch Memorial Fund.
YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS
The restoration and reimagination of this instrument is made possible by an entire community of people. Insurance covered some of the extraordinary care provided at a time of crisis, but there is more to be raised. Additionally, an endowment is being established to ensure the organ’s long-term care.
Your gift in support of the For the Future campaign makes it possible for this world-class organ to inspire wonder, love, and praise for generations to come.
All gifts received by October 15 will be acknowledged in the printed program. Gifts at the following donor levels will be permanently commemorated along with the builders plaques incorporated within the organ case.
Builders Circle $500,000 and more
Cantors Circle $250,000 to $499,999
New Stop Circle $100,000 to $249,999
Console Circle $50,000 to $99,999
Revoicing Circle $20,000 to $49,999
Action Circle $10,000 to $19,999
Key Circle $5,000 to $9,999
For inquiries regarding leadership level gifts or pledges, including giving by appreciated securities, please contact Sarah Moga.