Three of Madison's great organists get together for this festive celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach's 325th birthday.
Bruce Bengtson, Director of Music and Organist at Luther Memorial Church;
Gary Lewis, Director of Music & Organist at Bethel Lutheran Church; and our own
Samuel Hutchison Principal Organist and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ join forces to bring you works by Bach and others.
Back to Bach
Born in 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most influential composers of all time. His music is so beautiful that generation after generation of musicians and music lovers embrace him. He wrote more than 400 works for organ, and among them are some of the greatest masterworks for the instrument. We won't have time for all 400 in this recital...we want to leave room for other composers as well!
The Program
Gary Lewis
Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532
Johann Sebastian Bach Chorale Partita: Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig, BWV 768: Variation II
Max Reger Benedictus, Op. 59, No. 9
Max Reger Toccata in D Minor Op. 59, No. 5
Bruce Bengtson
Johann Sebastian Bach Fugue in G Major, BWV 577
Johann Sebastian Bach Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book)
Christe, du Lamm Gottes, BWV 619
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross, BWV 622
Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 625
In dir ist Freude, BWV 615
Alexandre Guilmant Variations and Fugue on the chant Stabat Mater
Samuel Hutchison
Marcel Dupré Prelude in B Major, Op. 7, No. 1
Johann Sebastian Bach We All Believe in One True God, BWV 740
Johann Sebastian Bach Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542
The Artists
Gary Lewis, a native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Church Music from Northwestern University where he studied organ with Wolfgang Rübsam and Arthur Poister and conducting with Margaret Hillis. For eight seasons he was Artistic Director of the 100-voice Virginia Choral Society. Since 1994 he has served as Director of Music and Organist at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison where he directs a very active music program for all ages.
Bruce Bengtson is Director of Music at Luther Memorial Church in Madison, a position he has held for the past 32 years. Responsible for the choral and instrumental programs of the parish, he directs the adult, youth and children's choirs. The church’s three pipe organs are heard weekly at a noon time recital played by Mr. Bengtson. He is active in the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, the American Guild of Organists and has two commissioned anthems recently published by Augsburg Fortress.
Samuel Hutchison is Principal Organist and Curator for the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Overture Concert Organ where he holds the Wayne Curtis & Maybelle Slavens Hall and Francis Vincent & Lettie von Kalweit Dunnebacke Organ Curatorship endowed by an anonymous donor. An honors graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey he has played recitals at the Riverside Church in New York City in addition to many European cathedrals including St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Notre Dame and St. Sulpice in Paris and the
Marien Kirche in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The Sponsors
Major funding for this concert is provided by
Friends of the Overture Concert Organ.
Support for all Overture Concert Organ performances is provided by the
Diane Endres Ballweg Fund.
The Overture Concert Organ is the gift of Pleasant T. Rowland.
