Please join us for the first meeting of our new program year on Monday, September 19 at 7:30 pm, when Cheryl Drewes, Director of Music at Spanaway Lutheran Church, collaborates with her husband Tim to present the church’s 1905 Woodberry organ.  The versatility of this organ will be demonstrated in music of its own, as well as other, eras.  Cheryl and Tim will also present a brief history of the organ, with an overview of the Woodberry company and a discussion the organ aesthetics of the time.

Further attractions includes a wine and cheese reception to be held after the meeting.  Come, get to know this gem of an organ and  enjoy catching up after the summer with your AGO friends!  Also, we especially ask that each of you make an effort to personally invite area organists and organ enthusiasts of your acquaintance who are not active in our chapter.

We acquired two new members in July.  Clint Kraus, formerly the assistant organist at St. James Cathedral, is now living in Tacoma and pursuing a career in medicine.  Will Stuivenga has joined as a dual member from the Olympia chapter.  Welcome to our newest members!

Your Executive Committee is trying to gauge interest in having a meal together before meetings on an occasional basis in order to provide some social time.  These meals might be in a restaurant located near the meeting venue, or, if there is enough interest, catered at the meeting venue.  This sort of activity has been successful in other chapters.

There is a poll on our website where you can indicate your level of interest.  If you haven’t done so yet, head over to https://tacomaago.org and vote.

In order to vote, you must be logged in.  There are still a few people who don’t have passwords.  An article  (available on the website and reprinted in the August newsletter) explains how to obtain a password and why it is important.

Tacoma AGO member David Dahl has another new publication!  The Sacred Music Press has just released David’s new work “Partita on Old 124th.”  This work was commissioned for the 40th anniversary of John Brombaugh’s Opus 9, and consists of a harmonization of Old 124th followed by ten variations, beginning with a canonic setting and ending with a harmonization intended for congregational singing with a descant.

On June 24, member Mark Brombaugh performed the world premier of Old 124th at Central Lutheran Church, Eugene, OR, the home of John Brombaugh and Associates Opus 19.  The recital was jointly sponsored by the church, as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the organ, in conjunction with the Oregon Bach Festival.  Several hundred people attended and responded enthusiastically.  Mark will premier this piece in Tacoma on Friday, September 30 at Christ Episcopal Church.

The printed edition can be purchased from The Sacred Music Press.  On the same order page, there is a recording of this work played by Mark Brombaugh on Opus 9 freely available for listening.

We are looking forward to a year of interesting programs for 2016/2017. While not all details are final yet, the basic outlines are  settled. Our programs will feature various interesting area organs, lecture-performances on important organ repertory, a presentation on new hymns, an open house at the Pasi shop, and some favorite Tacoma traditions.  In addition to the actual programs themselves, we are incorporating social activities that will allow members to meet and visit with each other.  Here I introduce the first four programs for the fall/winter.   As the program chair, I sincerely thank the wonderful members of the board, whose ideas and support were so essential to this planning!

We begin the year with a visit in September to a wonderful turn-of-the-previous century organ. Cheryl Drewes will introduce the 1905 Jesse Woodberry organ at Spanaway Lutheran Church, where she is organist. We ask you to invite particularly area organists of your acquaintance who are not active in our chapter to this meeting! As further incentive, there will be an after-meeting reception in the narthex/courtyard.

In October, we present the first of two lecture/demonstrations that will feature important organ repertory.  Jonathan Ryan will give a presentation at Christ Episcopal Church on J S Bach’s Clavierübung III, Bach’s monumental setting  of a mass for organ using German chorales.  This complements Mr Ryan’s complete performance of that work on October 9 in Lagerquist Hall as part of PLU’s organ recital series.  Tacoma AGO members will enjoy reduced admission ($10 instead of $15) to the recital.

The November meeting will feature a joint presentation on exciting new hymns by Cooper Sherry, Director of Music Ministry at St. Mark’s on the Narrows in Tacoma, and Shari Shull, Minister of Music at Angus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor.  They will share their extensive knowledge of church music and new hymnody with us, using the  organ and piano at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma.

Rounding out programs for the fall is our annual Advent/Christmas party,  which will be held this year at the Tacoma residence of Paul Fritts, with beautiful views of the Sound and the enchanting sounds of the Fritts Op 7 house organ.  We are quite certain that our host will be in a celebrating mood as he returns from installing his Op 37 (the largest organ built by his company to date) at the Notre Dame University Basilica in South Bend, Indiana.

The following fall programs will all be held on Mondays at 7:30 pm:

September 19 at Spanaway Lutheran Church:  Cheryl Drewes presents the 1905 Jesse Woodberry organ.  Reception to follow.

October 10 at Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma:  Jonathan Ryan presents J S Bach’s Clavierübung III (Recital performance on October 9 at 3 pm in Lagerquist Hall, PLU).

November 14 at First Lutheran Church, Tacoma:  Cooper Sherry and Shari Shull present “The Best of New Hymns”.

December 12 at Paul Fritts’s residence in Tacoma:  Annual Advent/Christmas party featuring seasonal organ music and hymns.