The Pennsylvania Northeast AGO Chapter will be sponsoring a bus trip on Saturday, November 7 to tour the Wanamaker Organ located in Macy’s Department Store in downtown Philadelphia. As many of you already know, this instrument is the largest functioning pipe organ in the world. It has 461 ranks, over 28,000 pipes, and is controlled by a massive six-manual console! Please mark your calendars and try to make it if you can – this is really a unique opportunity.

The fee for the trip is $35. It is non-refundable and may be mailed to Bob Reynolds, our chapter sub Dean, at the following address by October 15. Please make checks payable to “Pennsylvania Northeast Chapter AGO.”

Here is the itinerary for the day:

8:30 AM Bus departs from Park and Ride in Pittston (located at the intersection of Rte. 315 and Oak Street)

11:30 AM Approximate arrival time in Philadelphia

12:00 PM Organ Recital

12:45 PM Lunch (on your own; there are many good restaurants in the area)

2:00 PM Approximate start time for tour, which will include the Wanamaker Grand Court organ and newly restored Wurlitzer theater organ

The time of departure will be determined by the length of the tour. We will leave Philadelphia no later than 4:00 PM. The ride home will be roughly two hours.

If you would like to learn more about this instrument, including its history, stoplist, program schedule, etc., you may visit the following website: www.wanamakerorgan.com. Questions? Contact us.

Join the Pennsylvania Northeast Chapter for a Welcoming Dinner on Monday, August 31 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. The dinner will begin at 6:00 PM; a general meeting will follow and the evening will conclude with sung Compline in the church. Please plan to attend as we kick off a year of AGO programs and events. It’s a potluck dinner, so please bring a covered dish or dessert to share. If you would like, you can reply to this post with what you are planning to bring to the dinner. If you need directions, click here.

The Pennsylvania Northeast Chapter is sponsoring a “A Cornucopia of Preludes and Postludes” on Monday, March 9 at the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit. Members are encouraged to bring accessible organ literature suitable for a liturgical prelude or postlude to share. The event begins at 7:30 PM and is open to the public. First Presbyterian is located at 300 School Street in Clarks Summit.

Canon Mark Laubach, organist and choirmaster of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Pro-Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, will be playing a dedicatory recital on Sunday, March 29, showcasing the new solo division of the parish’s magnificent Berghaus pipe organ. The new Solo division includes six new ranks of pipes that imitate orchestral sounds – strings (Gamba and Gamba Celeste), flute (Doppelflöte), English horn, French horn, and English Tuba – and one old rank, the Clarinet (the pipes are 100+ years old!). The division also boasts a new set of Deagan tubular chimes and a Harp stop.

Here’s what else you can look forward to hearing on the program…

Eugène Gigout, Grand Choeur Dialogue – highlighting the new Solo English Tuba and French horn in dialogue with the full main organ.

Herbert Howells, Psalm Prelude, Set Two, #1 (Psalm 130, v. 1 – De profundis) – a deeply moving tone poem in the great Anglican tradition, showcasing this instrument’s noticeable “English accent!”

G. F. Handel, Water Music Suite (arr. by Carl McKinley, adapted by M. Laubach) – transcriptions of five tuneful movements from Handel’s beloved suite of dances written for the riparian entertainment of England’s King George I.

Leo Sowerby, Carillon – this lush and touching piece will give us a unique chance to hear the new chimes and harp.

Three hymn preludes will offer us a chance to sing the hymns, each followed by these exciting settings for organ.

Fantasy on “Praise to the Lord, (Lobe den Herren) by Neils Gade (19th century Danish composer)

Gospel Prelude on “What a friend we have in Jesus” by William Bolcom (a unique blend of black gospel, jazz, and contemporary classic organ composition by one of America’s most gifted living composers)

Toccata on “Now thank we all our God” by Egil Hovland (living Norwegian organist, choral conductor, and composer)

The dramatic conclusion of the program will be a single featured work, a spectacular masterpiece rarely performed live – Franz Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam”. This is a truly “orchestral” work that will show off the full tonal and dynamic scope of our instrument. With plenty of virtuosic fireworks, this piece is sure to rivet the attention of all present, despite its length (just shy of 30 minutes long)!

The recital will begin at 4:00 PM on Sunday, March 29, 2009. The event is free and open to all, although attendees are encourages to make a free-will offering in support of the NEW HOPE CAMPAIGN of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. NEW HOPE is providing vital support to our companion diocese of Kajo Keji in the Sudan, as well as to social outreach ministries here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including St. Stephen’s Reach Ministry to those in need in our community.

Since the 1920’s, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkes-Barre, has hosted an annual series of weekly Lenten Services for the Community, led by clergy from participating Wilkes-Barre churches of various denominations, both Catholic and Protestant. Over the years, this series has grown in popularity and now includes organ recitals (at 11:30 a.m.) the service (at 12 p.m.), and a soup and sandwich lunch (immediately after the service) for $4.00 in the Auditorium of St. Stephen’s Parish House.

The featured organ recitalists this year represent a splendid group of both local and regional performers. The list follows here ….

Wednesday, March 4
Jane Bourdow
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Alexandria VA

Wednesday, March 11
Victor Fields
Trinity United Church of Christ, York PA

Wednesday, March 18
Stephen Buzard
Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton NJ

Wednesday, March 25
Stephen Williams
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown PA

Wednesday, April 1
Kevin O’Malia
First United Methodist Church of Germantown, PA

Wednesday, April 8
Alain Truche
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Scranton PA

The series of ecumenical services this year will feature the theme, “The Beatitudes”. Officiants and homilists will include clergy from participating Wilkes-Barre churches, including Central United Methodist, Christ United Presbyterian, First Presbyterian, Good Shepherd Lutheran, St. Clement’s & St. Peter’s Episcopal, St. Nicholas’ Roman Catholic, St. Stephen’s, Unity, and Westminster Presbyterian. The organist and music coordinator for these services is Mark Laubach, organist and choirmaster of St. Stephen’s. The noon services will also feature special music presented by gifted individuals and ensembles from our community. These will include the Marywood University Chamber Singers, the Wyoming Seminary Madrigal Singers, mezzo-soprano Carol Tome, oboist Thomas Heinze, the Misericordia University Chamber Singers, soprano Judy Ann Curtis, and pianist John Curtis.

The lunches that follow each Wednesday’s service are provided by volunteers from the various participating churches. A donation of $4.00 per person is requested for lunch.

Proceeds from offerings received at this series are given to many organizations and institutions that provide food, clothing, and other forms of assistance to those in need in our community. St. Stephen’s Church is located on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

Our chapter will be presenting an “Organ Spectacular” at 4:00 PM on Sunday, October 19 at Elm Park United Methodist Church in Scranton. Members of the guild will present organ works in celebration of the International Year of the Organ. Please join us for this very special afternoon of music!