Twin Cities chapter AGO (American Guild of Organists)

Summer Organ Festival Concert Featuring Chad Fothergill

St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church
17205 County Rd 6, Plymouth, MN 55447

Wednesday, July 8, 2026, 12:15 PM

Please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at 12:15 PM for the first concert in the SPD Summer Organ Festival, which will feature renowned organist Chad Fothergill from Duke University Chapel. The program will last 45 minutes, with cookies served afterward!

Biography:
Chad Fothergill serves as Chapel Organist at Duke University Chapel where, in addition to accompanying the Chapel Choir, he mentors the Chapel’s organ scholar, performs at weekly organ demonstrations as well as in Chapel concerts, and serves as primary organist for Duke Divinity School. Prior to his appointment at Duke, he was interim co-director of the Institute of Liturgical Studies at Valparaiso University, editor of CrossAccent: Journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, an editorial assistant for Cambridge University Press, and held visiting faculty appointments at Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of Delaware. He continues to serve as cantor at the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, a four-week residential summer program for high school music students. Mr. Fothergill completed degrees in organ performance at Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of Iowa. As a scholar-performer, he is frequently engaged as a worship leader, speaker, writer, consultant, and composer, and has fulfilled commissions for articles, blogs, compositions, editorials, reviews, and reference entries for several worship resources and professional journals.

Event Recap - Gregoriana Members Recital

On May 8, 2026, members and friends of the Twin Cities chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) presented a concert performance of Gregoriana, a recently published collection (Stainer & Bell) edited by Anna Lapwood. This volume features twelve Gregorian chant-based works by contemporary women composers, suitable for liturgical and/or concert performance. Composers represented in the collection are Melissa Dunphy, Zanadia Stewart Robles, Kristina Arakelyan, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Sarah MacDonald, Julia Ainscough, Rhian Samuel, Cecilia McDowall, Amy Summers, Kerensa Briggs, and Dobrinka Tabakova. Their expressive works varied from the atmospheric to the intense, though all were of an approachable technical difficulty and should prove very ‘useable’ for the skilled church musician.

The organ solos…played by Kristina Rizzotto, Diane Meredith Belcher, and Melanie Ohnstad…were preceded by the appropriate chant theme sung by a small women’s schola from the University of St. Thomas Liturgical Choir, led by Elena Bird Zolnik.
The concert took place in the resplendent acoustics of the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Minnesota’s capitol city, drawing upon the resources of the Cathedral’s 1925 Skinner (III/30) and 1963 Aeolian-Skinner (III/35), expanded in 2013 by Quimby (IV/86), which served the music perfectly.

— Michael Barone, TCAGO Program Chair

Holy Cross Catholic Church present Evan Pechacek

Across the Pond and Back: Organ Recital Featuring Music from Europe and America

Wednesday, June 24 at 7:00pm

Holy Cross Catholic Church
1621 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN

Join us at Holy Cross Catholic Church (1621 University Ave. NE; Minneapolis) at 7:00pm on Wednesday, June 24 for a recital featuring organist Evan Pechacek. This geographically and historically diverse program includes music from of J.S. Bach, F. X. Brixi, Herbert Sumsion, Alan Ridout, Mieczysław Surzyński, Evan Pechacek, Léon Boëllmann, Jehan Alain, and Hans-André Stamm.

Evan Pechacek serves as Director of Sacred Music and Organist at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in River Falls, where he also directs the parish choir. He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin–River Falls with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, having studied organ with Dr. Laura Edman alongside piano, trombone, and voice. In addition to his church work, he teaches music at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Hastings and continues to compose original music.

Admission is free, but a donation is encouraged.

Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts presents 19th Annual “Bach Tage”

Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
and
Evening Prayer with
BWV45: Es is dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist by Johann Sebastian Bach
Herr, nun lässet du deinen Diener by Johann Christoph Bach

Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
Mount Olive Lutheran Church
3045 Chicago Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Dr. Marin Jacobson, conductor;
Early Music Minnesota, and the Bach Tage Chorus

Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts presents two public events in association with its Nineteenth Annual “Bach Tage,” or “Bach day.” Every year during a two-day convocation, singers (and listeners) from anywhere and of any age gather to explore, rehearse, hear, and learn about the music of Lutheranism’s greatest composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. This year, participants will prepare Bach’s Cantata BWV 45, Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, based on Micah 6:8, which will be incorporated into the service of Evening Prayer on Sunday, June 7. The cantata will be performed by the participants in the weekend conference, with soloists and orchestra. The service will also feature music by J.S. Bach’s elder cousin, Johann Christoph Bach, and his setting of the “Nunc dimittis”, Herr, nun lässet du deinen Diener.

And on the prior Saturday afternoon, June 6, the Early Music Minnesota ensemble will offer a concert of works by Gabrieli, Barrière, and Vivaldi.

For the first time, we welcome Dr. Marin Jacobson as conductor. Dr. Jacobson is the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music, director of the Bach Institute, and director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana. She is a frequent clinician and has led choral festivals for people of all ages. Her professional activities include scholarship, performance, and composition.

Both events take place at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 3045 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis. A reception in the Chapel Lounge follows Evening Prayer on Sunday. Both events are free and open to the public.

These are the sixth and seventh events in the 2025-2026 Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts season. For further information on this event and on the Music and Fine Arts program, please contact Cantor Daniel Schwandt at the church office at 612-827-5919, by email at [email protected], or on-line at www.mountolivechurch.org.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church presents Samuel Libra

Sunday, May 31 at 3:00 p.m.

Organ Music for Mary

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
1 Lourdes Pl
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Samuel Libra presents a concert of music for the Blessed Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Along with works of Bach and Rheinberger, Dr. Libra will play Henri Dallier's rarely-heard, yet sublime Invocations, which are perfectly suited to the French accent of Lourdes' Patterson organ. Concert is free and open to all; freewill donation accepted.

Saint Olaf Catholic Church welcomes organist Joe Trucano

May 20, 2026 at 12:30pm following the 12:00Noon Mass

Saint Olaf Catholic Church
215 South 8th St.
Minneapolis, 55402

Saint Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis welcomes organist Joe Trucano to perform on May 20, 2026, at 12:30pm following the 12:00Noon Mass.

Program:
Fantasy on Walk Together, Children; Traditional Spiritual, arr. André J. Thomas

Yoruba Lament; Fela Sowande

Lūgšana; Kristina Rizzotto

Adoration; Florence Price

This Little Light of Mine; Traditional Spiritual, arr. Calvin Taylor

Danza Espagnola; Ramon Nóble

Toccatina; Ramon Nóble

Joseph Trucano (b. 1989) is a Minneapolis based musician and conductor. He currently serves as the Organist & Ensemble Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. Prior to this, he was the Associate Producer of American Public Media's nationally broadcast Pipedreams program, and curator of Minnesota Public Radio's Pop Up Classical series. Joe is an active performer, conductor, and teacher within the Twin Cities. Engagements have included appearances with Minnesota Chorale, Schubert Club, Minnesota Public Radio, Woven Voices, VocalPoint Chorus, Justice Choir, Minneapolis Fringe Festival, and the Twin Cities American Guild of Organists.

Joe holds a Master's of Music Degree in Organ Performance & Literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where he was the recipient of the James B. Cochran award for excellence in performance. Prior to that, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota where he studied organ, cello and conducting and was the first student in Concordia's history to be awarded the prestigious Senior Honors award and orchestral appearance on two instruments (cello and organ).

- - -

Organ recitals at Saint Olaf take place on the third Wednesday of the month, September thru May. Recitals begin at approximately 12:30pm, following 12:00pm Mass. Freewill donation.

Specifications of the III/67 Lively-Fulcher organ: www.saintolaf.org/organspecs

Saint Olaf Catholic Church is located at 215 South 8th St., Minneapolis, 55402. Free parking is available in the church’s lot on the corner of 8th Street and 3rd Avenue. Free parking may also be available in the Minneapolis Club ramp across 8th Street (voucher required from Saint Olaf reception desk, please call ahead to verify availability).

Pipedreams Scholarship Committee Report

At the end of April, the Pipedreams Organ Scholarship committee heard the audition of high school student Joseph Valine and we are pleased to award him a scholarship to continue study with Laura Edman. Auditions are held on a rolling basis as applications are received. There are two categories: student (any age as long as audition repertoire requirement are met through high school) and adult. Awards of are $500 given directly to teachers, who must be TCAGO members. Summer is a great time to try new things! Do you know someone who would like organ lessons? Encourage them to apply! The audition process is friendly and encouraging. Application details may be found on the TCAGO website under "Education."

https://tcago.wildapricot.org/page-1502678