Capelle Meisters Organ Series Continues

Jason Kissel, 1997 Westminster College graduate and current director of music and organist at the First and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Md., will continue the Capelle Meisters Organ Series Saturday, March 25, at 3 p.m. in Wallace Memorial Chapel.

 His program includes Mathias' Processional; Pachelbel's Was gott tut, das ist wohlgetan; Mendelessohn's Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 65; Reger's Introduction Passacaglia; Messiter's Toccata on the Hymn Tune Marion;  Harkim's Variations on Two Themes;Windor's Symphonie II in D Major Adagio; and Vierne's Pieces de Fantaisie. Carillon de Westminster.

 Kissel, a candidate for the doctor of music arts in organ performance at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, was recently awarded the James Winship Lewis Memorial Award by the faculty.  He is also dean of the Baltimore chapter of the American Guild of Organists and maintains a private teaching studio in Baltimore.  Kissel, an Irwin native, has held staff positions at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, as a scholar in church music and a sabbatical replacement for Dr. John Walker.  He has also held teaching positions at the Pennsylvania State University, Chatham College, and Westminster College.  His professional engagements include the accompanying of five European choral tours, with performances at Westminster Abby, Seoul, Korea, the Washington National Cathedral, and other notable venues.  Westminster College awarded Kissel the 2004 Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

 The Capelle Meisters Organ Series is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA), the regional arts funding partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.  State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania's General Assembly and from the National Endowment of the Arts.  PPA is administered in this region by the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance.  The title of this series, the Capelle Meisters, is taken from the historical German compound noun, capellemeisters, meaning chapel masters who performed worship services and considered the most outstanding musicians.

 Contact the Westminster College Department of Music at (724) 946-7270 for more information.

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