His teaching style intrigued me, and his level of knowledge of the repertoire piqued my interest – as did his thoughts regarding the linguistic inclinations of music. During this year, I was able to travel to Stuttgart, Germany to meet and have a lesson with the senior professor there, Ludger Lohmann.
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KE: When I graduated from Oberlin in 2015, a Fulbright scholarship enabled me to pursue the French equivalent of an artist diploma in Toulouse, France. Tell us about your studies in Stuttgart, Germany?
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The organ’s exhilarating C Major chords that open the fourth movement made the decision for me: while still being in love with the flute, piano, and voice, I would pursue the organ.īVF: You are pursuing a Master's Degree at the Musikhochschule. When describing why I chose to pursue the organ professionally, I always cite a Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra performance of the Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony back in 2008, during which I was playing flute and Ray was playing the organ. I began my studies in Portsmouth with Abbey Hallberg Siegfried, and continued them with Ray Cornils in Brunswick throughout high school. It has been the impetus for dozens of students to pursue the instrument, creating life-long interest and, in several cases, a career in the organ. This scholarship program, which began in 2001, still offers a year of organ lessons to a number of students each year. My long-suffering parents allowed me to add flute lessons for my 11th birthday, but it was two years later, through that same Children’s Chorus that I found out about the Young Organists Collaborate. I’m not entirely sure when music became something that I did instead of something that I listened to, but, from the first moment I had enough of an attention span, I was singing in church choir and Sandpiper’s Children’s Chorus in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I vividly remember car rides with my father during which we would listen to Boston’s classical music radio station and he would entertain us both by contriving some kind of fantastical story to go along with whatever Mendelssohn or Mahler symphony was being played. Katelyn Emerson: As is always the case with the childhoods of many musicians – and, frankly, most of us human beings – music was an integral part of my childhood.
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We were pleased to sit down with Katelyn Emerson to discuss performing baroque organ, Bach, studying in Stuttgart, Germany, and her favorite places in Maine.īach Virtuosi Festival: How long have you been playing the organ and classical music? How did you get started?