Baltimore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
Enriching lives through organ and choral music
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Pipe and Pedal

The Pipe and Pedal is the monthly newsletter of the Baltimore AGO. For past issues, please visit our Historical Archives. If you wish to submit an article for the Pipe and Pedal, you may visit our submissions page.

October 2023

The mission of the American Guild of Organists is to foster a thriving community
of musicians who share their knowledge and inspire passion for the organ.

This month, we have two wonderful opportunities to be a part of that thriving community in the present, and to explore the heritage that we are so lucky to inherit from those who have gone before. The first is the Peabody Organ Conference which will explore the lasting influences of three former Peabody faculty artists who had profound impacts on the organ world and organ building – Virgil Fox, Arthur Howes, and Donald Sutherland. We will share in lectures about the teachers and their pedagogy and hear recitals on the instruments with which they were closely associated. This conference is on October 8 & 9. Baltimore AGO is a co-sponsor of the Jonathan Moyer recital in Griswold Hall. (For more information see the accompanying article in this month’s Pipe & Pedal.)

Our passion for the organ will be further heightened with the Festival Evensong and Dedication Recital by David Hurd at Grace and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, October 15 at 5:00 p.m. The restoration of the Austin Op. 1074 will inspire the members of that congregation and the Baltimore community for years to come. Baltimore AGO is a co-sponsor of this event. It is fine to look to the past and to celebrate the present, but we are also committed to building for the future. To that end, we are pleased to have awarded scholarships for organ study to two deserving students. More information about them and the process is available in a separate article. The Executive Committee of Baltimore AGO felt so strongly about this that we agreed to fund our portion of the scholarships for this year from our reserve funds. Each student shares in the cost of the lessons with Baltimore AGO. To sustain this program for future students, we are hoping that Baltimore AGO members will donate to the scholarships. You may do so by donating to the J. Spencer Hammond Memorial Scholarship Fund.

  • Online - https://ams.agohq.org/members_online/members/donations.asp You will need your AGO login to do this.

  • Check - or by mailing a check to “Hammond Memorial Fund”, c/o Church of the Redeemer, 5603 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21210.

  • When you renew your AGO membership, choose to designate an additional donation

We have a busy October prepared. I look forward to seeing you at one or more of the events and hearing your thoughts about Baltimore AGO.

Peace,
Bert

The October 2023 issue of the Pipe & Pedal is now available.

Alex Mendelsohn