Topic: College of Fine Arts
March 11, 2007
The last of three inaugural performances showcasing the Sursa Family Concert Organ will be at 4 p.m. March 25 in the Sursa Performance Hall in Ball State's
Music Instruction Building.
Scott Montgomery, winner of the American Guild of Organists 2006 National Young Artist Competition, will perform the concert, which is free and open to the public.
Kirby Koriath, Ball State's graduate music program coordinator, is looking forward to Montgomery's performance.
"He is certainly one of the finest young organists in the country today," said Koriath, a professor of organ and church music. "His program is varied, both in the colors the organ will display and in the virtuosity of the pieces. His program ranges from delightful miniatures to the hugely complex."
Montgomery is a practicing church musician in Champaign, Ill. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in organ performance and is pursuing a master's in music at the University of Illinois.
His program will include pieces by de Gringy, Bach, Sursa, Vierne, Widor and Reger. He will also perform a "Prelude on Victimae Paschali Laudes," composed by Rachel Spry, an alumna of Ball State's organ performance program.
"I am very excited to play for the final recital in this series," Montgomery said. "I have never played an inaugural organ concert before, and my goal is to show off as many colors of the instrument as possible."
Koriath hopes this performance will be as successful as its predecessors.
"We are delighted the university and Muncie communities have warmly embraced the new organ," Koriath said. "Thus far we have had full houses for the two organ recitals of the inaugural series."
Although Montgomery's performance is the last in its series, Koriath said two organ recitals are being planned for the 2007-08 academic year.
The 50-stop pipe organ was made possible by a $1 million gift from David and Mary Jane Sursa, longtime supporters of the arts at Ball State. It was premiered during an Oct. 22, 2006 concert featuring the Sursas' daughter, Ann Sursa Carney, and international concert organist James David Christie.
It is the crown jewel of Ball State's Music Instruction Building, which was completed in 2004. In addition to the organ, the building features the world-class, tunable 600-seat performance venue and a state-of-the-art digital sound studio that can make recordings from the hall and the instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms.
By Jennifer Strempka