Concerts
Mondays at Mayflower
This is a free concert series held on Monday evenings in October at 7:00 pm.
- OCTOBER 7 -
BACH AND THE CELLO
Pablo Mahave-Veglia
Five-string Baroque Cello
“Upon listening… one learns and enjoys.
Technically beyond reproach,
musically he displays our musical wealth…
and refreshes our spirit.”
-Revista Musical Chilena
Chilean cellist Pablo Mahave-Veglia returns to Mayflower with an all-Bach program performed on his five-string baroque cello. Repertoire includes Suite No. 6 for solo cello, and a Gamba Sonata by J. S. Bach and a Cello Sonata by J. C. F. Bach with harpsichordist Julia Brown.
Pablo Mahave-Veglia is a cellist and teacher of broad interests whose repertoire ranges from the early baroque, performed on period instruments, to his ongoing interest in researching, performing and recording the work of contemporary Latin-American composers.
Professor of Cello at Grand Valley State University, Mahave-Veglia also has an active performing career. He has appeared as soloist or chamber musician in his native Chile, Colombia, Perú, Costa Rica, Europe, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In the United States he has performed at such venues as the Mammoth Lakes Chamber Music Festival (California), the Saugatuck Music Festival (Michigan), the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago, the Elvehem Museum in Madison, Wisconsin, and in New York City. Professor Mahave-Veglia performs on a five-string baroque cello made by Chilean Luthier Marcelo Cigna in 1986.
- OCTOBER 14 -
BACH AND MOZART AT HOME
Gregory Crowell
Clavichord built by Arnold Dolmetsch
“beautiful, flexible, expressive”
– The Diapason
“full of panache and expression”
– Ostfriesen Kurier
“reliable as a sunrise, steady as a rock,
especially in the virtuoso finale”
– The Grand Rapids Press
“this listener cannot recall ever having heard better”
– The Boston Herald
Both J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart were known to spend their quiet hours at the most intimate and expressive of keyboard instruments, the clavichord. For this performance, Gregory Crowell will play a rare clavichord built by Arnold Dolmetsch made in 1906.
Gregory Crowell has appeared as organist, harpsichordist, clavichordist, lecturer, and conductor in Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada, and the United States. He has performed in many international festivals and conventions, including the Boston Early Music Festival, Regional V Convention of the American Guild of Organists, nine National Conventions of the Organ Historical Society, the Saugatuck Chamber Music Festival, the Fontana Chamber Music Festival, the Boston Clavichord Society, the International Clavichord Symposium (Magnano, Italy), and numerous meetings of the Southeastern and Midwestern Historical Keyboard Societies.
Particularly noted for his performances of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Crowell has been a featured performer at the Weener (Germany) International Bach Series, the Grand Rapids Bach Festival, the Old West Organ Society (Boston) Bach Marathon, and the Valparaiso Bach Institute.
In the spring of 2000, Dr. Crowell was invited to perform and lecture in the Bach Organ Festival held at St. Luke’s in Tokyo, during which time he also served as visiting scholar at Rikkyo University in Tokyo.
In July 2006, Crowell was invited to speak on interdisciplinary models of teaching music history at Oxford University as part of the Oxford Round Table. Broadcasts of Gregory Crowell’s performances have been heard on WCRB Boston, WGUC in Cincinnati, WFMT Chicago, Northwest German Radio, Belgian Public Radio, WBLU in Grand Rapids, WMUK in Kalamazoo, and NPM’s Pipedreams. His compact disc recordings include live organ performances on the OHS label, and, with hornist Paul Austin, the critically acclaimed compact disc Moons and Ancestors: The Music of Robert Shechtman. Crowell has also published widely on subjects related to early keyboard instruments and their repertoire. Dr. Crowell serves as University Organist and Affiliate Professor of Music General Education at Grand Valley State University, and Director of Music at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids.
- OCTOBER 21 -
GOURMET FRENCH COLORS:
Wolfgang Rübsam
plays Widor and Franck
on the Tellers-Lauck Pipe Organ
Rubsam played the four-manual Skinner organ. and…
gave us a stunning lesson of what a great musician
with a magnificent instrument can do
to illuminate the glory of Bach’s organ works.
– Chicago Tribune
Charles-Marie Widor Symphony No. 3
César Franck Chorales in B minor and E Major
In collaboration with the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, this program brings the internationally-acclaimed organist Wolfgang Rübsam to play on the Tellers-Lauck organ.
Wolfgang Rübsam is internationally known through his highly acclaimed recordings of organ works from the Baroque and Romantic periods. He has published more than 130 recordings, including two recordings of the complete organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach, the complete organ works of Dietrich Buxtehude, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, César Franck, Louis Vierne, Josef Rheinberger and Jehan Alain, as well as recordings of Franz Liszt, Johann Pachelbel, and Max Reger. He has recorded a major part of the keyboard works of J.S. Bach on modern Bösendorfer pianos and is currently recording on a Lute harpsichord.
With many recordings to his credit on Philips, Naxos, Bellaphone and more, his latest recording project is Widor Symphonies. He has recently recorded Symphonies No. 1 and No. 2 on the beautiful E. M. Skinner organ at Rockefeller Chapel (University of Chicago). These symphonies are rarely heard live, and are a great match to the orchestral sounds of the Tellers-Lauck pipe organ at Mayflower. Wolf brings depth, power and passion to his interpretations.
Wolfgang Rübsam has made extensive tours as organ virtuoso, and he performs frequently in major international festivals and concert halls, including the Los Angeles Bach Festival; Wiener Festwochen, Vienna; Lahti International Organ Festival, Finland; Royal Festival Hall, London; Alice Tully Hall, New York, and others.
He conducts master-classes in Europe and the USA, both in interpretation of early and romantic organ repertoire, and interpretation of the keyboard music of J.S. Bach. He has served on the juries for international competitions, such as the Grand Prix de Chartres and the Lahti International Organ Competition in Finland. After winning the Grand Prix d’Interpretation at Chartres, Wolfgang Rübsam taught at Northwestern University, Lawrence University and at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany.
Special Sunday Concert
Sunday, October 27 at 5:00 pm
- OCTOBER 27 -
GRAND RAPIDS CHOIR
OF MEN AND BOYS
Martin Neary
Associate Director
An all-volunteer choir founded in 1989, the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys is the only Royal School of Church Music Choir in the world which is actually a community-based chorus and not affiliated with any church.
By and through this unusual arrangement, the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys adds a unique thread to the diverse performing arts tapestry of West Michigan. Of the current 60 singers (30 boys and 30 men) over 45 different churches are represented and the boys draw from 18 different schools across the city.
Upholding the tradition of English cathedral music, the choir offers 14 performances each year in its regular sacred concert series. Successful recruitment of chorister is through its free choir summer camp program which runs every Tuesday throughout the summer for seven weeks. GRCMB boasts one of the finest rosters of associate directors, each committing to one week each year in Grand Rapids training the choir and directing a concert.
The choir is overseen by a volunteer board of directors drawn from the community and is based at Grand Rapids Community College where its director, Scott Bosscher, and organist, Dr. Kenneth Bos, are both members of the music faculty.
Advent Organ Recitals
MUSIC FOR THE SEASON FEATURING THE TELLERS-LAUCK ORGAN AND LOCAL ORGANISTS
This is a free concert series held on Mondays during Advent, 6:30-7:15 with reception following.
- DECEMBER 2 -
Julia Brown
Julia Brown is Director of Music and Organist at Mayflower Congregational Church , having relocated from Eugene, Oregon to Michigan in 2018.
Julia’s many recordings with Naxos, including works of W. F. Bach, J. S. Bach, Buxtehude and Scheidemann, have gained high critical acclaim. Reviews hail her as an “unquestionably first-class artist and superb technician… exceptionally sensitive”, “the playing…projects a warmly musical personality.”
In demand as a historical keyboardist and collaborative artist, Ms. Brown’s performances include chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and continuo playing in addition to solo recitals. Brown has appeared in concert in North and South America and in Europe, having performed at the Oregon Bach Festival, Astoria Music Festival, Chico Bach Festival, American Guild of Organists Regional and National Conventions, Organ Historical Society Conventions, Latin American Organist Conventions, and National Public Radio. She has performed with such eminent conductors as Giancarlo Guerrero, Matthew Halls, Marcelo Leninger and Anton Armstrong.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Julia studied piano, harpsichord and organ in her native Brazil before receiving her MM and DMA from Northwestern University as a student of Wolfgang Rübsam.
Upcoming engagements include a harpsichord concert in Portland, Oregon for the Western Early Keyboard Association, and an organ concert on the Taylor & Boody at Holy Cross Chapel, Worchester, MA.
- DECEMBER 9 -
Jonathan Tuuk
Jonathan Tuuk is currently retired from full-time church work and enjoys maintaining his organ and composition skills at home. He retired after 26 years at Mayflower, where he supervised the mechanical and tonal refurbishment of the pipe organ.
Jonathan has concertized throughout Europe and the United States including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC and the University of Michigan Organ Conference in Ann Arbor. He has also appeared as organ soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony upon numerous occasions. He is known for his improvisational skills and recordings. He has performed at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and has been featured on National Public Radio.
Mr. Tuuk is a published composer of choral works with GIA and has been a tonal finisher for the Lauck Pipe Organ Co. of Otsego, MI. His primary teachers include John E. Hamersma and Marilyn Mason.
- DECEMBER 12 -
7:30pm
Embellish Handbells
West Michigan's Premier Handbell Ensemble
Embellish Handbells, West Michigan’s premiere handbell ensemble, returns to Mayflower for their holiday concert.
The ensemble was founded in the fall of 1995 to be a professional level group that provides a high quality musical experience for diverse audiences through performance and teaching the art of handbell ringing.
- DECEMBER 16 -
Rhonda Sider Edgington
Rhonda Sider Edgington is an eclectic musician, with strengths and interests lying in several diverse areas.
Through her studies in Bremen, Germany, with Harald Vogel and experience on historic organs in the region, she has acquired an extensive repertoire from Scheidt to CPE Bach.
An avid chamber musician, Rhonda has appeared in concerts playing piano, harpsichord and organ in combinations ranging from piano trios and Lieder accompaniments, to organ and brass. Rhonda has played concerts in northern Europe, throughout the United States. She has worked as a church musician since her student days. She has worked as Assistant Professor at Concordia University, River Forest, and Interim Professor of Organ at Houghton College, In New York state.
She currently is organist at Hope Church in Holland.