Richard Elliott

Performing Tuesday, June 21, 8:15 - 9:00 PM and 9:30 - 10:15 PM, First Presbyterian Church

Richard Elliott is Principal Organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, UT, where he participates in the daily recital series on the 206-rank Æolian-Skinner organ and accompanies the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the choir’s weekly radio and TV broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word.” As accompanist for the Tabernacle Choir he has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including the NBC “Today Show,” “CBS This Morning,” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” Dr. Elliott appears on dozens of recordings and videos with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He is also featured as an organ soloist on recordings on the Klavier, Pro Organo, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Bonneville Classics labels.

Prior to his appointment as a tabernacle organist in 1991, Dr. Elliott was an assistant professor of organ at Brigham Young University. From 1978 to 1981 he served as an assistant organist to Keith Chapman at the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. A Fellow of the AGO, he has been a performer at national and regional conventions of the guild. He has performed extensively as a recitalist in North America, and has also played recitals in Europe and Israel.

A native of Baltimore, MD, Dr. Elliott received his early musical training at the Peabody Conservatory and the Catholic University of America. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music. His organ teachers have included David Craighead, Dale Krider, William Watkins, and John Weaver.

About the Composer of the AGO 2016 Commission

Eric Ewazen's music has been performed by distinguished soloists, chamber ensembles, vocalists, wind ensembles and orchestras around the world. His music can be heard on some 70 commercially released CDs, by artists including performers from the New Yrok Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and other notable orchestras. His compositions for brass, percussion, woodwinds and wind ensembles have become staples of the repertoire. He has been a guest at over 150 colleges and universities worldwide, including twenty different countries and across the US including the Central Conservatory of Beijing, the Conservatories in Rio de Janeiro, and the Paris Conservatoire in France.

Notable chamber ensembles and soloists who have performed his music include percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, the American Brass Quintet, Nexus Percussion Ensemble, and the Guarneri String Quartet.

During the 2014-2015season, his Symphony No. 1, The New Eastern World Symphony, was premiered by the ShenZhen Symphony in China. The Boise Philharmonic performed his Tenor Saxophone Concerto, and the Anchorage Symphony premiered his Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra. His music was featured at the 2014 National Flute Association Convention in Chicago, the 2014 International Horn Society Convention in London among others.

He has been Vice-President with the League of Composers-International Society of Contemporary Music. He received the Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1976, and masters and doctorate degrees from Juilliard in 1978 and 1980, where he teaches music theory in the College Division, and composition in the Pre-College Division.

Program

           Scherzo for Brass Quintet                                                                                             John Cheetham
                                                                                                                                                            (b. 1939)

*Rhapsody for Brass Quintet and Organ                                                                             Eric Ewazen
                                                                                                                                                   (b. 1954)

Phantasie über den Choral “Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern,” Op. 40, No. 1             Max Reger
                                                                                                                                             (1873–1916)

Chorale Prelude on "Christe, Redemptor Omnium"                                 Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
                                                                                                                                             (1848–1918)

Herzlich tut mich verlangen (2014)                                                                                 S. Andrew Lloyd
                                                                                                                                                   (b. 1979)

Toccata on “O filii et filiae”                                                                                           Lynnwood Farnam
                                                                                                                                             (1885–1930)

*Houston AGO 2016 commission

Brass Quintet from the Houston Symphony:

          Mark Hughes, Carrie Schafer, trumpets
          Robert Johnson, French horn
          Allen Barnhill, trombone
          David Kirk, tuba