Olivet Nazarene University invites you to experience the majesty of the Ruffatti pipe organ played by two accomplished performers. The spring 2025 performances in the Ovid Young Memorial Organ Recital Series are on Monday, March 24, and Monday, April 7, at 12:00 p.m. Both performances will be held 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, March 24, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. | Dr. Corrado Cavalli
Praised for his “grandeur, rigorous style, and impeccable rhythm,” Dr. Corrado Cavalli has delighted audiences throughout Europe and the United States with acclaimed performances in prominent cathedrals, orchestras and festivals. A native of Turin, Italy, he has been the organist of St. John Cantius Church in Chicago since June 2015. He earned two master’s degrees, one in organ and another in choral conducting and composition, from the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “G.Verdi” in Turin, where he studied piano, organ, composition and choral conducting. He also pursued a doctoral degree in musical arts at the University of Illinois. He attended master classes at The Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem, the Netherlands. After his first master’s degree, he was awarded a grant from the Turin Conservatory for his research in Turin’s organ music between 1850 and 1950. Following his master’s in choral conducting, his interest in choral music led him to attend the academy for choir conductors Il Respiro è già canto, promoted by the Italian National Choir Federation.
Among his prizes, he won the Conservatory prize, Premio Silipo, for the final grade (summa cum laude) of his MM in organ, the Concorso Nazionale d’Organo Città di Viterbo (Premio Pinchi) in 2007, and the Brownson Fellowship for his doctoral studies in Musical Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Cavalli is also a Seven Eight Artist.
In Turin, Dr. Cavalli regularly performed with prestigious choirs and orchestras, including the Italian Orchestra Nazionale Sinfonica della Rai, the French Ensemble Orchestral des Alpes et de la Mer, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino, the chamber choir of the Turin Conservatory and the Coro dell’Accaemia Stefano Tempia, the oldest choral academy in Italy. He was Organista Titolare (chief organist) at the historical neo-gothic church of Santa Giulia and associate organist at the San Filippo Neri church. In the Archdiocese of Turin, he served as a board member of the music department and associate organist at Turin’s Cathedral. In addition, he taught piano and organ at the Accademia Pagella and music theory and ear training at Corsi di Formazione Musicale (Turin’s civic school of music). From 2010 to 2013, he was also the conductor of the female choir at the Istituto Istruzione Superiore “P. Sraffa.”
Highlighted pieces: Fantasia & Fugue in C (Bach), Funérailles (Liszt), Throne Room and End Title from Star Wars (Williams)
Monday, April 7, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. | Matthew Doran
Matthew Doran is a graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU), with degrees in music education and organ performance. He began his organ study with Dr. David Christiansen and studied with Professor James Russell Brown at NIU. He performed with many of the university’s ensembles and appeared as organ soloist in Samuel Barber’s “Toccata Festiva” with the NIU Philharmonic in 2016 as a concerto competition winner. In addition to his organ studies, Mr. Doran studied jazz piano with Willie Pickens and was a member of the NIU Jazz Lab Band.
In October 2014, Mr. Doran performed in two concerts of the WFMT Bach Organ Project. In addition to organ recitals, he has performed on organ and piano in several professional ensemble settings. These include performances with Cor Cantiamo at St. James Cathedral in Chicago and with the Fox Valley Orchestra and Chorus.
Currently, Mr. Doran is the music director of St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in Arlington Heights. In the school, he teaches general music classes, bands, and musical theater. He also serves as registrar on the board of the North Shore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Highlighted pieces: Great is Thy Faithfulness (arr. Hustad), Finlandia, Op. 26 (Sibelius)
About the Recital Series
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 about the Ovid Young Memorial Organ Recital Series, go to olivet.edu/events.
