Olivet Nazarene University invites you to experience the majesty of the Ruffatti pipe organ played by three accomplished performers. The fall 2018 performances in the Ovid Young Memorial Organ Recital Series are Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, 12 noon to 1 p.m., and Oct. 26, 3 p.m. All performances are in the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel on Olivet’s campus. There is no admission charge for these concerts.
The performance schedule and guest organists are:
Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, 12 noon to 1 p.m. — Josh Ring, a 2013 graduate of Olivet, is currently a graduate student at the University of Iowa School of Music. He studies organ with Gregory Hand and is a recipient of the Rahn and Frawley Organ Fellowship. He placed first in the 2018 Fox Valley Young Organists Scholarship Competition, a national competition through the American Guild of Organists. He is also the organist at Coralville United Methodist Church and an active performer, accompanist and educator in the Iowa City area. As a recitalist, he is an avid supporter of the Appalachian Service Project.
Ring’s program will include Bach’s “Trio Sonata No. 5 in C Major” and the traditional favorite hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” among other selections.
Monday, Oct. 22, 2018, 12 noon to 1 p.m. — Glenda Robinson, organist, and David Robinson, soloist
Ms. Robinson serves as organist at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Fort Worth, Texas. A sought after collaborative pianist, she has appeared with numerous musicians across the Southwest. As a guest organist, she played for Evensongs and Sunday services at Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England. She has performed in master classes with organist Marie Claire Alain and collaborative pianist Dalton Baldwin. She studied organ with Eleanor Whitsett and Bradley Welch.
Mr. Robinson is an active recitalist, oratorio soloist, concert artist and professor of voice at the University of North Texas. He made his New York concert debut at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center with the American Symphony Orchestra, performing the baritone solos in Mozart’s “C Minor Mass” and Vaughan Williams’ “Five Mystical Songs.”
The Robinsons’ program will include “The Trumpet Shall Sound” from Handel’s Messiah, Travis’ “Variations on Acclamations,” and Dr. Ovid Young’s “Toccata brevis” among other selections.
Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, 3 p.m. — Susan Decker Caudill is a name synonymous with keyboard creativity. While a student at Olivet, she studied with Dr. Ovid Young. A concert performer, recording artist, composer and arranger, she served on staff at Shadow Mountain Community Church with Dr. David Jeremiah in San Diego for 13 years. There, she served as organist, directed and arranged for a 40-piece orchestra, and directed various singing ensembles. She has also been the featured organist on the “Hour of Power” television program with Bobby Schuller.
Caudill’s program will include her arrangement of “Crown Him With Many Crowns with O Worship the King,” Bach’s “Arioso” and Widor’s “Toccata” from Fifth Symphony, among other selections.
This recital series honors the memory and musical career of Dr. Ovid Young, who passed away in 2014. An Olivet alumnus, he is remembered by many as a beloved performer, teacher, mentor and colleague. A pianist, organist, composer and conductor, Dr. Young had to his credit more than 7,000 performances in major concert halls, churches and colleges around the world.
Olivet’s Ruffatti pipe organ — custom built and installed by Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffatti (Ruffatti Brothers, Family of Artisans) of Padua, Italy, and Marshall & Ogletree of Boston — features a four-manual console and a concave pedal board with 32 notes. It has 125 ranks: 75 ranks of wind-blown pipes and a digital component of 50 additional ranks.
For more information, call 815-928-5403 or go to olivet.edu/events.
Published: 10/2/2018
