Noted Organist Highlights 2011 UA Church Music Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A concert by organist and composer Dr. Pamela Decker will highlight the 2011 University of Alabama Church Music Conference from Friday, Jan. 21, to Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Moody Music Building on the UA campus.

Decker, professor of organ and music theory at the University of Arizona, will perform at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, in the Moody Music Building Concert Hall. Decker has performed in the United States, Europe, the Baltic region and Canada.

She has been a featured recitalist in many conventions and festivals, including the American Guild of Organists National Convention (opening recital in 1992), the Annual Conference on Organ Music at the University of Michigan and the Tallinn International Organ Festival. Her compositions have been performed in at least 19 countries and recorded commercially.

She also will offer an organ masterclass and a workshop in organ improvisation and composition at the conference.

The Decker concert will cap two days of concerts and workshops with such topics as organ and vocal masterclasses, choral repertoire, children’s choirs, hymnody and instruments in worship.

The festival concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, in the Moody concert hall, will feature the first-place winner of the 2011 University of Alabama Organ Scholarship Competition; Dr. Faythe Freese, UA professor of organ; and UA music faculty. A free reception will follow the Friday evening concert.

The conference, under the direction of Freese, attracts more than 100 church musicians each year from the Southeastern United States and Canada.

Topics for workshops this year include Children’s Choirs, led by Susan Berg, who works with the Birmingham Boys Choir; and an exploration of Celtic worship with Dr. David Perry Ouzts, associate for music and liturgical ministries at Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis, Tenn.

Masterclasses in organ and voice and workshops on Hymnody, Organ Repertoire for Church, Choral Music Education and the Church, Sacred Instrumental Repertoire and a Choral Reading Session will be also be offered.

Tickets for the performances are $12 for adults, $7 for seniors and students with ID, and they are free for conference participants. The conference costs $85 if registered by noon Friday, Jan. 14.

Masterclass registration for performers is $10. Registration at the door is $95. Lunch on Saturday is included in the registration fee if the registration is received before noon on Friday, Jan. 14.

Registrations for three-to-four participants from one church will receive $10 off per person, and five or more participants from one church will receive $20 off per person if received before noon Jan. 14.

For group rates and further information, contact Freese at 205/348-3329 or faythefreese@earthlink.net. To register online, or for more information on the conference and performances, go to http://music.ua.edu/departments/organ/church-music-conference/.

The School of Music is part of UA’s 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 Teams.