Feast Day Organ Recitals at Saint Mary’s
2024-2025
All recitals begin at 5:30 PM, followed by Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM
Rhonda Edgington
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
All Saints’ Day, 1 November
Jordan Prescott
Grace & Saint Peter’s Church, Baltimore, MD
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 9 December
Rebecca Ehren
Church of the Epiphany, New York City
The Epiphany, 6 January
Ralph Holtzhauser
Saint Columba Cathedral Parish, Youngstown, OH
The Annunciation, 25 March
David Hurd
Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, New York City
Ascension Day, 29 May
Rhonda Sider Edgington will come from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to present the first of our recitals on All Saints’ Day, November 1. Rhonda is often commended for her innovative programming, colorful use of registrations, and exciting playing. She spent seven years studying, working, and performing in Bremen, Germany, as a Fulbright scholar with Prof. Harald Vogel. Rhonda Edgington has played recitals at venues in the United States such as Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, and the Cadet Chapel at West Point, and in Germany on many significant historic organs. She has performed at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and Organ Historical Society and been heard on the PBS radio program Pipedreams. She is an avid collaborative musician, performing regularly with Thunder & Wind, with Carolyn Koebel on percussion, and other creative combinations. Rhonda is the Organist and Music Director at Hope Church, Organ Instructor at Calvin University, and Education Coordinator for the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. When not musiking, she can be found riding her bike, shopping at local farmers’ markets, and enjoying Lake Michigan. Find her pipe organ photos on Instagram at i_luv_schnitgers or her music writings at RhondaSiderEdgington.substack.com. Her Saint Mary’s program will include works by Josef Rheinberger, Jeanne Demessieux, and Alfred Fedak.
Jordan Prescott will present the organ recital on the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, observed on December 9. Hailed as an “organ star” (The Baltimore Sun) whose playing “encompass[es] the church in a wild wind” (The Washington Post), Mr. Prescott has distinguished himself as an organist, conductor, and scholar with a sensitive, versatile, and striking artistry. A highly-sought-after performer, Jordan enjoys an active recital career in such esteemed venues as the Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston), Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue (New York City), the Cathedral of Saint Philip (Atlanta), Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), and the West Point Military Academy Cadet Chapel. He is also regularly featured at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. Dr. Prescott is Organist-Choirmaster at Grace and Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore and a member of the music theory faculty at the Peabody Institute from which he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts. His research is regularly published in The American Organist and The Tracker magazines, and, in 2019, he was named one of Diapason magazine’s “20 Under 30” most influential young artists. Jordan has studied in the United States with John Walker, Andrew Scanlon, and Christopher Jacobson and in Paris with Marie-Louise Langlais. Jordan Prescott is represented in North America by Seven Eight Artists. His Saint Mary’s program will include works of Charles Tournemire, Marcel Dupré, Jehan Alain, Jeanne Demessieux, and Kerensa Briggs.
Rebecca Ehren will play the organ recital on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. Rebecca recently began as Music Director at The Church of the Epiphany, on the Upper East Side. Previously she served as Organ Scholar at Washington National Cathedral, where she played for services and concerts reaching over 10,000 people, worked with the choristers and professional choir, and assisted in all aspects of the music program. Prior to her cathedral appointment, Rebecca studied privately with Raymond Nagem and went on to receive her Master of Music degree from Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music. She has also held positions at Grace Church (New York City), Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church (also in here in New York), and the University Church in Yale. As an organist quickly building an exciting career, Rebecca was the featured guest on Episode 17 of “Sounds from the Sanctuary,” a podcast based at Christ (formerly Crystal) Cathedral in Orange County, California. Rebecca also performs regularly as a pianist. She completed a bachelor’s degree in piano with honors from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and is an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). In addition to playing keyboard instruments, Rebecca also frequently sings in professional ensembles for worship services and performances. She sang with the Experiential Orchestra and Chorus on their 2021 Grammy-winning recording of Ethyl Smyth’s The Prison. Beyond performing, Rebecca has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for C4: The Choral Composer Conductor Collective and holds a second undergraduate degree from Indiana University in cognitive science and mathematics/economics. For additional details about Rebecca, please visit www.rebeccaehren.com. Her program on the feast of the Epiphany will include works by Dieterich Buxtehude, Olivier Messiaen, and Gaston Litaize.
Ralph Holtzhauser will present the organ recital on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25. Mr. Holtzhause is primarily known as a liturgical musician and performer. He began his twenty-five-year playing career at four different churches in Northeast Ohio while he was yet in high school, reaching his current position as Diocesan Music Director of Youngstown and the Music Director of the Cathedral of Saint Columba in 2022. He has also ventured into the realm of jazz, playing with three-time Grammy winner Graham Breedlove at the Kennedy Center, as well as progressive rock, recording at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, home to the largest church organ in the world. He earned his master’s degree studying organ with Todd Wilson at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Holtzhauser was invited to be the Professor of Sacred Music at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Professor of Organ Performance at Youngstown State University. He is currently recording a CD entirely of previously unrecorded organ music by African American composers, scheduled for release next year. Most recently, Mr. Holtzhauser has played at Saint Eustache and Sainte-Clotilde in Paris, France, as well as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. To keep up with Ralph’s music, please subscribe to his YouTube channel under his name. His program at Saint Mary’s will include works by Felix Mendelssohn, Marcel Dupré, Paul de Maleingreau, and Robert G. Farrell.
David Hurd, Organist and Music Director at The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, will present the recital on May 29, Ascension Day. David Hurd is a native New Yorker and has studied locally at The Juilliard School, the High School of Music and Art, and the Manhattan School of Music. He graduated from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, and he continued graduate studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has received doctoral degrees, honoris causa, from academic institutions in Connecticut, Illinois, California, and Tennessee. From 1976 until 2015 he served on the faculty of The General Theological Seminary and was named Professor of Church Music and Organist in 1984. He has taught also at Duke University, Manhattan School of Music, Westminster Choir College, and Yale University. A lifelong Episcopalian, he served on the Standing Commission on Church Music from 1977 to 1986 and was a major contributor to The Hymnal 1982. Since winning first prizes both in organ performance and in improvisation at the 1977 International Congress of Organists, he has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe and has been a featured artist at several national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. His catalogue of published musical compositions features choral, vocal, liturgical, and organ works. I Sing as I Arise Today, a collection of seventy-seven of his original hymn settings, includes several which have been adopted, reprinted, and sung ecumenically. In 2010, he became the fifteenth recipient of The American Guild of Organists’ biennial Distinguished Composer Award. He was appointed as organist and music director at Saint Mary’s in 2016 having previously served at Trinity Church Wall Street and Saint Paul’s Chapel, The Church of the Intercession, Saint James’s Church, All Saints Church, and the Church of the Holy Apostles. He is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. His Ascension Day program will include works by twentieth-century French composers Marcel Dupré, Jehan Alain, and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald.