"From Bach to the Beatles"

Young Organist Collaborative To Host Benefit Concert March 9: “From Back to the Beatles” to be performed by organist Bruce Adami on the Lively-Fulcher organ at Christ Church Exeter in support of scholarship program

PORTSMOUTH, NH: The Young Organist Collaborative, which provides scholarship money to the next generation of organists, is hosting a benefit concert, “From Bach to the Beatles,” at Christ Church in Exeter, NH on Friday, March 9, 2012 at 7:30pm. There is no set ticket price, however attendees are invited to make contributions to the Young Organist Collaborative scholarship fund.

Bruce Adami is the Organist and Interim Director of Music at Christ Church in Exeter, NH and gives solo organ recitals throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Prior to joining Christ Church, he spend 20 years as the Director of Music and Organist at Brookside Congregational Church in Manchester, where he directed several choirs and supervised the renovations of the church’s two pipe organs. Adami also worked for several years as a pipe organ builder for George Bozemen and Company. Adami holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

Built in 2006, the Lively-Fulcher organ at Christ Church is a 3-manual, 45-rank pipe organ with extensive carvings, exquisite details, and a large palette of sounds. “From Bach to Beatles” will include works by Bach, Zachau, Johnson, Vierne, Dupré, Duruflé, Scott Joplin, and a brand new work by the English composer Paul Ayres. There will be a number of surprises on the program including a guest appearance by Richie Gress, a Young Organist Collaborative student, who will play the famous Toccata in D minor by J. S. Bach.

The Young Organist Collaborative supports the musical education of children ages 10-16 by providing scholarship money for organ lessons. Since its inception in 2001, the Collaborative has subsidized the training of 80 organ students. Five program graduates are currently majoring in organ performance at prestigious colleges, including Oberlin and Holy Cross. In addition to organ instruction, scholarship recipients are eligible to participate in enrichment activities that expose them to pipe organs around the region. In November 2011, current organ students travelled to Boston and were able to play six magnificent pipe organs in five churches in Boston and Cambridge.

“Increasingly, churches are finding it difficult to find trained organists,” noted Judy Howard, Chair of the Young Organist Collaborative. “The scholarship funds that the Young Organist Collaborative provides to young musicians cultivates the next generation of organists. We encourage anyone interested in organ music to attend our benefit concert on March 9^th and to support our scholarship fund.”

About The Young Organist Collaborative

The Young Organist Collaborative invests in the next generation of organists by providing scholarship money for musicians ages 10-16. An outreach program of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, NH, the Collaborative accepts and supports young musicians of all faiths. Scholarship funds go directly to organ lessons and students are asked to make a yearlong commitment to their musical training. Since its inception in 2001, the Young Organist Collaborative has supported 80 young organists in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts in their musical training. All scholarship funds come from contributions made directly to the Young Organist Collaborative. For more information on how to apply or to make a donation, visit http://www.stjohnsnh.org/music/