Thomas Trotter
Sunday October 26, 2008 – 4 p.m.

Thomas Trotter is one of Britain’s most widely admired musicians. The excellence of his musicianship is reflected internationally in his musical partnerships. He performs as soloist with, amongst many others, the conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly and Sir Charles Mackerras. He has performed recitals in Berlin’s “Philharmonie”, the “Gewandhaus” in Leipzig, both the “Musikverein” and the “Konzerthaus” in Vienna and London’s Royal Festival Hall. He has given the opening recital on new or restored organs in places such as Cleveland’s Severance Hall (Ohio), Princeton University Chapel (New Jersey), the “Concertgebouw” in Amsterdam, St David’s Hall Cardiff, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He is regularly asked to perform on major historic instruments such as those at St. Ouen in Rouen, St. Bavo’s in Haarlem (Netherlands), Weingarten Abbey in Germany and Woolsey Hall at Yale University and he appears at the festivals of Salzburg, Berlin, Vienna, Edinburgh and London’s BBC Proms. He performs with leading orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, and in the USA he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In May 2001 he was the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Best Instrumentalist, the first organist to win this award. Past winners include Andras Schiff, Itzak Perlman and Julian Bream.

Thomas Trotter’s career is also firmly founded on his relationship with the City of Birmingham in England where he was appointed City Organist in 1983 in succession to Sir George Thalben-Ball. He is also Organist at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey and Visiting Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music. Earlier in his career he was organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge and later continued his studies with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris, winning the Prix de Virtuosite in her class. He won First Prize at the St Albans International Organ Competition in 1979 and made his debut in London’s Royal Festival Hall the following year. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Birmingham City University in 2003 and from Birmingham University in 2006.

Alongside his weekly recitals in Birmingham, Thomas Trotter regularly performs throughout the USA and Europe. He is an active recording artist and of his several recordings, releases of Messiaen and Mozart have been named “Critics Choice” by The Gramophone magazine, and he received a Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of music by Liszt in 1995. He was consultant for the new Marcussen organ in Manchester’s newly-built Bridgewater Hall and also for the new organ in Birmingham at Symphony Hall. Engagements this season include a Messiaen concert at St Paul's Cathedral London (as part of the South Bank Messiaen series), five performances of Poulenc's Organ Concerto for the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, and recitals in the USA, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands and Russia.

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Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault
Sunday January 25, 2009 – 4 p.m.

Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault's frequent performances throughout the United States and Europe, their best selling recordings, and sizable contribution to the organ duet literature through their commissions have made "organ four hands, four feet" virtually synonymous with "the Chenaults."

The Chenaults' duet career began in 1979 when Arthur Wills of England's Ely Cathedral composed "Toccata for Two" for them. This was followed by John Rutter's "Variations on An Easter Theme". Other commissions (composers now number over 40 and include Gaston Litaize, Naji Hakim, Ronald Arnatt, Stephen Paulus, Charles Callahan, Alan Gibbs, Gerre Hancock, Douglas Major, Phillip Moore, Daniel Pinkham, Myron Roberts, Richard Shepherd, Conrad Susa, Paul Lindsley Thomas Robert Hobby, Francis Jackson and Bruce Neswick) followed and the Chenaults were soon performing extensively each season.

They have been featured artists at conferences and conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and in Charleston during the Spoleto Festival. Recitals at such locations as the Crystal Cathedral, Washington National Cathedral, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, York Minster and the Birmingham Town Hall in England have highlighted their schedule.

Mr. and Mrs. Chenault, natives of Virginia, completed music degrees at Virginia Commonwealth University . Mr. Chenault received his Master of Music degree in organ performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Upon graduation Mr. Chenault became a Fellow in Church Music at Washington Cathedral. Teachers have included Harold Abmyer, Arthur Poister, Wayne Fisher, Paul Callaway, Lawrence Robinson, and John Fenstermaker.

Since 1975 the Chenaults have been Organists and Choirmasters of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Atlanta. After 31 years they retired in 2007 from the Lovett School where they taught choral music. The duo's recitals have been featured on public radio's "Pipedreams" and "Performance Today." They record for Gothic Records, have been named "Organists of the Year" by Sacred Music USA, and their commissioned works have been published by Warner Brothers/Belwin Mills as The Chenault Organ Duet Library.

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Lynne Davis
Sunday April 26, 2009 – 4 p.m.

Lynne Davis is a leading international concert organist whose career was launched by taking First Prize at the prestigious St. Albans International Organ Competition in England, and has grown to bring honors such as being a featured artist at the centennial American Guild of Organist national convention in New York. She was also a featured artist at the 2004 national convention of the American Guild of Organists held in Los Angeles and recently appeared on the inaugural series of the new Casavant organ at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City on her 2005 fall tour. This tour also included recitals and lectures in Minnesota, Michigan, and Georgia. In the summer of 2007 she will serve as a member of the jury at the St. Albans International Organ Competition.

After graduating with honors from the University of Michigan where she studied with Robert Clark, she left for France to study with Marie-Claire Alain. While there, she earned a diploma under Jean Langlais at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, then a diploma from the Ecole César Franck under Edouard Souberbielle. Further studies with Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé as well as other European master organists took place while she fulfilled her duties as Titular Organist at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Clamart, near Paris. Ms. Davis later was appointed titular organist of the 1868 Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Church of St. Pierre in Dreux.

Ms. Davis performs extensively and always to enthusiastic critical acclaim both in Europe and North America. Her recordings include discs of the Schulze organ at Armley in England and the famed organ at Chartres Cathedral. She has made a number of broadcast recordings for the BBC in Great Britain and the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Germany and has also been heard on France Musique and Radio Classique in France. Ms. Davis is active as a lecturer, especially in the area of French organ literature and its history as well as the organ and stained glass windows at Chartres Cathedral.

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