Szabolcs Szamosi, organist
Tuesday, October 18, 8:00 pm
BIOGRAPHY
Szabolcs Szamosi was born in 1970 in Pecs, Hungary. He has revitalised the ecclesiastic music life of Pécs and written himself into the history books during the 90’s and at the turn of the millennia, as organist and conductor at the Cathedral of Pécs.He began his studies at the University of Pecs, Hungary, where in 1993, received a Teaching Diploma in Music and Mathematics. He continued his studies in Budapest till 1996. His teachers were Istvan Koloss, Master organist, and Laszlo Tardos, Musical Director of the historic Coronation Church in Budapest.At the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, he received Artist-Teacher Diplomas in Church Music and Organ. He studied conducting under Joseph M.Doller, and organ under Ernst Triebel and Hanfried Lucke, and took several Master courses in Graz, Austria. In 2002 he received the prestigious Wurdigungspreis in Vienna, Austria. He became the Organist and Musical Director at the Cathedral in Pecs in 1994, where he has been initiating and organizing several musical program series. In 2000 he became the founder and leader of the Cathedral’s Mozart Choir and Orchestra. He has performed in every notable church in Hungary, and has given concerts in a number of places abroad. Since 1993, several of his CDs are available. As an organist, he is very much characterized by versatility. His basic repertoire ranges from Bach to the French late romantics. He is a regular member of the Pannon Philharmonics (Pecs Philharmonic Orchestra) which presents in Pecs the great oratorical concerts.
View PDF of Mr. Szamosi's program.
Ezequiel Menéndez has been the Director of Music at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT since 1998. During his tenure there, the music program has grown to be one of the largest in Connecticut, encompassing multiple choirs, a resident orchestra (Soli Deo Gloria), and an active concert series. He co-founded Hartford Concerts for Charities, which has raised money to rebuild Sri Lanka and to benefit local charities. In addition, Dr. Menéndez initiated the Sacred Sounds Music Series at the Cathedral. A native of Argentina, he graduated from the Conservatorio Gilardo Gilardi in Argentina as Professor Superior de Organo. In 1992, he received his Master of Music degree from Yale University under the tutelage of Thomas Murray. At Yale, he received the Charles Ives Scholarship and the Julia Sherman Prize for Excellence in Organ Playing. Other awards include the E. Power Biggs Fellowship and the Vivian E. Smith Scholarship. In May of 2006, he received the Doctor of Musical Art degree from Boston University, where he studied with the noted teacher and recitalist James David Christie.
Prior to his appointment at the Cathedral, Dr. Menéndez served as Director of Music at St. Ann’s Church in Avon, CT (1992-1998), and was Organist at St. Thomas More Chapel, Yale University (1990-1992). He has been Organist-in-Residence at the Ethel Walker School since 1994, and has held other posts throughout the USA and Argentina. As an ardent advocate of the pipe organ, he has acted as an organ consultant throughout countless parishes in Connecticut, and many now own new or relocated pipe organs due to his efforts. He remains an active recitalist, and has concertized widely throughout Europe and the Americas, including national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists, The Organ Historical Society, and the National Convention of Cathedral Musicians. Dr. Menéndez has performed as soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Estable del Teatro Argentino, Orquesta de Camara de la Municipalidad de La Plata, and the Hartt School Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Menéndez has taught organ class not only privately to both adults and children, but also for the annual Archdiocesan Organ Class, an intensive course that prepares organists for the Ministry of Music. He has also taught Organ Performance at the National Pastoral Musician Convention (2006). His private students have been accepted at prestigious schools like the Hartt School, Eastman, and Oberlin College.
Maestro Menendez is in demand for recitals both as a soloist as well as accompanist. Upcoming performances include Song for Haiti (June 6, 2010) a recital for the Bicentennial of Argentina (June 2010), tour to North Germany (August 2010), Mahler’s Eighth Symphony (September 2010).
He has been an adjudicator for several national and international competitions including the American Guild of Organist Regional Competition and the Kaliningrad International Organ Competition (Russia).
Ezequiel has special love for performing at weddings. His unique approach to enhancing these celebrations with music has made him a unique specialist in the field, performing more than seventy per year.
His latest recordings include "French Music at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph" and "Ezequiel Menéndez, LIVE" featuring Pre-Bach music recorded at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA; both of which have been widely acclaimed. Dr. Menéndez lives in Avon, CT with his wife, Mercedes Featherston, and their four children Cecilia, Madeleine, Ezekiel and Nicholas.
View PDF of Dr. Menendez's program.
Monday, November 14, 2011 Time TBA
Organ masterclass with Fréderic Blanc
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1967, Frédéric Blanc decided to devote himself entirely to music after one year of law studies. He attended the Academy of Bordeaux and Toulouse where he obtained many awards, including awards in organ and theory. Further studies in organ included teachers, André Fleury, Marie-Claire Alain and, from 1991, Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, who came to regard him as her successor in the interpretation of her husband’s compositions. He was assistant organist at Saint-Sernin de Toulouse (1987-1995). A finalist of the International Improvisation Competition of Strasbourg in 1989, he has also been a prize winner of several other International Improvisations competitions, including Nuremberg (1996) and 2nd Prize in the Grand Prize of Chartres. In 1997, he was awarded the Grand Prize of the city of Paris, an international competition. Frédéric Blanc maintains an active career as a concert artist throughout Europe, as well as making several concert tours in the USA. Frédéric Blanc is member of the Organ Commission of the city of Paris and the Organ Commission of the French Ministry of Culture, as well as being the President and music director of the association of Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé. He has recorded several CDs for EMI, Aeolus, and Motette devoted to improvisation and organ literature that have been greeted enthusiastically by international critics claiming him to be one of the most brilliant organists and improvisers of the French school of organ. He is the author of a study devoted to André Fleury and of e book devoted to Maurice Duruflé (Séguier Editors, Paris) and he made several improvisation-transcriptions of the late Pierre Cochereau, organist of Notre-Dame in Paris (1955-1984). Since 1999, Frédéric Blanc has been titular organist of the Cavaillé-Coll at Notre-Dame of Auteuil in Paris, one of the most beautiful organs of that builder in that great city.