John Weaver (organist)

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John Weaver (born April 27, 1937 in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania ) is an American concert and church organist , choir director and conductor. He has taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School in New York.

biography

John Weaver was born in Mauch Chunk as the son of a Presbyterian pastor and was there for the first time in contact with the church organ. The family moved to Baltimore when he was four years old. From the age of six he received piano lessons there and later for more than a year organ lessons from Richard Ross at the Peabody Conservatory Preparatory Department. At the age of 14 he was already playing the organ in a Methodist congregation in Baltimore. After completing four years of studies, including with Alexander McCurdy , at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1959, he took over the position of music director at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York from 1959 to 1970 . During this time he was also organist and choirmaster in the US Army for two years at the Post Chapel of the United States Military Academy in West Point, where he obtained a Masters degree in church music from Robert Baker's Union Theological Seminar . In 1968 and 1969 he performed Bach cantatas in 30 concerts every year at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church ; the choir series was continued by his successor. In 1970 he moved to the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan , New York, as music director and organist . In this parish he led the concert choir The St. Andrew Chorale in several orchestral concerts . In May 2005 he gave his last concert as a church organist in the parish.

John Weaver taught from 1972 to 2003 as head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and from 1987 to 2004 also represented this department at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. He continues to teach some master classes even after he has finished teaching. He has also taught at Westminster Choir College , Union Theological Seminar and the Manhattan School of Music . He published numerous articles in organ or church music magazines and was President of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians .

For a total of 50 years he played the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ during the summer concerts at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine . After his work in New York he appeared again increasingly internationally as a concert organist until the 2007/2008 concert season. In addition to the United States, he has given concerts in Canada, Western Europe and Brazil, including in 1985 he performed Liszt's Faust Symphony with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall . Sometimes he performs together with his wife Marianne, a flautist with whom he has been married since 1965. His concerts were broadcast on radio and television in the United States and Germany, and he made records and CDs for various companies. Weaver has performed as a soloist or with orchestras such as the Portland Symphony Orchestra , Maine Symphony Orchestra , the Musica Sacra Orchestra or the Harrisburg Symphony . Weaver composed solo organ works and works that are performed together with a choir or with flute accompaniment.

Weaver was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music . In 2005 he was named "International Performer of the Year" by the New York Association of the American Guild of Organists and is an honorary member of this association. In October 2008, Weaver received the 2008 Unitas Distinguished Alumni Award from Union Theological Seminary in New York City . He currently lives in West Glover , Vermont.

Works

Recordings (selection)

  • John Weaver Performs , Schantz Organ, Indiana, Gothic
  • For All the Saints , Reuters Organ, Seattle, Washington, Pro Organo
  • The John Weaver Dedication Recital , Wicks Organ, LaGrange, Georgia
  • The Organ and Choral music of John Weaver , Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Choir and Organ, New York, JAV

Compositions (selection)

organ

  • Toccata for organ (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Passacaglia on a Theme by Dunstable (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Fantasia (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Prelude and Fugue in E minor (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Variations on Three Hymn Tunes (by Boosey & Hawkes)

Flute and organ

  • Rhapsody for flute and organ (with Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Dialogues for Flute and Organ (1991) (with Wayne Leupold Publications, Inc. (EC Schirmer))

Choir and organ

  • Psalm 100 (by Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Epiphany Alleluias (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Introit for Pentecost (at Boosey & Hawkes)
  • Psalm 46 (at Morning Star)
  • The Joyful Feast (on Morning Star)
  • Prayer for Transfiguration Day (1991) (at Hope Publishing Company)
  • Prayer from Psalm 139 (at Hope Publishing Company)
  • Restore Us, O Lord of Hosts (at Hope Publishing Company)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c John Weaver at 70 - A Life in Music Interview of July 11, 2005 by Michael Barone, published on the occasion of his 70th birthday in The Diapason, on thediapason.com (English) ( Memento from February 3, 2013 in Web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Pipes and Stained Glass: A Master Reflects on a Lifetime of Church Organs by Craig R. Whitney , New York Times, May 20, 2005, on nytimes.com, accessed December 12, 2008
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j biography of John Weaver on concertorganists.com (PDF file), accessed December 12, 2008 (English)
  4. ↑ Dr. John Weaver ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church website , on mapc.com, accessed December 16, 2008  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mapc.com
  5. ↑ International Performer of the Year 2005 , at nycago.org, accessed December 12, 2014 (English)
  6. ↑ 2008 Unitas Distinguished Alumni / ae Award Recipients on utsnyc.edu, English ( Memento from August 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
personal data
SURNAME Weaver, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American organist, choir director and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania