American Guild of Organists brings regional convention to Charlotte

The King of Instruments will meet the Queen City with hundreds of commoners looking on, as the American Guild of Organists holds its Southeast Regional Convention Wednesday through Independence Day in Charlotte.

This July get-together will raise questions of musicology, roofs of churches and concert halls, seven commissioned works (including one by Pulitzer-winner Ned Rorem), possibly a few autograph seekers – the prize catch may be convention host Michael Barone, senior executive producer of American Public Media’s “Pipedreams” – and the undying hope that someday Belk Theater will acquire an organ to go with all those gorgeous, unattached pipes behind the stage.

Even to someone who’s not binge-attending seminars and panels at the sold-out convention, the event offers a chance to hear a wide range of concerts and worship services. Singers, a brass quintet, a carillonneur and many organists perform through Saturday. Attendees will find the complete program here, but three 8 p.m. concerts are open to the public for $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

On Wednesday, Olivier Latry (who plays at Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris) will perform Rorem’s piece and music by his French countrymen at Winthrop University. On Thursday, Jack Mitchener of Mercer University will play music ranging from Ives to Liszt at Myers Park Baptist Church. And on Friday, touring virtuoso Stephen Tharp will play a gala program (including a transcription of Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” Suite No. 2) at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Dexter Kennedy’s recital on July 5 at Myers Park United Methodist Church has been billed as a “post-convention” event. But this performance actually belongs to the free summer series of concerts sponsored by the Charlotte chapter of AGO. (An offering is taken at each.) They start at 7 p.m. in Charlotte, except as noted below:

July 12: Royal School of Church Music, choral evensong (4 p.m.), Myers Park Baptist Church. July 19: Clara Gerdes, Covenant Presbyterian Church. July 26: Jacqueline Yost, First Presbyterian Church in Concord.

Aug. 2: Mark Johanson, Ascension Lutheran Church. Aug. 9: Larry Stratemeyer, Myers Park Baptist Church. Aug. 16: Stigall Scholar Recital, St. John’s Baptist Church. Aug. 23: Renaissance Singers of Charlotte, First United Methodist Church. Aug. 30: John Apple and Karen Jacob, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Mt. Holly.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 3:32 PM with the headline "American Guild of Organists brings regional convention to Charlotte."