Nunc Dimittis

“Frank Ferko inhabits a unique and unusual musical
world.  In the background is his
love of the music of Olivier Messiaen. In the foreground appears mystery, and
thus his intense interest in the visions of Hildegard, her music, and the world
of medieval chant. None of this is unique or unusual in the decade of the
1990s, but his vivid musical imagination, sometimes terrifying, in other
instances timelessly static and meditative, is unique.”1

The Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians (CRCCM) met in Washington, D.C., January 6–9 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (National Shrine) for its 31st annual gathering. Members of the National Shrine’s music staff—Peter Latona, director of music; Richard Fitzgerald, associate director of music; and Benjamin LaPrairie, assistant director of music—designed and directed the conference gathering with help from the National Shrine’s support staff.

Adrian Gebruers Honored

Remembering Igor

Igor Kipnis, performer on the harpsichord, clavichord,
fortepiano, and the modern piano, prolific and celebrated recording artist,
born September 27, 1930 in Berlin; died January 23, 2002, in West Redding,
Connecticut.

Bare statistics provide the "bookends." But what
of the life? The following pastiche of notes and clippings from my "Igor
File" should help to give a partial picture of an engaging musical career,
as well as a personality not devoid of humor.