TCAGO Chapter Events


2023-2024 Program Year

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TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance

AGO/Quimby RCYO Winners' Recital


Northrop and the TCAGO present
Introduction to the Organ with Anna Lapwood and Mini Opus

Monday, April 1, 6:00–8:00 p.m. CT

Northrop Carlson Family Stage, University of Minnesota

84 Church Street, Minneapolis

In-person

Join world-renowned organist Anna Lapwood along with Michael Barone, Phil Radtke, and Henry Dangerfield to celebrate an evening of music specially designed for children, young and old, featuring two pipe organs.

photo by Nick Rutter

The event is free and open to the public; registration is required on Eventbrite by March 27.

Northrop and the TCAGO invite you to join us on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus as the TCAGO collaborates with the Northrop Organ Advisory Board and world-renowned organist Anna Lapwood, Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK, and a strong advocate of musical education for children with “over a million followers across several social media platforms” as we celebrate an evening of music specially designed for children, young and old, featuring two pipe organs.

This event also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the TCAGO demonstration pipe organ, mini opus, part of PipeWorks Twin Cities, a joint program of the TCAGO and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Mini opus is the product of a collaboration with Dobson Organ Builders, Schantz Organ Company, and the TCAGO. Since it arrived in Minneapolis in February of 2004, mini opus has traveled to audiences young and old all over the Twin Cities, parts of greater Minnesota, and Wisconsin, engaging audiences at public and private schools, churches, community centers, summer music camps, adult/continuing education programs and more.

For this celebration, Henry Dangerfield, student of Ray Johnston, will perform a new composition, Gallop for Pipe Organ, by Aaron David Miller. Phil Radtke will also demonstrate the mini opus, and Michael Barone will be master of ceremonies for the event.

Anna Lapwood will demonstrate the Northrop Aeolian-Skinner organ and present a grand finale of selections from her April 2 recital program (see below).

Children will be invited to come on stage and learn first-hand about both mini opus and the Northrop Aeolian-Skinner organ.

Photos will be taken at this event for future marketing and fundraising purposes. On the day of the event, a signed photo release will be required. Please see a Northrop staff member or the photographer if you do not want to be photographed. Visit Northrop’s website for information on directions and parking.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Visit the Facebook Event page to spread the word!

Share the poster of the event!


Related Event:

Northrop presents

Anna Lapwood, Organ Recital

Tuesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m. CT

Northrop Carlson Family Stage, University of Minnesota

84 Church Street, Minneapolis

In-person / Livestream

On-demand through April 7

Organist of the Royal Albert Hall (London, UK), famous for her viral midnight rehearsals on TikTok, Anna Lapwood brings humor and youthful joie de vivre to her instrument. Her program will include a suite from Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar and an exploration of the plethora of colors found on the Northrop organ—from the softest flutes in Debussy’s Clair de Lune to the most earth-shattering fortissimo in Philip Glass’s Mad Rush, plus Florence Price’s jazz-soaked organ music, masterpieces from Bach and Vierne, and musical storytelling from the young Armenian composer Kristina Arakelyan.

Tickets can be purchased online, and by phone or in person at the Northrop Box Office Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Discounts are available.


TCAGO 2024 Competition in Organ Performance
Saturday, April 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
700 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul

The public is invited to listen in during the competition. 

The competition is open to organists under 24 years of age as of August 1, 2024. First prize is $2,500, sponsored by the Schubert Club, and second prize is $1,000, sponsored by TCAGO member Phil Asgian.

See the Competition in Organ Performance page under the Education tab for more details.


AGO/Quimby RCYO Winners' Recital 
Sunday, May 12
3:00 p.m.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
700 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul

The winners of the 2023 North Central Region AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists (RCYO), Trevor Good (first place) and Aaron Looney (second place), will perform on the 3-manual, 60-rank 1959 Casavant/2022 Letourneau.

A reception will follow and the event is free and open to the public.




Previous Events

Before Bach’s Birthday Bash

Saturday, March 16
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
TCAGO will present the annual Before Bach’s Birthday Bash, a sequence of five hour-long concerts devoted to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed this year at various venues in Saint Paul. All events are free (donations accepted) and open to the public. Join us for the entire day or at any of the five individual destinations.

The 9:00 a.m. program will be streamed and broadcast live on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio network stations (KSJN-99.5FM in the Twin Cities) and co-sponsored by American Public Media’s Pipedreams. More information will be available on the here in the coming weeks.

Enjoy hearing organists Samuel Backman, Nils Halker, Kathrine Handford, David Jenkins, Ju Young Lee, Stacie Lightner, Mark Overman, Catherine Rodland, Emily Roth, Wolfgang Rübsam, Tim Strand, and William (Bill) Wilson; as well as additional instrumental performers Charles Asch (cello), Katie Boardman (soprano), Hyein Choi (piano), Ines Guanchez and Osip Nikiforov (piano), Sehee Jeong (piano), Chris Kachian (guitar), Brenda and David Mickens (violin), Charles Yan Ming Lee (violin), Zachariah Mandell (trombone), Koki Sato (piano), and Ruizhi Gabrielle Wang (piano).

NEW: See all five programs and performers' biographies.

Schedule

9:00–10:00 a.m., featuring the 60-rank 1959 Casavant/2022 Letourneau pipe organ at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
10:30–11:30 a.m., featuring the 52-rank 2007 Casavant organ at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church
11:30 a.m., Lunch on your own
1:00–2:00 p.m., featuring the 55-rank 1921 Skinner/2008 Schantz pipe organ at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
2:30–3:30 p.m., featuring the 44-rank 1965 Noack mechanical-action pipe organ at Unity Unitarian Church
4:00–5:00 p.m., featuring the 97-rank 1979 C. B. Fisk mechanical-action pipe organ at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church

For more information, see the March issue of Pipenotes.



Nathan Laube in Concert

Sunday, November 19 at 4:00 p.m.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

4100 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis

A star among young classical musicians, concert organist Nathan Laube holds a place among the world’s elite performers and pedagogues. His brilliant playing, creative programming, and gracious demeanor have thrilled audiences on four continents. He is Associate Professor of Organ at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and International Consultant in Organ Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the United Kingdom. Nathan was previously on the organ faculty at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, Germany.

Mr. Laube’s extensive international recital career takes him continually to major concert venues and festivals around the world. His recording of the Stephen Paulus Grand Concerto for Organ and Orchestra with the Nashville Symphony was awarded a GRAMMY for Best Classical Compendium at the 58th annual awards ceremony in February 2016. Nathan Laube is regarded as “one of the best organists of his generation in the United States.”

The TCAGO invites you to several events with internationally acclaimed organist Nathan Laube, beginning with a pre‑concert conversation at 3:30 p.m. hosted by Steve Staruch of Minnesota Public Radio. Nathan Laube will then present an organ concert for the Bethlehem Music Series. The conversation and concert are both free and open to the public. Complimentary valet parking is available.

Chef Will Spann (La Belle Vie, Bunglaow Club, W. A. Frost) and Kathy Handford will team up to prepare a French inspired autumnal dinner, served at 6:30 p.m. after Nathan Laube’s concert and before his presentation-masterclass at 7:30 p.m. at Christ Church Lutheran, 3244 34th Avenue South in Minneapolis, approximately a 20-minute drive east from Bethlehem Lutheran.

Schedule of Events

4:00 p.m. Concert with 3:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Conversation, presented by Bethlehem Music Series at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis

6:30 p.m. Dinner

The TCAGO will host a dinner and presentation at Christ Church Lutheran, 3244 34th Avenue South in Minneapolis. Register online hereRegistration and payment required by November 14.

Dinner ($35 per plate)

Wine ($6 per glass)

Menu

  • Roasted Chicken Dinner (vegetarian option available)
  • Fall Vegetable Succotash
  • Salad and Dessert
  • Coffee or Tea
  • Wine: red or white

7:30–9:30 p.m. Presentation-Masterclass at Christ Church Lutheran, 3244 34th Avenue South in Minneapolis. Registration required.

For more information, contact Jeremy.Haug@mountcalvary.org, 612-578-8058


Saint Paul Organ Crawl

Saturday, October 21, 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Center City (Downtown) and Summit Hill, Saint Paul

The TCAGO’s Pipe Organ Heritage Committee has organized an Organ Crawl, a rare chance to see and hear instruments up close. TCAGO members and the general public are invited!

Saint Paul Organ Crawl Schedule 

9:30 a.m. Assumption Catholic Church, 1935 Kimball-Welte

51 West Seventh Street

Simon Pick, organist

10:30 a.m. St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1927 Reuter

261 Eighth Street East

Mary Joy Rieder, organist

11:30 a.m. First Baptist Church, 1875 Steere & Turner, revised

499 Wacouta Street

Bruce Jacobs, organist

2:00 p.m. James J. Hill Mansion, 1889 Hutchings

260 Summit Avenue

Stacie Lightner, organist

3:00 p.m. Virginia Street Church, 1919 Hall

170 Virginia Street

Ed Copeland, organist

4:00 p.m. Unity Unitarian Church, 1965 Noack

732 Holly Avenue

Tom Ferry, organist

Instruments will be demonstrated and, in some cases, ‘open-console’ access will follow. Join in for the entire day or come when you can to any of the individual venues. The event is free and open to all who are curious.


2023-2024 Opening Event and Dinner: 

Pipedreams 40th Anniversary Celebration

Sunday, September 17, 2023

2:00 p.m.

Benson Great Hall

Bethel University

3900 Bethel Drive, Arden Hills, Minnesota

Concert with reception (free and open to the public with ticket).
TCAGO Member Dinner to follow (registration required)

The Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and YourClassical Pipedreams present a 40th Anniversary celebration of continuous national broadcasts of Pipedreams with a free festive concert of music for organ and orchestra, featuring the 67-rank Blackinton pipe organ in Benson Great Hall on the campus of Bethel University. Repertoire includes Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva, William Bolcom’s Humoresk, Franz Liszt’s Hunnenschlacht and Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante, Op. 81. Soloists are Aaron David Miller, Brenda Sevcik, Stephen Self, and Michael Barone. William Eddins conducts.

General admission is free but ticket reservations are required. Ample parking is available. The concert and post-concert reception are free and open to all.

Concert Ticket Registration (Free)

The annual TCAGO member dinner, for members and their guests only, along with YourClassical Pipedreams guests will follow at Green Mill Restaurant, 1000 Gramsie Road, Shoreview, Minnesota. Additionally, there will be an installation of officers. 

Registration and payment for the plated meal options will be required by September 6, 2023 online at TCAGO.org or contact Jeremy.Haug@mountcalvary.org, 612-578-8058. Event registration and payment required for dinner.

Dinner Registration

SCHEDULE:

2:00 p.m. Concert with reception to follow at Benson Great Hall

4:45 p.m. TCAGO Member Dinner at Green Mill, 1000 Gramsie Road, Shoreview, Minnesota

Meal options (includes gratuity):

  • Chicken Piccata ($38) with Green Bean Almondine, Baby Red Mashed Potatoes, and House Salad
  • Kabeelo Lodge Walleye ($47) with Green Bean Almondine, Baby Red Mashed Potatoes, and House Salad
  • Vegetarian ($34) Roasted Portobello stuffed with asparagus, red peppers, basil pesto, roasted red pepper hummus, balsamic glaze, and House Salad

Wine options: ($7 per glass)

  • No Wine
  • Cabernet
  • Merlot
  • Chardonnay
  • Rosé


More event links:

Pipedreams Regional Calendar



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