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Charles Callahan, one of America’s leading organist-composers, will present a morning lecture-demonstration and afternoon performance master class today, using the magnificent 1968 Austin pipe organ at Colton Chapel.
Starting at 9 a.m., the first session will be devoted to the pipe organ itself, with a brief overview of the history of the instrument, its tonal characteristics, and information on its mechanism. Area organists and students are invited to perform works of organ literature at the 1 p.m. afternoon session for Callahan, who will offer his musical and technical advice to each performer.
Both events are open to the public, and are especially geared toward students, organists, and music lovers interested in learning more about the pipe organ. For more information, contact Bonnie Robbins, secretary of the music department, at x5356.
A native of Cambridge, Mass., Callahan is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America. His early performing career was highlighted by appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the White House, and by his complete Franck organ works series given in 1979 at Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Callahan has served as organist, teacher, conductor, and composer-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont and Rollins College in Florida.
Since 1986, he has been involved in the design of many important American pipe organs, and he has become one of the most recognizable names in American church music, with scores of choral and instrumental compositions now in print from leading publishers. His orchestral music has been premiered by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and his numerous commissions include works written for the Harvard University Choir and the choir of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In recognition of his service to the Catholic Church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the United States, he was awarded the 1999 Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
In addition to compositions and performances, Callahan is a noted educator and author. His two books on American organ building, The American Classic Organ and Aeolian-Skinner Remembered, have become standard reference works. He is frequently in demand as a consultant for organ projects, and his work in this area includes significant instruments for the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, St. Agnes Cathedral in Long Island, All Saints Church in Buffalo, and his alma mater, Curtis Institute.