| Corbin
to Revitalize Organ Music in Worcester County
Frank Corbin, Assumption College's
organist and director of Chapel Music.
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January,
2005—In a contemporary musical world characterized
by electronic pop beats and canned vocals, Frank Corbin, Assumption
College’s director of Chapel Music and college organist, has
accepted quite the challenge—trying to re-introduce the pipe
organ back into mainstream music culture.
Hoping for a renaissance of the instrument most often associated
with churches, Corbin recently authored a successful grant from
the Fuller Foundation to the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild
for Organists (AGO). The grant for $12,500 will cover the costs
of producing a 2-CD recording called “Great Pipe Organs of
Worcester.” This CD set will feature 10 organists from several
Worcester-area churches, colleges, and concert halls.
This upcoming project, the brainchild of Corbin, will take several
months to record, produce, and distribute for sale in the community.
Corbin, who serves as Dean of the Worcester chapter of the AGO,
was happy to spearhead the project.
After a successful 1999 regional conference, the Worcester Chapter
needed a boost to recharge its batteries, said Corbin. “Unfortunately,
the organ is not a very popular instrument as say, the violin or
piano; it doesn’t generate as much enthusiasm among the general
public as it once did,” he said. “We’re looking
to raise the profile of the profession.”
Worcester’s longtime history of church organ music and variety
of resident pipe organs made it a perfect location to record such
a collection, said Corbin. The Fuller Foundation was excited to
be a part of this project because they viewed the recording as a
possible historical document for the city.
The venues, including concert halls, churches, and colleges, were
chosen by the quality of their organs and the frequency of their
instruments’ use. Sites hosting organs and organists to be
included in the upcoming recordings are: Assumption College, College
of the Holy Cross, Mechanics Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the
Worcester Auditorium, the Worcester Art Museum, and 11 other area
churches
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t feature everyone,”
says Corbin. “We had to narrow it down somehow. These featured
venues are well-known and respected around the Worcester organ-music
community.”
In the case that the church or venue does not have its own resident
organist, young student artists who are pursuing careers in organ
performance will be asked to record, giving them valuable exposure
. The Worcester Chapter of the AGO is quite interested in attracting
young performers to the instrument—even hosting a weeklong
“Pipe Organ Encounter” event for youth ages 11-17 this
summer. Participants stayed overnight in Assumption’s dorms
and were treated to workshops, private lessons, trips to significant
music halls and historic organ-related sites, and recitals throughout
their stay.
The upcoming CD recording is greatly facilitated by Dr. Charles
Paquette, an orthopedic surgeon whose hobby and great love is music.
A recording engineer in his spare time with 30 years of experience,
Dr. Paquette is donating his time, the use of his state-of-the-art
equipment, and his expansive library of archival recordings to help
produce this CD.
The production of the recording, an extensive process, requires
several steps before completion. The venues and organists have been
chosen, and in the next six weeks, each performer will schedule
a session with Dr. Paquette, either to record their piece or to
choose a selection from Paquette’s vast archives. Once the
recording is finished and the master is complete, Corbin and others
plan to design a booklet and send the entire project to Disc Makers,
a company that will replicate and professionally print the CD. Corbin,
who has experience in CD production, will shepherd the entire process.
The master recording is scheduled to be finished by March 2005,
and the project will culminate with a public concert and reception
at Worcester’s First Baptist Church on May 9, 2005.
The release of the CD will correspond with the May 9 concert, with
distribution and publicity to coincide with the event. The disc
will be available in Worcester-area stores, specifically Tatnuck
Bookseller on Chandler Street in Worcester and Borders Bookstore
in Shrewsbury. Corbin also plans to promote the CD in several industry-specific
publications, including American Organ Magazine and through the
Organ Historical Society, whose international reputation will help
provide widespread visibility.
Corbin hopes that the CD will regenerate interest in the celebrated
instrument, especially in the Worcester area.
“I hope that this project will bring public awareness and
attention to the organ,” he said. “The organ community
is small and insular, and attraction to this instrument has declined
in the past few decades. We would really like to see the profile
of the organ raised in the Worcester community."
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