Church Music Conference to Feature Christopher Herrick at UA’s Moody Music Hall

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Church Music Conference will feature Christopher Herrick, international concert organist and lecturer, and faculty from the UA School of Music, Samford University and the University of Southern Mississippi at UA’s Moody Music Building on Jan. 29.

Now in its second year, the conference attracts choir members and directors, hand bell players and directors, organists, clergy members and persons with a church music concentration interested in improving their skills for church ministry.

Dr. Faythe Freese, associate professor of music at UA, says, “We are lucky to have Christopher Herrick, the foremost English organist and leading interpreter of Bach’s organ music.”

Freese said this is an excellent opportunity for exchange of ideas with colleagues. The Church Music Conference is a one-of-a-kind conference in our area and a great opportunity to grow and refresh, she said.

Mid-winter is a time when people choose their music for Lent, said Freese. “The conference will have freshly published music – the latest and newest that is scheduled for publication later this spring.”

During the conference the following will be offered: organ, vocal, choral conducting master classes, vocal health and hymnody workshops, choral reading, children’s choirs and hand bell sessions.

Early bird conference registration through Jan. 21 is suggested to assure workshop choices. The registration fee is $50 and includes a boxed lunch. The conference cannot guarantee choral music or lunches for attendees registering after Jan. 21. Open registration at the door costs $60 and will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 29. The first session begins at 9 a.m.

Herrick will lecture and perform “The Free Works of J.S. Bach,” an all Bach concert at 3:30 p.m. on the 87-rank Holtkamp organ in the concert hall of the Moody Music Building.

Christopher Herrick has been associated with some of Great Britain’s finest musical establishments. As a boy, he sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England and later returned to be assistant organist there.

For 10 years he was organist at Westminster Abbey. During that period, he played for many royal and state occasions and in Westminster Abbey, alone, gave more than 200 recitals. He earned a music degree from Oxford University and was awarded a post-graduate scholarship for further study at the Royal College of Music in London.

Since 1984, Herrick has devoted himself entirely to recital, recording and broadcasting. He performs both as a soloist and with orchestras throughout the world. During the 1998 Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, Herrick performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach in 14 consecutive daily recitals.

He has recorded the complete works of Bach, as well as a great variety of other disks on the Hyperion label. In addition to his career as a concert and recording artist, Herrick now conducts two, 100-member London church choirs which regularly perform the major choral literature in important London venues.

For registration, contact Dr. Faythe Freese at 205/348-3329, or visit the UA organ department website for the complete conference schedule at http://www.music.ua.edu/organ/events/

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state with 6,600 students and 360 faculty. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.