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Dean’s Message – December 2025

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Dear members of the Tacoma AGO,

We have arrived a month that is often one of the busiest of the year for musicians. There are thousands of notes to be learned, extra choir rehearsals, end-of-semester concerts, a few holiday parties all before we arrive at the holidays themselves! This past weekend, there was a guest opinion article in the New York Times by concert pianist Jonathan Biss called “The Quest for Perfection is Stunting Our Society.” While he speaks about experiences leading to and on the concert stage, I think similar sentiments may be made to those who prepare to lead music in many different contexts. One line that stood out to me, Biss wrote: “The preparatory work should be freeing, not constricting, revealing and making accessible the music’s limitless possibilities.” In everything that we need to learn and perform this month, keep your curiosity open within the confines of societal stressors and the next service. 

Our next Chapter event is on the evening of Monday, January 5, celebrating the end of the holiday rush. We will gather at the home of Paul Fritts for a “Twelfth Night” party. Bring a snack to share and a carol to play, if you wish! Click here for more information! Additionally, looking ahead to February, we will join members of the Olympia AGO for a hymn festival on the afternoon of February 8 at St. John’s Episcopal in Olympia. Members will have opportunities to sing and lead hymns from the Schlicker/Bond organ in its present location. More information on that is forthcoming. 

Keep your eyes on the TAGO events calendar for musical and social events around the area. And, finally, just a reminder that in all we do, make self-care a priority, whether that’s a cup of tea, a walk in nature, or anything in between!

In music,
Wyatt

Dean's Message

Dean’s Message – November 2025

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Dear Tacoma AGO Members,

Happy All Saints’ Day and belated Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! 

The organ is alive here in Tacoma. This past Thursday night, over two hundred people of all ages came to Kilworth Chapel for Pipes Spooktacular. When asked for a show of hands, a substantial portion of the audience acknowledged they had never been to an organ concert. While we see decreasing trends in studying organ and attendance at mainline churches, various entities are exploring new ways of engaging with and sharing our instruments with the next generation. I encourage you to read this month’s article in The American Organist by Russell Weismann on rethinking the pipeline of organ study. In addition to holding a lot of history for study and performance, the organ, in a variety of venues, offers great opportunities for storytelling and engaging with audiences that don’t normally step foot in churches or students who explore academic majors outside of the concert hall.

Our first chapter event took place a couple weeks ago on October 18 and featured conversations around commissioning works and composing for the organ. The event was a joint event with the new Salish Sea Chapter of NACUSA (National Association of Composers USA). Click here to read more and see pictures from the event!

Your Sub Dean, Jay Murphy-Mancini, has developed a wonderful line up of social events and workshops for the rest of the program year. These events include:

  • January 5: A Twelfth Night party at Paul Fritts’ house.
  • February 8: A joint hymn-festival with the Olympia AGO Chapter at St. John’s Episcopal in Olympia. This will give opportunities for chapter members to sing and play hymns on the Schlicker/Bond organ. More details forthcoming. 
  • March 13-14: A two-day series of joint events with Seattle AGO featuring Dr. Barbara Lister-Sink, one of the nation’s foremost pedagogues in playing with an injury-preventive keyboard technique. On March 13, we will hear her give a piano recital at St. Luke’s Episcopal in Renton. On March 14, She will give two substantial workshops in the chapel at Wesley Homes in Des Moines, focusing on biomechanics of the body, injury-prevention, along with opportunities to play the Fritts organ and receive feedback from her.
  • April (date TBD): David Dahl will give a presentation on Georg Kaufmann’s Harmonische Seelenlust at PLU’s Lagerquist Hall. Details about participating in this workshop, including playing the Fritts organ, are forthcoming.
  • May (date TBD): Share some of your favorite preludes and postludes from the liturgical year on the Aeolian-Skinner organ at Mason Methodist in a friendly, low-pressure environment. 
  • June (date TBD): Annual, year-end picnic.

More details will be added to our Tacoma AGO calendar in due course. As always, check out the upcoming events on our calendar. Some highlights include Julia Brown at PLU, Tate Addis at St. Luke’s Memorial, UPS Keyboard Festival, and Paul Tegels and Svend Ronning at Christ Church. We have such an abundance of opportunities to share our beloved instrument with the greater Tacoma community! Thank you for being a member and I hope to see you at any number of these upcoming events!!

In music,
Wyatt

Dean's Message

Dean’s Message – October 2026

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Hello, Tacoma AGO members!

As the leaves turn colors, we settle back into “the swing of things,” as various aspects of our lives settle into their program year routines. The same goes for our chapter of the AGO. In this newsletter, you can read about upcoming educational and social opportunities that are being offered this year to you as members of the Tacoma AGO chapter. Additionally, you can read a breakdown of the results from the membership survey from last month (thank you to those who filled it out!), along with an article about a registration exploration and recording project on the Fritts organ at Lagerquist Hall at PLU!

Working with your new Sub Dean, Jay Murphy-Mancini, the Board has begun to shape our programs for the year. Our first workshop will take place at 10:00am on Saturday, October 18 at St. Luke’s Memorial Episcopal Church on the topic of commissioning works and composing for the organ. This event, joint with the Salish Sea Chapter of the National Association of Composers USA, will provide opportunities to help demystify the commissioning process, hear new pieces for organ with remarks from both composers and those listening, and look through a selection of newer works for the organ that are practical in nature. I hope you can join us!

Additional programs for the year include: a Twelfth Night party in January to celebrate the end of one of the busiest seasons for church musicians; a workshop on American organ music to kickoff the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; a presentation on Georg Kauffmann’s Harmonische Seelenlust; a joint event with Seattle AGO to present Dr. Barbara Lister-Sink in concert and a full day of workshops focused on injury-preventive keyboard technique; a post-Easter members’ recital; and our annual year-end picnic. Watch the calendar and future newsletters for more details!

This year, we will return to gathering on a regular basis on Fridays for some social interaction away from our music-making and administrative duties. A change for this year, we will gather for Happy Hours at Cactus in Proctor and 208 Garfield in Parkland, making use of their reduced-price menus! Our first one is coming up THIS FRIDAY afternoon at 3:00pm at Cactus. Check out the calendar listing for more details. I hope many of you are able to join us for these gatherings!

Beyond our local offerings, I would like to draw your attention to the National AGO’s first virtual Pedagogy Conference, to be held online from October 9-11. Covering a myriad of topics, speakers include: Jeffrey Smith, Peter Sykes, Tom Trenney, Nicole Keller, Todd Wilson, and many more! Check out the full offerings and registration link here. I hope to see you online!

As always, check out the many events throughout the region on our Tacoma AGO Calendar. There are opportunities this month to hear music on instruments including the Hutchings-Votey/Rosales organ at St. James Cathedral, Seattle; the Flentrop at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle; the Brombaugh at Christ Church, Tacoma; the Fritts organ at Kilworth Chapel, Tacoma; and Fritts-Richards, Op. 4 in Ballard. What riches abound!

In music,
Wyatt Smith

Dean's Message

Dean’s Message – September 2025

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Dear members of the Tacoma AGO,

Happy Labor Day! The unofficial end of summer for many people. This month, schools begin classes and choirs return to regular rehearsals. Additionally, each year on this holiday, I greatly enjoy Kimberly Marshall’s recognition of “the generations of Kalkanten (bellows treaders) that made our art possible for centuries…” (See the illustration.)

As we settle back into our weekly routines, I encourage you to do at least one thing a week for yourself that reinforces your love of music. For me, I am working to prioritize my practice time, blocking off time (whether at the piano or organ) and not allowing it to be touched by other commitments. From my various encounters with musicians and musical communities around the country, practicing is often be the last thing we get to after doing administrative work, teaching, running rehearsals, etc. This also might look like getting together on a regular basis with friends and colleagues or supporting colleagues events around the region. Whatever this looks like for you, do it!

To help form this program year, there will be a survey going out in the near future seeking your input regarding scheduling and types of events so that we can best serve you, our members! I will also be working closing with our new Sub Dean, Jay Murphy-Mancini, to curate a wonderful and engaging year for us here in the South Sound! Watch for forthcoming information regarding our first events of the year.

In the meantime, check out the myriad of events coming up this year that can be found on our Events Calendar. There is a lot of great music happening around us!

In music,
Wyatt Smith

Dean's Message

Dean’s Message – August 2025

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Hello, TAGO Members!

It was such a joy to see many of you at our mid-summer picnic last month. Many thanks, as always, to David Dahl and Loi Le for hosting us in their beautiful garden! We held a brief Annual Meeting, which resulted in the election of Justin (Jay) Murphy-Mancini as our Sub Dean. Welcome, Jay! Thank you to Cheryl Drewes, current Past Dean, who helped fill in some roles over this past year while we were without a Sub Dean.

In the near future, we will be sending out a survey to gather ideas for our programming in the year to come. In the meantime, start thinking about topics you would be curious to know more about.

Additionally, our TAGO calendar is filling up with events in our community for the coming year. If you have concerts planned for the year, please start adding them to our calendar. We have such a wealth of talent and support for music in our area. It is always such a joy to see what is going on and have the ability to attend events and support fellow musicians!

In music,
Wyatt Smith