2009 Eccles Organ Festival continues on Sundays

SALT LAKE CITY — The 2009 Eccles Organ Festival began in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Sept. 13, and will continue through Nov. 8.

The first performance was given by Doug O’Neill, the Cathedral of the Madeleine organist and assistant director of music. O’Neill opened the popular Eccles Organ Festival. O’Neill won first prize in the 1999 Dublin International Organ Competition. He is an active performer on organ, piano, and harpsichord. He holds degrees from the University of Evansville, the University of Iowa, and the University of Kansas, where he completed the DMA in Church Music.

Peter Planyavsky will perform in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. Planyavsky is Professor of Organ and Improvisation at the University for Music and Drama in Vienna. He is a European Concert Organist. In 1996 he was elected Head of the Department of Church Music.

A quote in The Los Angeles Times said, "There was only good news at Peter Planyavsky’s recital last night... Planyavsky gave notice of secure technique and superb musicality. Easing into and out of phrases, he set off contrapuntal ideas and delineated formal structures with never the slightest interruption of the basic rhythmical flow."

Carol Terry will perform Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. Terry’s career as a renowned performer and pedagogue of the organ and harpsichord has taken her to many cities and universities throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Especially known for her performances and recordings of German Romantic music, she is also an expert on the physiology of keyboard performance – the subject of her forthcoming academic work.

David Higgs will perform Oct. 25. He is Professor of Organ Chair, Organ and Historical Keyboards Department at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. Lectures for many summer organ academies and institutes; regular concert tours and masterclasses worldwide. Regular appearances with San Francisco Symphony, (1987-present). Inaugurated many important new organs, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna; Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; St. Ignatius Loyola, New York City; Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL. Concerts both national and international are too numerous to mention.

Frédéric Champion will close the Eccles Organ Festival Nov. 8. Winner of the 2008 Canadian International Organ Competition (CIOC) held in Montreal, Frédéric Champion’s career since 1998 has seen him perform organ music of the 16th through the 21st centuries as a solo organist and with orchestras and choirs around the world. Recent performance venues include Chartres Cathedral (France), the Frauenkirche in Dresden (Germany), St. Thomas Church in Leipzig (Germany), Kawasaki Symphony Hall, Suntory Hall and Musashino bunka kaikan in Tokyo (Japan), and Symphony Hall in Osaka, Japan. Champion was born in Lyon, France.

Champion has been heard on Radio-France, Austrian radio stations, and Japanese TV/Radio broadcasts. Many compositions have even been dedicated to him.