Welcome!

Region IV of the American Guild of Organists covers the Southeastern United States and Bermuda, including the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana. There are seven districts, 58 local chapters, and over 3,000 members. Our work supports the mission of the Guild: To promote the organ in its historic and evolving roles, to encourage excellence in the performance of organ and choral music, and to provide forum for mutual support, inspiration, education, and certification of Guild members.

June 28, 2010

Organ Dedication July 11, Vero Beach, FL

The Community Church of Vero Beach (UCC) is pleased to announce the Dedication Service and Recital of the new $1.6 million Lively and Fulcher organ. The service will be Sunday, July 11th at 10:00AM and the recital will be the same day at 4:00PM. The recital is free and will feature resident staff organists: Dr José Daniel Flores, Director of Music; and Ryan A. Kasten, Associate Director of Music.

For more information about the organ or the year-long celebration contact: Ryan A. Kasten or call 772.469.2306 or visit the church website.

We welcome colleagues to come experience the new organ in a wonderful vibrant sanctuary (recently completed a $3Million dollar renovation for aesthetics and acoustics). The room, when empty, can have a reverberation of 3 seconds or can be shortened to 1.8 seconds by utilization of sound absorbing curtains. Attached is a picture of the new organ façade and the organ stoplist.

Colleagues and organ students are welcome to come play the instrument by contacting Suzanne Rice, Music Administrator or 772.469-2317 to find out and schedule practice times following the Dedication Sunday.

Summer Organ Week at NCSA

There are still a few open slots for the Summer Organ Week at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, July 19-23, 2010. We are pleased to present UNCSA’s organ faculty member, Timothy Olsen, and two additional outstanding organists/pedagogues for a wonderful week of learning, practicing, and performing. Each day will include individual lesson time, master classes, and practice time, in addition to an occasional organ crawl to local instruments including the wonderfully restored historic 1800 II/P Tannenberg organ, the III/P Flentrop organ at Salem College, and a newly restored V/P Grooms & Payne organ at First Baptist Church.

We are pleased to offer this week full tuition scholarships! The only fees are for Room & Board, and the application fees.

For more information about application, please email Timothy Olson, or go to the summer session web site. We will continue to accept applications up until the week before the camp – if you can get all the appropriate materials submitted and there’s dorm space, you’ll be admitted!

Also, if you’re going to be at the national AGO convention, please stop by and introduce yourself at the UNCSA booth in the exhibit hall.

May 4, 2010

Nashville Flooding Affects Concert Hall Organ

Our friends in the Nashville AGO Chapter have affected by the severe storms and flooding in the area. The Chapter meeting scheduled for May 3 was cancelled. Many people are without power and have had to evacuate their homes. Some churches have experienced minor flooding. The Schermerhorn Concert Hall, which houses a new Schoenstein pipe organ, was flooded in the basement level. The organ console is stored on that level, and it was ruined, along with two Steinway concert grand pianos. Read the full news article here.

April 29, 2010

Greater Huntsville Organ Competition Winner Announced

Jacob Benda, Aaron Tan and John Woolsey were the three finalists chosen to compete on Saturday, March 13, 2010. The competition was held at First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama, on the church's 76 rank Casavant organ. Candidates for the competition were chosen through a semi-final recorded round, and are all under the age of 25.

Judges for the final round were Dr. Jeff McClelland, of Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham; Dr. Michael Velting, of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville; and Andrew Risinger, Nashville Symphony Organist. Mr. Paul Jacobs, Professor and Chair of the Organ Department at Juilliard, served as moderator for the judges’ panel, and also played a recital the evening preceding the competition.

First place was awarded to Aaron Tan, and second place to Jacob Benda. Mr. Tan is a student of David Palmer, University of Windsor Ontario, and winner of the 2009 RCCO National Organ Playing competition. Mr. Benda is finishing his master's degree in Organ Performance at Louisiana State University where he studies with Herndon Spillman.

Special thanks goto First Baptist Church, specifically Dr. Elizabeth Hostetter, for hosting this event, to the Huntsville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists for their leadership, to HCMG for sponsorship of Mr. Jacobs, and to the Milnar and Miller Organ companies for their contributions to the cash prize.

Summer Organ Workshop - July 19-23

This organ workshop is part of the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Music Program. These music workshops are ideal for students wishing to immerse themselves in a rigorous, artistic atmosphere, and study under the guidance of world-class performers and dedicated teachers. The organ faculty for the week is Dr. Timothy Olsen. Please visit the website for more information.