Kathrine Handford

Tag: Kathrine Handford

Student Organist Daniel O’Connor Featured on National Broadcast of “Pipedreams”

Daniel O’Connor ’12

Lawrence University senior Daniel O’Connor will be one of four student organists featured in this week’s nationally syndicated radio program Pipedreams. The program highlights four award-winning organ students who have earned recognition for their musical virtuosity.

The program includes a recording of O’Connor’s May, 2012 performance of Stephen Paulus’ “Concerto for Organ, Strings, Timpani and Percussion” with the Lawrence University Chamber Orchestra under the direction of conductor David Becker.

“It’s certainly an honor to be featured on ‘Pipedreams’ and it was a privilege to play with the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra,” said O’Connor of Dallas, Texas. “It’s a testament to the orchestra and the leadership of David Becker to be featured on such a prestigious classical music program.”

Multiple Award-Winner

O’Connor has enjoyed great success during his Lawrence career, winning the following competitions:

• 2012 Paul Manz Organ Scholarship sponsored by Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn.

• 2009 American Guild of Organists’ regional competition for young organists in Albuquerque, N.M.

• The Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists’ 2010 young artists organ regional competition in Minneapolis.

• The 2011 Wisconsin National Federation of Music Clubs’ Biennial Student/Collegiate Competition.

O’Connor has enjoyed great success during his Lawrence was the winner of the 2012 Paul Manz Organ Scholarship sponsored by Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn., the 2009 American Guild of Organists’ regional competition for young organists in Albuquerque, N.M., the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists’ 2010 young artists organ regional competition in Minneapolis, and the 2011 Wisconsin National Federation of Music Clubs’ Biennial Student/Collegiate Competition.

Last month, O’Connor earned second-place honors in the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Federation of Music Club’s organ competition. On Sunday, April 7, O’Connor will perform in Boston as a finalist for the prestigious Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians. He is a student of university organist Kathrine Handford.

Produced by American Public Media and hosted by Michael Barone, a member of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Pipedreams is the only nationally distributed radio program that explores and celebrates the full range of the pipe organ’s art and potential.

The program airs on radio stations at different days and times throughout the country. It also can be heard online.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

Lawrence Student Musicians Shine in State Competitions

Lawrence University musicians collected two firsts and two seconds in the 2013 Wisconsin National Federation of Music Clubs’ Biennial Student/Collegiate Competition.

Kinsey Fournier, a senior from Conway, Ark., and Tess Vogel, a sophomore from Southbury, Conn., earned first-place honors in the clarinet and piano divisions, respectively. Each was awarded $1,000 prizes and will advance to the national competition. National winners will be announced in April.

Anthony Capparelli, a junior from River Falls and Daniel O’Connor, a senior from Dallas, Texas, earned second-place honors in the WNFMC’s piano and organ divisions, respectively, and received a $750 prize. Vogel and Capparelli study in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky. O’Connor, a finalist for the prestigious Frank Huntington Beebe Award, is a student of university organist Kathrine Hanford, while Fournier is a student of associate professor David Bell.

The WNFMC competition, conducted via submitted audition tape, is open to musicians 19-25 years of age in 13 categories. Students are required to perform a repertoire from memory covering a challenging range of 4-5 musical styles, depending upon the category.

Additionally, Alexis VanZalen, a senior from Holland, Mich., earned second-place honors in the recent American Guild of Organists Young Organists Competition in Milwaukee. She received a cash award of $500.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

Thought Into Action: Matriculation Convocation Opens Lawrence University’s 164th Academic Year

President Jill Beck

Under the theme “Thought into Action,” President Jill Beck opens Lawrence University’s 164th academic year and the 2012-13 convocation series Thursday, Sept. 13 with the annual matriculation address.

The convocation, at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public.  It will be Beck’s final matriculation convocation. In February she announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2012-13 academic year.

Named president in 2004, Beck is the college’s 15th — and only woman — president. In 2009, Forbes.com named Beck a “barrier breaker,” one of 15 female college presidents on Forbes’ list of America’s 50 Best Colleges. A native of Worcester, Mass., she earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and art history from Clark University, a master’s degree in history and music from McGill University, and the Ph.D. in theatre from City University of New York.

Kathrine Handford

Beck will be joined by Kathrine Handford, lecturer of music and university organist and award-winning filmmaker Catherine Tatge, artist-in-residence.

Catherine Tatge ’72

Handford presents “Connecting the Dots: An Organ Studio Transformed” that will focus on a trip she led last March to Paris with a half dozen student organ majors while Tatge will present “Telling Stories That Matter.”

As part of the convocation, a clip from a documentary film made about the trip to France, “A World of Sound: American Organists in Paris,” directed by 2012 Lawrence graduate Mark Hirsch will be shown, junior Mathias Reed will perform on Lawrence’s Brombaugh tracker organ and senior Alexis VanZalen will present the address “Music, Meaning, and My Experience with French Organ Culture.”

Other speakers on Lawrence’s 2012-13 convocation series include:

• Oct. 11, 2012 — Larry Robertson, award-winning author and founder of Lighthouse Consulting, which guides entrepreneurial ventures, their leaders, and those who invest in them.

• Jan. 24, 2013 — Lynda Barry, author and nationally syndicated cartoonist known for her comic strip “Ernie Pook’s Comeek” and the books “The Good Times are Killing Me” and “What It Is.”

• April 16, 2013 — Bill Viola, contemporary video artist who explores New Media through electronic, sound, and image technology.

• May 23, 2013 — Claudena Skran, professor of government and Edwin and Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science at Lawrence.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,450 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.