Organ and Oboe Recital to Benefit The Rivers Conservatory Scholarship Fund

David Tierney, Director of the Rivers School Conservatory, and oboist Andrew Price, will present an organ recital on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Needham, MA.  The recital is free with a free-will offering to benefit the Rivers School Conservatory Scholarship Fund.

The concert spans across multiple musical eras, from the baroque music of J.S. Bach and Dietrich Buxteude, to the French romantic works of Cesar Franck and Henri Mulet.    The program also includes contemporary works by two local composers - Robert Sirota’s Celestial Winds, a New England premiere, and a world premiere of David Lasky’s Suite for Organ and Oboe.

Robert Sirota and David Lasky are two of the commissioned composers for the American Guild of Organist’s National Convention being held in Boston in 2014.  Sirota is formerly the director of the BU School of Music and Peabody Conservatory, and is currently president of the Manhattan School of Music.  Lasky is Music Director of St. Cecelia’s Church in Leominster, MA and a prolific composer whose works for organ, ensembles with organ, and choir have been published by Concordia, Augsberg, Alfred and Knopf.  He was also a music critic for the Worcester (MA) Telegraph.

An evening of music for organ and oboe is a rare treat, as is the spectacular organ according to Tierney, “The organ at Christ Church is a unique instrument, combining nearly sixty ranks of pipes with the equivalent of over one hundred ranks of digital sound.  While it quite suitable for repertoire of all periods, it works particularly well with French romantic literature.  It’s great fun to play, to watch someone play and to listen to.”

About the Artists:

David Tierney has served as Director of the Rivers School Conservatory for 19 years.  He also conducts The Rivers Symphony Orchestra, and serves as Minister of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Dedham.  Prior to coming to Rivers in 1993, he taught at Lasell College, Boston College, UMass-Lowell, and Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School. His conducting positions have included the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Classical Singers. He received his BM in organ performance and his MM in conducting, both from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell.

Oboist, Andrew Price is principal oboist for the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and regularly plays with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is also principal oboe of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra and has acted as principal oboe for the Boston Lyric Opera.  From 1984 - 1988 Mr. Price was a substitute second oboe with the Atlanta Symphony.  He is a graduate of Boston University and recently joined the faculty as Lecturer of oboe and teaches oboe for the BUTI Young Artists Orchestra program.

Complete concert information can be found on the Rivers School Conservatory’s website:   www.riversschoolconservatory.org.