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Faculty Concert Series: Justin Murphy-Mancini, Organist
- Artist Faculty in Organ, Justin Murphy-Mancini gives a performance on the organ at Corthell Concert Hall
Artist Faculty in Organ Justin Murphy-Mancini presents a program of organ music from past and present exploring the many possibilities of variation form. The concert shows off the sonic capabilities of the Corthell Concert Hall organ. The program includes: “Fantasia crommatica – Sweelinck, Ciaccona – Storace, Passacaglia – Hurd, Variations on “”Lift High the Cross”” -Sandresky, Variations sur “”Il et né le divin enfant”” – Langlais, and Passacaglia and Fugue, BWV 582 – Bach”
The concert will be held on Friday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public, and $10 for students, seniors, alumni, faculty, and staff. Tickets can be purchased online, at the door, or by calling the Music Box Office at (207) 780-5555.
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The concert is sponsored by Murray, Plumb, and Murray.
While concert audiences have long become familiar with the sight of the Corthell Hall pipe organ, it has been many years since the instrument has been featured in a concert. The organ is named after Eric Sexton and Howard Davis, men whose vision and efforts have provided the University with a unique musical instrument.
Eric H.L. Sexton, originally from Philadelphia, later from Camden, Maine, was a scholar and collector who had an interest in pipe organ building. After acquiring several electro-neumatic organs, he built two complete pipe organs over a period of several years; a smaller Aeolian organ, and the larger eighteen-rank concert organ. His wife, Beryl Sexton, heard of USM’s music education needs and bestowed both pipe organs to the University.
In the fall of 1995, Mr. Howard Davis of Falmouth, who also had an interest in pipe organs, became aware of USM’s efforts to restore and install the Sexton organs. Following his untimely death, the Davis Family Foundation agreed to fund the restoration of the concert instrument in his memory. The David E. Wallace & Company Pipe Organ Builders of Gorham was responsible for the organ’s renovation and installation.
The concert program is described here by Murphy-Mancini:
“The program investigates the variation form throughout the history of the organ’s repertoire. There might be something about the organ that makes composers want to write variations–unlike most other instruments, the organ’s design includes a wide variety of timbres and pitch levels without the need to extend the basic playing technique. It’s almost like a little orchestra for one, so perhaps there is a natural marriage between easily changed sound qualities and the alteration of a basic musical idea.
“Nowadays, playing variations gives audiences who might not be familiar with how an organ works the opportunity to hear all of the tonal combinations that are possible. I started my repertoire selection with one of the greatest sets of variations ever written: the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. This work presents 20 continuous variations over the same bass line, but Bach ups the ante by then composing a fugue using the bass line plus an additional, new subject not yet heard in the piece. From there, I branched out, selecting music by some of Bach’s predecessors (who may have inspired his Passacaglia) and those who bear Bach’s influence.
“While the organ is not as popular today as it once was, great composers still write beautiful music for the instrument. We should be seeking out the music of living composers to broaden our taste and to increase our appreciation of the greats by hearing their continuing impact.
Justin Murphy-Mancini came to the Osher School of Music in the fall of 2021. He began studying the organ at age 10 after early piano studies. His first teacher, Cheryl Wadsworth, inspired in him a love of both early music and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Justin subsequently earned degrees in organ performance, composition, historical performance, and philosophy at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, where his primary mentors included Jack Mitchener, Webb Wiggins, Josh Levine, Marie-Louise Langlais, and many others. In 2019, he earned a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied primarily with Katharina Rosenberger, Natacha Diels, and Rand Steiger.
As an organist and harpsichordist, Justin has appeared in concert across the United States at venues including the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego, CA), Methuen Memorial Music Hall (Methuen, MA), Hendricks Chapel (Syracuse University), Brick Church (New York, NY), and Old West Church (Boston, MA). His repertoire spans the breadth of music history, from the earliest written works for keyboard to over 10 world premieres. In addition to his academic activities at USM, Justin serves the historic First Religious Society (Unitarian Universalist) in Newburyport, MA, where he stewards an 1834 Joseph Alley organ. He also serves as a faculty member of the Young Organist Collaborative (Portsmouth, NH) and as a board member of the Old West Organ Society.
For those needing special accommodations to participate fully in this program, contact the Music Box Office at (207) 780-5555. Hearing impaired: call USM’s telex / TDD number (207) 780-5646.
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