Susan Burkhalter
"ORGANISTS' NEWS"

(1) SATIRE ON CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTERS, (2) E. POWER BIGGS’ TWO PERFORMANCES OF SAME PIECE, SIMULTANEOUSLY LISTENED TO © by Susan Burkhalter, February 6, 2010 I wrote the following newsletter in 1979 when I was a young woman to make fun of the bragging Christmas newsletters many of us have received that just make their recipients feel inferior. Before I begin, a little background on myself may explain why I wrote this newsletter: [...]

(1) TRULY INSPIRED BY NATHAN LAUBE IN JANUARY 2009;(2) FAILURE TO SUCCESSFULLY PURCHASE I-TUNES SONGS (1) TRULY INSPIRED BY NATHAN LAUBE IN JANUARY 2009 © by Susan Burkhalter, December 10, 2009 Nathan Laube is a brilliant young organist around age 21 who studies at Curtis Institute. He can play perfectly from memory almost any classical music ever written, as do all Curtis students. In 2009 I heard his organ recital [...]

MY METHODS AS ORGANIST/DIRECTOR WORKING WITH CHOIRS © by Susan Burkhalter October 8, 2009 Sometimes an organist gets asked to play and direct a choir from the organ console. I played and directed at Church of the Pilgrims in Washington, DC on August 16th. Here’s how I prepare: I decided to study conducting with a private teacher in 1990. I [...]

(1) ORGAN RESTORATION, FRANK MENTO; (2) REPORT ON “ALBERT SCHWEITZER AND THE MUSIC OF BACH” BY GEORGE SEAVER (1) ORGAN RESTORATION, FRANK MENTO; (2) REPORT ON “ALBERT SCHWEITZER AND THE MUSIC OF BACH” BY GEORGE SEAVER August 14, 2009 © by Susan Burkhalter (1) I recently received an e-mail from Frank Mento, a BACH.com community member who is an organist playing a Cavaille-Coll in Paris, in which he said Dear Susan, (Sent [...]

(1)INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA CATHCART, PLAYER OF SCOTTISH HARP; (2)DAN’S RAMPAGE;ADVICE ON WIDOR TOCCATA (1) INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA CATHCART, PLAYER OF SCOTTISH HARP; (2) DAN’S RAMPAGE ON “INCLUSION”; ADVICE ON WIDOR TOCCATA by Susan Burkhalter, © April 21, 2009 (1) Cynthia Cathcart is a charming and friendly member of our local music teachers association, the Montgomery County Music Teachers Association and also our newsletter editor. Most of our members [...]

ALBERT SCHWEITZER, PART III, AND FRANK MENTO’S CAVAILLE-COLL (1) ALBERT SCHWEITZER , PART III: ORGANS AND ORGAN BUILDING; (2) FRANK MENTO: THE RESTORATION OF THE CAVAILLE-COLL, ST. JEAN DE MONTMARTRE February 24, 2009 © by Susan Burkhalter NOTE: All the quotations, with page numbers, given in this blog are from the book, “Albert Schweitzer, the Man and His Mind” by George Seaver, pub. [...]

ALBERT SCHWEITZER, PART II A REALLY GOOD SANDWICH January 4, 2009 © by Susan Burkhalter Here is a recipe for a really good sandwich. You make it out of things you probably already have at home. Ingredients: white bread or any kind you like (I use Wonder Bread), bologna – I like that made from pork and [...]

(1) ALBERT SCHWEITZER; (2) NO ORGAN CD’S AT BOOKSTORES TITLE: (1) ALBERT SCHWEITZER; (2) NO ORGAN CD’S AT BOOKSTORES; (3) BILL MOORE, MUSIC PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGIST, INTERVIEWED IN “AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER” Two factors caused me to write about Albert Schweitzer this month: I saw the ad for the “Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival” in The American Organist recently. It was held in September ‘08 [...]

NEWSPAPERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE PRINTED ON REAL PAPER © by Susan Burkhalter September 25, 2008 Now that many people use computers, most organizations of which I’m a member send their newsletters electronically. I don’t mind their saving paper by this action, but I hope that daily newspapers continue to be printed. Here’s why: Our family has always subscribed to “The Washington Post” newspaper, which [...]

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN THE AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS I’ve been a member of the AGO since 1975 when I was out of college 5 years. I was a serious organ student then, apprenticed to Ronald Stalford for the study of organ and church music. He was Organist/Choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church in Georgetown (DC). They had a 4-manual Moller on which I practiced [...]