Timothy Howard to perform free organ recital on May 11

Organist Timothy Howard will present an eclectic recital of music ranging over four centuries on Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. on the Æolian-Skinner sanctuary organ at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. (at Madison Ave.) in the Playhouse District of downtown Pasadena.
The recital — the eighth event on the church’s “Friends of Music at PPC” concert series — is free of admission charge (a freewill offering will be taken). Free parking is available and the church is fully accessible to the mobility-impaired.
In an addition to its 2012-2013 season, Friends of Music at PPC — which is sponsoring the recital — will hold a fun-filled evening entitled “Cabaret in Black and White” on Sat., May 25, beginning at 5 p.m. in the church’s Fellowship Hall. Subtitled “Things We Can’t Sing on Sunday Morning,” the fund-raiser will feature light-hearted performances by members of the church’s Kirk Choir. Tickets are $15 in advance through the church office and $20 at the door.
Dr. Howard’s recitals and collaborative appearances have been hailed as “precision-cut” and filled with “superb grace and élan” (The Orange County Register). He is featured regularly on American Guild of Organists (AGO) chapter and church recital series, He performed on the Los Angeles AGO’s marathon presentations of the complete Organ Symphonies of Charles Marie Widor (playing the monumental Symphony VIII) and César Franck’s complete major organ works, each time to an enthusiastic audience of his peers and the public.
2013 marks his eighth season as principal keyboard continuo player and featured soloist at the Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival. He has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Green Umbrella” group, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the choirs of Long Beach City College. He recently collaborated with Paul Halley in one of the composer’s live performances.
Dr. Howard played solo pieces and accompanied Hollywood Presbyterian Church’s Cathedral Choir on their British Tour, with performances at York Minster and the cathedrals at Lincoln, Durham and Edinburgh. In 2006 he was rehearsal accompanist and performance organist for the Angeles Chorale’s “Lauridsen Weekend” under the leadership of Don Neuen and Morten Lauridsen. For two seasons he arranged and led a recording of choral music for the HBO series “Big Love.”
In addition to a number of solo organ recitals each season, his live performances of his organ scores for the silent films “Nosferatu” and “From the Manger to the Cross” have become quite popular. His recorded organ scores to accompany “Nosferatu,” ” From the Manger to the Cross,” and “The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ” are widely available.
Since his first professional church job at age 13, Dr. Howard has held a number of noteworthy positions, including Garden Grove Community Church (Assistant Organist), Hollywood Presbyterian Church (Organist), and All Saints Church, Pasadena (Associate Organist-Choirmaster). He was Artistic Director of the 65-voice Foothill Master Chorale, and served for some 15 years as Chorusmaster for the Los Angeles Music Theatre Company. In 1998 he made his operatic conducting debut with LAMTC, leading singers and the orchestra in Mozart’s “Bastien and Bastienne” and “The Impresario.”
In 1999, Dr. Howard was musical advisor and recording artist for the world premiere of “The Presentment” at the Pasadena Playhouse; a revival was staged at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.
Dr. Howard’s work as composer and arranger and performing collaborator can be heard on Christopher Parkening’s “Simple Gifts” (Angel Records), an album of sacred music for guitar; and his string and wind arrangements accompany pop/rock singer Brian Reeves on “Never Looking Back” (Briro Records). His arrangement of “Sourwood Mountain” for mixed treble voices (written for the Cal State Northridge Women’s Chorale) is the most recently published of his compositions and arrangements.
Dr. Howard has been active in the American Guild of Organists, having served as Dean, Sub-dean, Education Chair and in a number of other roles for local chapters. He served two terms as Regional Councillor, representing Region IX on the organization’s National Council, and has served three times as teacher and recitalist for “Pipe Organ Encounters,” helping introduce young people to music of the organ. He is also a member of the board that oversees the Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Fund.
For additional information, visit www.timothyphoward.com

-Courtesy Photo

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