Catharine Crozier played a recital and conducted a masterclass on April 23 and 24 at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. The Friday evening program represented the 20th anniversary recital on The Hart Sesquicentennial Organ and was presented as The Ruth M. Bellatti Memorial Organ Recital. Ms. Crozier performed Partita on the Chorale, "Was Gott tut das ist wohlgetan," Pachelbel; Fugue in E-flat, S. 552b, Bach; Prelude and Fugue on BACH, Liszt; Suite Mediévale, Langlais; A Prophecy, Pinkham; Fantasy for Flute Stops and Toccata, Sowerby.
On Saturday, Crozier led a masterclass attended by some 40 persons. Eleven participants played a variety of repertoire, including works of Bach, Franck, Langlais, Locklair, Preston, and Rorem. Four players are students of Rudolf Zuiderveld at Illinois College; the others are studying organ with Delbert Disselhorst at the University of Iowa and with Jay Peterson at MacMurray College.
During the class, Crozier supportively challenged each player to improve some aspect of his/her performance. Over all else, she stressed musicality and intense effort to communicate with the listener. Her class was laced with such comments as: "You need to sound like you mean business--I didn't hear that," "The notes are all there--now let's work on what the music is saying," "You are doing all the right things, but you need to increase your tempo," "I think you are playing each note instead of playing the line." In response to a question about listening to one's own playing, she suggested the need to cultivate a level of detachment from self sufficient to truly hear what is being communicated.
It was a great pleasure for the participants to have heard and been taught by this wonderful artist whose musical career spans more than six decades. Together with her late husband, Harold Gleason, she has set a high standard for American organ playing.
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