Musica Organi
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, Tennessee
Friday, January 26, 2001, 8:00 p.m.
| Apparatus Musico-Organisticus: Toccata Prima | Georg Muffat (1653-1704) | |
| Variations on "Mein junges Leben hat ein End'" | Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) | |
| Praeludium in G Minor, BuxWV 149 | Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) | |
| Canon in B Minor | Robert Schumann (1810-1856) | |
| Sonata in F Minor, op. 65, no. 1 | Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) | |
| Allegro moderato e serioso | ||
| Adagio | ||
| Andante recitativo | ||
| Allegro assai vivace | ||
| Intermission | ||
| Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553-560 | [J.S. Bach?] | |
| C Major, D Minor, E Minor, F Major G Major, G Minor, A Minor, B-flat Major |
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| Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) |
Karen McFarlane Artists
Recital cosponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in conjunction with the Church Music Workshop
David Higgs is one of America's leading concert organists. He has had the honor of inaugurating many important new instruments, including those at St. Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna; the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; and the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City. He has also appeared in concert with ensembles such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chanticleer, and the Empire Brass. Since his 1987 debut with the San Francisco Symphony, he has played annual Christmas recitals to capacity audiences at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall.
Mr. Higgs appears frequently at major national and international organ festivals and conventions, such as the Calgary International Organ Festival, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and the Summer Organ Academy of the Interlochen School for the Arts. His performances for professional colleagues include two national and eight regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists as well as national conventions of the American Pipe Organ Builders Association and the Organ Historical Society. In England he has appeared at the Oundle and the St. Albans International Festivals, the Cambridge Summer Festival, the Annual Congress of the Incorporated Association of Organists, and the International Congress of Organists.
A native of New York City, Mr. Higgs held his first position as a church organist at age ten; as a teenager, he divided his time between studying classical music and performing in several rock/gospel/soul-music groups. He earned the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Manhattan School of Music and a Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Claire Coci, Peter Hurford, Russell Saunders, and Frederick Swann. In New York City, he was Director of Music and Organist at Park Avenue Christian Church and later Associate Organist of the Riverside Church, where he also conducted the Riverside Choral Society. After moving to San Francisco in 1986, he became Director of Music and Organist at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley and Organist/Choir Director at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.
A sought-after teacher, Mr. Higgs is a frequent lecturer and master-teacher for conferences, workshops, and festivals on both sides of the Atlantic and for colleges, universities, and chapters of the American Guild of Organists. Upon graduation from the Manhattan School of Music, he was appointed to its faculty. Later he was the Director of Church Music Studies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. In 1992 he was appointed to the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, where he is now Chair of the Organ Department.
Mr. Higgs has recorded for the Delos International, Pro Organo, and Gothic labels.