OGCMA Presents Organists Greg Zelek And Carol Williams

OGCMA's always-popular free "Organ Recital Series" continues with melodic fervor with two young, highly accomplished organists, GREG ZELEK on Wednesday, July 18th and CAROL WILLIAMS on Wednesday, July 15th. Both performances will be held in OGCMA's Great Auditorium at 7:30pm and performed on its historic, enormous pipe organ. Produced by OGCMA's Organist-in-Residence, Gordon Turk, both concerts promise to thrill audiences with their passion and power. The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. All facilities are handicapped accessible. To reserve your free tickets: phone 800-590-4064 or go online to www.oceangrove.org.

Greg Zelek - The 26-year-old organist has been praised for his "effortless facility on the instrument" (South Florida Classical Review) and is increasingly recognized as one of the most exciting young artists on the American organ scene. He is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ and Series in Wisconsin. In addition to playing throughout the U.S., Zelek regularly performs with other orchestras as both a soloist and ensemble member. This year, Zelek will participate in three performances of Janácek's Glagolitic Mass with the Madison Symphony. Last year, he performed with the Florida Orchestra and was the featured guest soloist with the Ridgewood Symphony in 2016. In addition, Zelek played in the Metropolitan Opera's 2014 production of Faust. He also performed twice that year with the New World Symphony, including a performance of Lukas Foss's Phorion under Michael Tilson Thomas. In 2012 he played Strauss's Alpine Symphony with the MET Orchestra in Carnegie Hall conducted by Semyon Bychkov, and Poulenc's Organ Concerto with the Miami Symphony Orchestra in 2011. Highlights of his 2017-2018 season include recitals at the Organ Historical Society Convention in Minneapolis; the famous Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego; Overture Center for the Performing Arts in Madison; the MET Museum in NYC on the historic Appleton Organ; and recitals for the Hartford AGO and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Largo, FL. A native of Miami, Florida, Zelek is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma as a student of Paul Jacobs at the Juilliard School. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, Zelek received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Juilliard.

Zelek's program for his OGCMA debut is as follows:

J.S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543

C. Franck - Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18

F. Liszt (arr. Potts) - Liebestraum No. 3 (Dreams of Love)

J. Weaver - Fantasia for Organ

Intermission

A. Guilmant - Organ Sonata in D minor, Op. 42, No. 1
Introduction (Largo e maestoso) et Allegro
Pastorale: Andante quasi Allegretto
Final: Allegro assai

Carol Williams - D.M.A., ARAM, Dip Ram, AD (Yale), FRCO, FTCL, ARCM, San Diego Civic Organist Emerita, is known as "The World's Sweetheart Organist," both for her considerable achievements and her primary ambition: "to bring the pipe organ to new audiences and make people feel good." British born, Williams was raised in a musical Welsh family and could read music before she could read English. Her formal training started with private lessons at age five and she was already performing organ recitals at eight. She spent five years at the Royal Academy of Music as a student of David Sanger for both organ and piano and earned the prestigious Recital Diploma and a roster of major prizes. She was still in her teens when she became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and of Trinity College London. She was also an Associate of the Royal College of Music and continued her studies with Daniel Roth, Organist at the Church of St. Sulpice in Paris. After moving to the U.S., she studied and earned degrees at Yale and the Manhattan School of Music. Williams' work as a performing artist has taken her around the country and around the world, often collaborating with leading orchestras, as well as a wide assortment of classical, jazz, blues, pop and rock bands. She has recorded numerous CDs and can be heard in many cinematic DVDs. In performance, her elegance and charismatic humor are received with "rock star" enthusiasm. Williams is also a composer, the director of The Virginia International Organ Festival, and is formally affiliated with the Yale University Chapel and churches in New York, California, and Virginia.

Williams' program for Ocean Grove is entitled: "Something Old and Something New!"

Louis Couperin (c.1626-61) - Chaconne

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) - Fugue on the Magnificat BMV 733

Arr. Carol Williams - Early England

Arr. Carol Williams - Wales Remembered

Scotson Clark (1840-83) - Vienna March

Carol Williams (contemporary) - Quick Fix Toccata, Op. 22

Carol Williams - Dietrich's Dilemma! Op. 17

Carol Williams - The Magic of Sweet Briar Op. 21

Carol Williams - Venus Toccata Op. 9

Carol Williams - Hommage à Vierne

Carol Williams - Symphony for Organ

Adagio-Allegro

A La Baroque

A La Romantique

A La Moderne

Final

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