Organ Concert

1014 East Altadena Drive,Altadena CA 91001

21 May, 2023

Description

Organ Concert featuring Mark Robson, world-class organist with Melodia Mariposa String Ensemble. Join us for beautiful music this May featuring Mark Robson, a renowned organist and pianist who has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a pianist with “one of the great techniques,” “an inquiring mind,” and a performer capable of evoking an “exquisite engulfing pastel haze!” Performing with Mark is Melodia Mariposa String Ensemble. PROGRAM Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Concerto For Organ and Violin in F major Hob XVlll:6   Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) Finale alla Schumann op.83 For strings and organ   Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) Suite in G major P.58 For strings and organ   Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006) Sonata No.1 For strings and organ   Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)/ Remo Giazotto(1910-1998) Adagio in G For strings and organ Mark Robson, Pianist and Organist Mark Robson began his first music study on the piano at age 6 and took up organ studies when he was 13, obtaining his first position as a church organist while still in high school.  Although he continued at Oberlin College with an emphasis in organ and French, he switched his major to the piano—this, despite having performed Bach’s massive compendium of chorale preludes, the third portion of the Clavierübung.  Nonetheless, he continued on occasion to perform organ recitals ranging in repertoire from Buxtehude and Bach to Messiaen.  He has also appeared at Disney Hall playing Arvo Pärt’s Annum per annum for the LA Philharmonic’s Minimalist Jukebox and has assisted with the LAP for numerous orchestral organ and keyboard parts.  Since 2015 he has been an organist for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Altadena, CA. Mr. Robson started composing at an early age, writing works for piano, flute, and organ.  His aesthetic was informed by a particular sensitivity to harmony and counterpoint, as well as his later exposure to the fertile contemporary music scene in Paris during his years there as a piano pupil of Yvonne Loriod.  Among his compositions are Dances and Dirges for piano, clarinet, and cello, the soprano cycle A Child of Air (recorded by Patricia Prunty) and other songs, Trio Botanica for three bassoons, Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra, the piano cycle 24 Preludes for the Left Hand, and numerous works for organ for liturgical use. He has worked extensively as a coach and opera assistant for the Los Angeles Opera and taught at CalArts, Chapman University, CSUF, and USC. Among his major performing achievements are the Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant-Jésus by Messiaen, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and the complete 32 Sonatas in eight concerts, and Bach’s Goldberg Variations.