UA Organ Professor Offers Recital in Memory of Benefactor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Faythe Freese, associate professor of music at The University of Alabama, will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building on UA’s campus.

The recital is in memory of H. William “Bill” Ahrenholz, a supporter and benefactor of UA’s School of Music for more than 50 years. The concert is free and open to the public. A reception follows at Alumni Hall.

The program will include “Comes Autumn Time” by Leo Sowerby, “Concertante” by Daniel Pinkham, “Passacaglia on Bach” by Pamela Decker, “Agnus Dei” by Georges Bizet, “From Elijah” by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, “Musique du Soir” by Pēteris Vasks and “To Call My True Love to My Dance” by Naji Hakim.

The performance will also feature UA professors Dr. John Ratledge, Dr. Eric Yates, Dr. Jonathan Whitaker, Dr. Stephen Cary and Charles “Skip” Snead. Other performers include Brittany Hendricks, Andy Cherolis, Beth Gottlieb and Brian Radock.

Freese holds degrees in organ performance and church music from Indiana University. As a Fulbright scholar and an Indiana University/Kiel Ausstausch Programme participant, she studied the works of Jean Langlais with the composer in France, and the works of Max Reger with Heinz Wunderlich in Germany.

Ahrenholz was born in 1916 and died in Tuscaloosa in April 2009.  He was married to Gladys Ahrenholz for 62 years. The Ahrenholzes were supporters and benefactors of UA’s School of Music for more than 50 years. They established a lasting legacy through the Gladys L. and H. William Ahrenholz Endowed Organ Scholarship to promote the continuing education of organ music students at the Capstone.

In addition to a love of music, Bill Ahrenholz had a passion for mining. He earned several degrees and also taught in the field. In 1957, he moved to UA as head of the School of Mines. During this time, he started taking organ lessons from Warren Hutton, and he became a member of the American Guild of Organists’ Birmingham chapter.

After spending nearly a decade with Paul Weir Co., where the couple spent time in Zonguldak, Turkey and Colombia, they moved back to Tuscaloosa in 1982, where Bill Ahrenholz continued to pursue his interests: studying pipe organ, studying with Freese.

For more information, visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 205/348-7111. Gifts to the Gladys L. and H. William Ahrenholz Endowed Organ Scholarship may be made by contacting UA’s Development Office at 205/348-8663.

UA’s School of Music is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.