Westminster College Presents Pedal Clavichord Concert

Dr. Joel Speerstra, a senior researcher at the Göteborg Organ Art Center in Sweden (GOart), will present a pedal clavichord concert Saturday, Oct. 8, at 5 p.m. in Orr Auditorium.

 "Clavichords were the most common keyboard instrument in homes from the Renaissance until the 19th century," said Dr. Elizabeth Harrison, assistant professor of music and Westminster College organist.  "The program will focus on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, as Bach may have played them on the pedal clavichord.

 "The instrument that Speerstra will use is borrowed from a private instrument collection in the area, and was built by Speerstra at the GOart," Harrison said.  "It's modeled after the only surviving 18th century clavichord with two manuals and pedals, known as the Gerstenberg clavichord, which is currently housed in the instrument museum in Leipzig, Germany."

 While at Westminster College, Speerstra will also teach a master class for Westminster students.

 Speerstra is active as an instrument builder, performer, musicologist, lecture-recitalist, editor, author, and educator. After graduating from Oberlin Conservatory, he received both a Watson Scholar and a DAAD Fellow, allowing him to study organ and clavichord with Harald Vogel at the North German Organ Academy, and instrument building with John Barnes, the former Curator of the Edinburgh Russell Collection of Keyboard Instruments. His doctoral project at Göteborg University led to the re-construction of the pedal clavichord used in this performance. Speerstra is a faculty member of the Göteborg International Organ Academy, the Leufsta bruk Organ Academy, the Smarano International Organ Academy, and has taught at the School of Music in Göteborg and the Eastman School of Music. He is the author of numerous articles and the editor of the North German Organ Research Project in Göteborg, and has given lecture-recitals for the British, German, and Boston Clavichord Societies, as well as the International Clavichord Symposia in Magnano, Italy.

 The concert is free and open to the public.  Contact Harrison at (724) 946-7024) or e-mail harrisea@westminster.edu for more information.

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