John Bruce Organ Concert Series presents Thomas Murray

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From St. Norbert College, March 27, 2007
by Meredith Meier, meredith.meier@snc.edu, (920) 403-3089

The John Bruce Concert Series will host Thomas Murray on Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m. at the St. Norbert Abbey, located at 1016 N. Broadway St., De Pere. The concerts are open to the public and donations can be given at the door. Murray, concert organist and recording artist, is university organist and professor of Music at Yale University, where he teaches and performs on the renowned Skinner organ in Woolsey Hall. He is widely known for his interpretations of Romantic repertoire and orchestral transcriptions. "The San Francisco Chronicle" has written, "Murray played...with a keen sense of style, and technique to burn. He's more than an organist, he's an artist." Murray is a California native and was the pupil of Clarence Mader. He has appeared in a variety of national recitals and conventions. In 1986 he was named International Artist of the Year by the American Guild of Organists. In 2003 he was appointed as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Organists in Englan, and in 2005 he was awarded the Gustave Stoeckel Award for excellence in teaching from Yale University School of Music. Murray has made numerous recordings on the AFKA, Gothic and JAV labels. His most notable release is on the JAV label where he performed on the Newberry Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall at Yale University. This recording includes works by Bach, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, Reger, Hindemith, Bonnet, Karg-Elert and Rimsky-Korsakov. The memorial concerts are established in Father Bruce's name at St. Norbert Abbey. Father Bruce, a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, was a close friend of St. Norbert Abbot Sylvester Killeen, O.Praem., and an honorary member of the Norbertine Order. For more information, contact Father Bartholomew Agar, O.Praem., at (920) 337-4378.