AGO Organ Recital at Messiah Lutheran at Noon on April 9th

The console of Messiah Lutheran's  newly installed pipe organ
(Photo / illustration by Meredith Kilby)

The local AGO (American Guild of Organists) will be presenting an organ concert on Thursday, April 9th at 12:00 Noon at Messiah Lutheran Church, 7740 Hwy 72 West in Madison, Alabama.

Organists Susan Fletcher and Mary Williamson will be the recitalists.

Messiah's pipe organ is just into its first full year of enhancing the worship and music ministries at Messiah Lutheran Church. The church was built in 1993 and a pipe organ was installed shortly thereafter, but a 2011 sanctuary expansion necessitated the need for a larger instrument to be located.  The Organ Search Committee sought an instrument that would not only support Messiah's worship services but also serve as a quality performance and recital organ for the community and the newly formed Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series.  After an extensive search and intensive build process during the summer of 2014,  Messiah dedicated the organ on October 26th, 2014 and held its first recital. 

The organ features over 800 pipes and is located within the upper level of the east transept of the choir area.  This custom built, refurbished organ was designed by Miller Pipe Organ Services with the rich textures of a solid foundation, adding tonal variety and color with reeds and mixtures.  The fine workmanship of the organ builders and the acoustics of the sanctuary combine to give the pipe organ a lively presence and glorious sound.

The event is presented by local American Guild of Organists members, in coordination with Lois Graff, who is the Organist and Director of Music at Messiah Lutheran Church.  Lois also serves on the board of the Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series.

The April 9th concert was originally scheduled March 5th as part of a noontime organ recital series during the Lenten season, but was cancelled due to wintry weather.

The concert is free and all are welcome to attend! 

A "Barefoot Abbey" and the Brilliant Spanish Composer Thomas Luis de Victoria.

Music at Messiah's Classical Concert next concert will be Saturday evening, November 1st starting at 7:30 pm.  It will feature Huntsville Collegium Musicum's performance of Thomas Luis de Victoria's Officium Defunctorm.  

Researching Victoria's "Requiem" for relevant visuals for the poster and program artwork was an interesting journey.
  

The spanish composer was born in 1548, and evidence suggests he grew up a choir boy in the Cathedral in Avila. The Catholic Counter- Reformation that nearly paralled his years provide a historical backdrop for this young Catholic man with outstanding musical gifts. So promising were his talents that Philip II provided him a grant to travel to Italy in 1567. 

Victoria lived in Italy for the next twenty years; he canted, attended seminary, taught at the German College and was very well respected, holding a number of succeedingly impressive posts as a chapelmaster and organist.   By 1587 Victoria desired to return to Spain, and once again, Philip II responded, posting him to be the personal Chaplain of the Dowager Empress Maria.

The music itself is a funeral mass written for Empress María's death in 1603. She lived in retirement with her daughter Princess Margarita at the royal monestary The Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, literally the "Monastery of Barefoot Royals." Upon entry to the convent, these well heeled women would donate their dowry to the convent and vow to go shoeless. (Could it be expensive women's shoes have always been horribly uncomfortable?) The convent was tremendously well off and the Monastery allowed Victoria to produce gloriously rich and spiritual compositions until his death in 1611.

The Counter Reformation fueled  a revived spritualism in Catholic religious arts, and this is also evidenced by Victoria's contemporary, El Greco, whose Crucificion also appears on the poster artwork.  The intensity and palette of tones are emotional, and one cannot listen to Victoria's Requiem without feeling that same sense of spiritual awakening that is ever present in El Greco's work.

If you are intrigued by this, you'll really enjoy this Sacred Music program on Victoria produced recently by BBC on Victoria's music, featuring the choral group "The Sixteen." It's lengthy, but well worth an extended listening.  I hope this article, as well as the video pique your curiousity and compel you to attend the November 1st presentation of Victoria's Officium Defunctorium.

  - Meredith Kilby, for the Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series

Solar Winds:Woodwind Quintet to perform September 21

The Solar Winds Woodwind Quintet will be performing on Sunday, September 21st at Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison, AL.  The free concert starts at 4 pm. 

The Woodwind Quintet is comprised of five members of the U.S. Army Materiel Command Band at Redstone Arsenal.  Namely, Oboe: SFC Megan Newman, Flute: SPC Robert Lambert, Clarinet: SPC Eric Flores-Ortiz, Horn: SPC Stephan Fahrlander, Bassoon: SSG Kathryn Beyer.

The full length concert is titled, "A European Tour," and will include works by Beethoven, Ibert, Stamitz, and others.   An intermission and reception following the concert is planned.

Publicity Efforts in Full Swing for Feb 16th "Michael Head" Concert

Gary Parks, Ingrid von Spakovsky to be interviewed on WLRH Feb 13th

(Update 2/13/2014 - the interview scheduled on WLRH has been cancelled due to weather / road conditions) We're pleased to announce that Gary Parks and Ingrid von Spakovsky are scheduled to be interviewed on air, at approximately 11:05 am, Thursday, Feb 13th on WLRH (89.3FM and online www.wlrh.org) by radio host Judy Watters.   In addition to the interview, MAMCCS will be recording a short Public Service Announcement with WLRH to run periodically prior to the February 16th Concert. Please tune in and if you are able, support our local Public Radio Station WLRH. We are grateful for their presence in the Tennessee River Valley.

Announcing a Facebook Page for Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series! 

We have recently created a Facebook Page for the Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series.  The ability for social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and You-Tube to extend the reach of traditional advertising is immense.  Please visit the page and "Like" it and "Share Posts"  with your users.  Here's the address:   https://www.facebook.com/musicatmessiah

Posters and Poster Cards Available at Messiah Lutheran Church!

A limited supply of posters and an ample supply of "Concert Cards" will be set out at the Welcome Center of Messiah Lutheran Church from now until February 16th.   Please take the concert cards and use them to invite co-workers or friends and place on your workplace lunch room bulletin board. The cards feature a handy "QR" code that allows the person to save the date to their smart phone calendars.

A Cure for the Christmas Frenzy

The Advent Season is here. The sights and sounds of Christmas are all around us.  This wonderful video from the United States Air Force Band came to my attention this morning and I thought I would share it. It is wonderful.  Uplifting.  Happy.



Like the folks bustling around the Air and Space Museum, the days of Christmas are filled with frenetic,yet joyous activity. There's shopping to do, travel plans to make, parties to attend, and obligations and expectations to fulfill.  It can be so overwhelming. What on earth can restore the right spirit of Christmas?

It is doubtful that listening to "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" has ever brought anyone closer to Christ, but God does work in mysterious ways.

First, take a deep breath. Relax, release and listen to classical music!  If you are looking for Christmas spirit, may I first suggest adding "Handel's Messiah" to your media playlist or CD rotation.  When Christmas starts driving you crazy, listen to it. You will be enveloped in God's wonderful gift of music. He gave it Handel, and Handel has given it to the world.  When the traffic is crazy, grab that CD of classical music or tune into your classical radio station.

The mission of the Classical Musical Music Series is to share God's wondrous gift of music with our friends in the Madison, Alabama area.

Merry Christmas!

Arsenal Brass Quintet Performs at Inaugural Music at Messiah Concert

The very first Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series performance took place on November 10th, 2013, and featured the Arsenal Brass Quintet of the US Army Materiel Command Band.   The concert was underway at 4 pm with approximately 125 persons attending the approximately one hour long performance.

The program for the performance can be viewed here.

The Quintet jumped right into playing Rossini's William Tell's Overture from 1829 which put the late afternoon audience on notice that classical music compositions over time can take on modern identities as today most recognize the overture as the theme song to the TV show, the Lone Ranger.  The Quintet played several familiar titles including the frenetic Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday", a few jazz themed compositions and Sousa's less familiar, yet lyrical, "Fairest of the Fair."  In the final song of the performance,  "Yesterday" by Paul McCartney,  the Quintet reminded the audience that modern music can also take on classical music identities under the artistry of arrangers and musicians alike.   In honor of our Veterans in attendance, the Quintet concluded by playing Service Songs and treated the audience to an encore of Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever.

After the performance many enjoyed light refreshments that were provided by members of Messiah Lutheran Church's group, the "OWLS" and served on a patriotic, Veteran's Day themed table scape which featuring soldier memorabilia, flowers and service flags.

Our next Music at Messiah concert will be Sunday, February 16th at 4 P.M.  The concert will feature "The Oboe Music of Michael Head" performed by Gary Parks, oboe and Ingrid von Spakovsky, piano.

Here are some additional photos of the inaugural concert.  We on the committee would like to thank our musicians and all who came out to attend this wonderful afternoon of music and fellowship.

November 10th Concert Publicized Locally

Publicity in Full Swing for Arsenal Brass Concert

The Music at Messiah Classical Concert Series was featured in the following online editions.  It's great to have the positive publicity in advance of our first concert.

The Madison Record 

and the Huntsville Times / AL.Com

Keep spreading the word and share our site via social media. 

The concert is this Sunday, November 10th at 4:00 p.m. for the Arsenal Brass Quintet of the US Army Materiel Command Band