Johann Sebastian Bach’s Schübler Chorales have a special place in my heart. In the winter of 1978, when I was a sophomore organ major at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, I heard all six of them played (from memory) by a senior organ major during departmental organ class at Alice Millar Chapel. I was so moved by the playing that I went to the back of the chapel to greet the organist, James Biery, when he came down from the loft. It was the first time we had ever had a conversation. Forty-four years later, we are still in conversation.
