L&C Organ Spectacular III to Highlight Local Organists

GODFREY - Area organists will showcase their talents during Lewis and Clark Community College Music Department's Organ Spectacular III at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17.

The concert, which will take place in the Benjamin Godfrey Memorial Chapel, will feature local organists on the Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece Series organ that arrived on campus in September 2007 as a replacement for the pipe organ the college inherited when it was founded in 1970.

Performers will include Barbara Kramer, Audrey Thomas, Roy Stillwell, Ray Bentley, Pauline Stillwell and Robert Raymond. The organists will perform a variety of pieces, including material from classic organ literature.

Organists (from left) Barbara Kramer, Roy Stillwell and Ray Bentley are three of the six local musicians who will perform at L&C's Organ Spectacular III at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17 in the Benjamin Godfrey Memorial Chapel. Photo by Paige Allen/Lewis and Clark Community College.

"The concert will show off the new organ and the chapel since it has been remodeled and restored," said Roy Stillwell, an organ instructor at L&C. "A group of local organists will be playing historical masterpieces and popular music on the organ. This is the third Organ Spectacular we have held. We are hoping people will come and join L&C as we carry on this tradition."

The concert is open to the public and admission is free.

For more information regarding this event or other music department events, please call the music office at (618) 468-4731.

Performer Biographies:

* Barbara Kramer - Kramer was an Organ Performance minor at Lindenwood College. She has held church organist positions in Nashville, Tenn., Quincy, Hillsboro and currently is the organist for the First Congregational Church in Bunker Hill. Kramer is also a former member of the music faculty at Blackburn College and a current member of the music faculty at Lewis and Clark.

* Audrey Thomas - Fifteen-year-old Thomas is from St. Louis and is the granddaughter of Joseph Volk of Godfrey. She is studying organ with Heather Martin Cooper at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Creve Coeur, Mo. Thomas won the Marie Kremer Scholarship for organ study and participated in the St. Louis Pipe Organ Encounter in the summer of 2010. This gave her the opportunity to perform at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Mark's Episcopal Church in St. Louis, and the First Congregational Church in Clayton, Mo. She also has performed for Craig Cramer, Notre Dame Organ Department chairman. During the summer of 2011, she participated in the Summer Camp at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. In July of 2012, she completed an intensive six-day Pipe Organ Encounter Advanced Program at Indiana University, Bloomington, where Janette Fishell, Marilyn Keiser, and Colin Andrews supervised her. She also plays violin and has been on a summer swim team for nine years.

* Roy Stillwell - Stillwell is an experienced instructor and performer. He has taught music at the college level in North Dakota and Mississippi and holds degrees in music from MacMurray College and the Eastman School of Music. After retiring from full-time work, he moved back to the Alton/Godfrey area where he was raised. Stillwell has taught Music Appreciation and continues to teach organ as an adjunct instructor at Lewis and Clark Community College.

* Ray Bentley - Bentley earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in Educational Administration. He also completed an additional 32 hours beyond the masters. He retired after teaching 38 years in the Alton School District. He is a registered piano technician with 35 years experience and serves homes, churches and schools including Lewis and Clark. He is the organist at the Main Street United Methodist Church in Alton.

* Pauline Stillwell - Stillwell is a local church musician. She holds music degrees from Luther College and the University of Iowa. She teaches piano part-time at home and at Lewis and Clark.

* Robert Raymond - Raymond earned his bachelor's degree in piano performance from Webster University, and his master's degree in piano and organ performance and music education from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. He has taught organ at SIUE for 14 years and has served as Dean of the American Guild of Organists in Illinois. He has held several church positions and has served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church USA in Edwardsville for the last 18 years.

More like this: