Juilliard Organists Perform in a Free Recital on Wednesday, January 25 at 8 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall

Eight Current Students of Paul Jacobs Will Play Works by Bridge, Dupre, Elgar, Hindemith, Isoir, Locklair, Reger, and Vierne

Juilliard’s annual recital by the organ students of Paul Jacobs, chair of Juilliard’s Organ Department, takes place Wednesday, January 25 at 8 PM on the Holtkamp organ in the School’s Paul Hall (155 West 65^th Street). The eight organists performing on this FREE recital are David Ball, Michael Hey, Colin MacKnight, Griffin McMahon, Raymond Nagem, Benjamin Sheen, Janet Yieh, and Gregory Zelek. They perform works for the organ from the 19^th century through contemporary music. The program features works by Frank Bridge, Marcel Dupré, Edward Elgar, Paul Hindemith, André Isoir, Dan Locklair, Max Reger, and Louis Vierne. (The complete program follows at the end of this release.)

FREE tickets will be available beginning January 10 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM – 6 PM. For more information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

Juilliard organists are featured on two other upcoming concerts. On Monday, January 30 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Benjamin Sheen performs Lou Harrison’s Organ Concerto on Juilliard’s FOCUS! 2012 Festival, Sounds Re-Imagined: John Cage at 100. Paul Jacobs performs the same work on March 29 at 8:30 PM when he makes his Carnegie Hall debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in a program entitled, “American Mavericks.” The concert takes place in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

JUILLIARD ORGANISTS - BIOS

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, David Ball is a second year undergraduate organ student at Juilliard. He is the 2011 winner of the Kansas City AGO Chapter’s Competition for Young Organists and is the recipient of the rarely-conferred Outstanding Student Award from the St. Louis Chapter of the AGO. Mr. Ball serves as the assistant musician at St. Malachy’s – The Actors’ Chapel in Times Square. He previously served as Organ Scholar to the landmark Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and was an organ student of Cathedral Basilica organist and director of music, Dr. John A. Romeri. Mr. Ball assisted with the accompaniment of the Cathedral, Archdiocesan, and Children’s Choirs. Through the Children’s Choir’s affiliation with the American Federation Pueri Contores, he has played for their events in Rome, St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Michael Hey is a full-tuition recipient in his third year of the undergraduate program at Juilliard. In November 2010, he gave his official New York City debut at Lincoln Center performing a Handel Organ Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Sir Nicholas McGegan. In July 2011, Mr. Hey received first prize in the Region II Competition for Young Organists at the AGO Convention in Morristown, New Jersey and performed a solo recital on WMBC-TV. In February 2011, he played an organ and violin duo in Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival. He was featured on “The Wanamaker Hour” broadcast on Philadelphia’s WRTI-FM in 2009 playing the world’s largest pipe organ. He is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists.

Colin MacKnight is a first year organ major at Juilliard. He is a recipient of the E.H. Ludlam scholarship. He graduated from Walnut Hill School for the Arts with academic and artistic honors. At Walnut Hill, Mr. MacKnight studied organ with Justin Blackwell, double bass with Susan Hagen and performed with New England Conservatory Preparatory School’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Benjamin Zander. In June 2011, the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra toured Europe, performing Mahler’s 9^th Symphony, culminating in a performance at the Musikverein.

Griffin McMahon is a first year undergraduate at Juilliard, where he is a recipient of the Alice Tully scholarship and The Chairman’s Grant. A native of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Mr. McMahon has performed in venues such as New York’s St. Mary the Virgin Times Square, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, and Curtis Institute of Music, Mechanics Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Princeton University Chapel, and on the world’s largest functional pipe organ, the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s Center City Philadelphia, among others. Active in both solo and chamber music, Mr. McMahon made his orchestral debut as piano soloist with a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Longmeadow Symphony Orchestra in December 2010. He is winner of the 2010 Charlotte Hoyt Bagnall Organ Competition and is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists. He currently is organist at Middle Collegiate Church in New York’s East Village.

Raymond Nagem, a native of Boston, is a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at Juilliard and Organ Scholar at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Mr. Nagem received his bachelor of arts degree from Yale University where he studied with Thomas Murray and his master of music degree from Juilliard. He has performed throughout the Northeast, including concerts with the Juilliard Orchestra and Yale Symphony Orchestra. As the recipient of the first American Friends of Eton College Scholarship, he spent a year in England, studying music at Eton College. In 2011, he made his radio debut on NYC’s WQXR accompanying the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Kent Tritle. He has won prizes in the AGO Regional Competition for Young Organists and the John R. Rodland Scholarship Competition.

Benjamin Sheen, a native of England, currently is a first year master of music student at Juilliard. Having recently graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honours degree (B.A.) in music, he is increasingly gaining recognition as an international concert organist. Mr. Sheen has given recitals throughout the United Kingdom, including the Royal Albert Hall and Westminster Abbey, as well as in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, France, and Germany. His musical education began as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where he remains the youngest ever recitalist to appear in the Cathedral’s Sunday evening series at the age of 13. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (a diploma of which he was awarded several prizes for exceptional performance) and also a recent recipient of the prestigious Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal for 2011. He has performed concertos on both piano and organ with several renowned orchestras, including the City of London Sinfonietta, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Duisburg Sinfonie, and has appeared on BBC television and radio numerous times. Future engagements in the 2012 season for Mr. Sheen include the U.S. premiere of British composer Judith Bingham’s Everlasting Crown (first performed at the BBC Proms 2011), and U.S. appearances in San Francisco, Denver, New York, and Miami.

Janet Yieh is a first year undergraduate student at Juilliard, where she is the recipient of the Elaine Lambert Scholarship and the Neil Carlson Memorial Scholarship in Organ. She began studying organ at age 11and was the youngest pianist to win the Potomac Organ Institute’s scholarship prize of a year of free organ lessons. During high school, she studied organ with John Walker and completed the theory program at Peabody Preparatory while serving as Organ Scholar at Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore. Ms. Yieh won second prize in the 2010 Albert Schweitzer Organ competition and in the 2009 Oklahoma City University AGO Competition. She has performed several solo recitals on the East Coast and in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has been featured twice in the Tiffany Concert Series in Baltimore, Maryland and three times in the Concert for a Cause Series in Alexandria, Virginia. She will perform in the 35^th annual Bach Marathon Concert in Chevy Chase, Maryland in March 2012. She currently serves as Organ Scholar at Trinity Wall Street in Manhattan.

Gregory Zelek, a native of Miami, Florida, is a second year undergraduate student at Juilliard. He was selected as a 2010 NFAA Young Arts Silver Medal Winner and won first prize, as well as the “Bach Prize,” at the East Carolina University Organ Competition and was a prizewinner at both the 2011 Annual West Chester Organ Competition and Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival. He is the music intern at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York, under the direction of John T. King. During the summers, Mr. Zelek, who is Cuban-American and a native Spanish speaker, is the organist for San Pedro Apostol Church in Ramales de la Victoria, Spain. He recently appeared as a soloist with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, performing Poulenc’s Organ Concerto.

About Paul Jacobs, Chair of Juilliard’s Organ Department

Paul Jacobs, chair of Juilliard’s organ department, is the only organ soloist ever to receive a Grammy Award (2011). He made musical history at the age of 23 when he performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach in an 18-hour non-stop marathon performance, and has subsequently performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in nine-hour marathon concerts around the country. He had performed in all 50 states by the age of 31, and has also toured in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia and appeared with major orchestras.

CONCERT LISTING:

Juilliard Organists

Wednesday, January 25, 8 PM, Juilliard’s Paul Hall (155 West 65^th Street)

Organists: David Ball, Michael Hey, Colin MacKnight, Griffin McMahon, Raymond Nagem, Benjamin Sheen, Janet Yieh, and Gregory Zelek

The program features works by Frank Bridge, Marcel Dupré, Edward Elgar, Paul Hindemith, André Isoir, Dan Locklair, Max Reger, and Louis Vierne.

COMPLETE PROGRAM:

Edward Elgar: Sonata in G Major, Op. 28 (select movements) (Benjamin Sheen, organ)

Paul Hindemith: Organ Sonata No. 2 (Griffin McMahon, organ)

Louis Vierne: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 20 (select movements) (Janet Yieh, organ)

Dan Locklair: Rubrics (David Ball, organ)

Max Reger: Introduction and Passacaglia in D Minor (Gregory Zelek, organ)

André Isoir: Variations sur un psaume huguenot, Opus 1 (Raymond Nagem, organ)

Frank Bridge: Adagio in E Major (Colin MacKnight, organ)

Marcel Dupré: Symphonie-Passion, Op. 23 (select movements) (Michael Hey, organ)

FREE tickets will be available beginning January 10 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. For more information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.