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Dallas AGO: the Dallas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
History of the Dallas Chapter AGO
(formerly the Texas Chapter)
1918
The first AGO chapter in Texas, the Texas Chapter, was founded, with Mrs. James H. Cassidy, AAGO, as Dean.
1919
The Rev. Thomas F. Gallaher, D.D., was elected first Chaplain of the Texas Chapter.
1921
The first yearbook was published.
1924
The first Guild Service was held.
1925
The Texas Chapter held the first State Convention.
1928
The Texas Chapter celebrated its 10th Anniversary.
1929
The Texas Chapter organized its first sub-chapter, Fort Worth.
1934
The Texas Organist, the chapter’s first news sheet, was published.
1935-1949
Complimentary recitals were presented to the public.
1948
The Texas Chapter celebrated its 30th Anniversary.
1949
The Crescendo, the chapter’s second news sheet, began publication.
1950
The chapter’s first Recital Series was inaugurated.
1952
The Texas Chapter was host to the Annual Conclave of Deans and Regents.
1956
The Concordia Choir was presented in the first local Guild-sponsored choral concert.
1957-1958
Texas’ largest and oldest chapter celebrated its 40th Anniversary.
1958-1959
Mrs. J. H. Cassidy, AAGO, organizer of the Texas Chapter and its first
Dean, died. The Texas Chapter became international with the admission of Julian Zuniga of Mexico City as an active member. Katherine Hammons resigned as Regional Chairman.
1960-1961
In memory of Dora Poteet Barclay, AAGO, a recording of one of her
recitals was issued jointly by the Texas and Fort Worth Chapters.
1961-1962
Katherine Hammons, Dean of the Texas Chapter in 1927-1929 and
1943-1945, died. The Texas Chapter became the Dallas Chapter.
1966
The Dallas Chapter was host to the Midwinter Conclave.
1967
The Dallas Chapter celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
1969
The Dallas Chapter was the successful bidder for the 1972 National Convention.
1970
Dallasite George C. Baker, III, won First Place in the AGO National Organ Playing Competition.
1972
The Dallas Chapter was host to the Guild’s National Convention; 907 delegates attended.
1973
The Education Projects Fund was established.
1974
The Recital Series was revitalized.
1975-1976
Gerald Near, the first composer to appear on the chapter’s new “Meet
the Composer” series, drew the largest attendance ever for a chapter meeting.
1976-1977
The program for the year resembled a repeat of the 1976 National Convention in
Boston, featuring Martha Folts, Harold Vogel, and Daniel Pinkham, plus other outstanding performers.
1977
On less than four month’s notice, the Dallas Chapter organized, and was host to, the AGO Southwest Regional Workshop. The “Cluster Meeting” concept was introduced.
1978
Gustav Leonhardt was presented in the first local Guild-sponsored harpsichord recital.
The Education Projects Committee sponsored its first Free University, a six-week session of courses designed as aids to members preparing for Guild examinations. The classes were open to the public without charge. AGO National President, Dr. Roberta Bitgood, addressed the Dallas Chapter at its first meeting of 1978. Twenty-five-year members were honored, and pins were presented to fifty-year members, Anita Hansen and Inez A. Hudgins.
1979
The Education Projects Committee commissioned and presented the first performance of William Bolcom’s Three Gospel Preludes to commemorate the chapter’s 60th Anniversary.
1980
The Education Projects Committee presented Colloquium I: “A Musician’s Quest for Relevance in a Complex World,” featuring speakers and other participants from throughout Texas and across the nation.
1981
The Education Projects Committee presented “Practicum: Public Relations for the Organist in the Church and in the Community.” Guest speakers were Dr. Norman Mealy, Pacific School of Theology in Berkeley, California and Dr. Nicholas Kenyon, Music Critic for The New Yorker Magazine in New York City.
1982
The Dallas Chapter expands the Recital Series to include a performance and master class on “Baroque Performance” by the ARS Musica ensemble, a group from Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in early music.
1983
The Education Projects Committee, Recital Series Committee, and the Program Committee joined forces to present Recital/Workshops by William Porter and Robert Glasgow.
1984
The Dallas Chapter adopted a new set of Operating Procedures in accordance with national guidelines.
1985
The Education Projects Committee, in the chapter’s “Meet the Composer” series, commissioned The Dallas Anthem Book by Daniel Pinkham and presented its first performance with the composer conducting.
1986
The Dallas Chapter presented two programs on hymnody – the first led by Dr. Richard P. Heitzenrater and the Bridwell Library staff, the second a panel discussion by Jane Marshall, J. D. Godwin, W. Thomas Smith, Marjorie Procter-Smith, Kenneth Shields, William J. Reynolds, and Dale Peters.
1987
The Professional Concerns Committee of the Dallas Chapter published its first booklet, The Work and Compensation of the Church and Synagogue Musician. The booklet received high marks locally, as well as regionally and nationally. The Recital Series included a performance by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert at the Majestic Theatre, in cooperation with the Dallas Civic Music Association.
1988
The Chapter established the Russell E. Hellekson, Jr. Scholarship Fund. Education Projects sponsored James Rives Jones in a workshop and master class on instrumental conducting for the church musician.
1989
The Recital Series presented national Young Artists Competition winner Christopher Young as well as Marie-Claire Alain, Philip Brunelle and Mireille Lagacé.
1990
The National Council of the AGO approved Dallas as the site of the 1994 National AGO Convention. The Dallas Chapter also remembered the life and influence of the legendary Roy Perry with brief recitals on organs he designed.
1991
The Dallas Chapter sponsored a very successful Pipe Organ Encounter for teen-agers. The Recital Series presented trumpeter, Edward Tarr, with Swiss organist Irmtraud Krüger. In the fall the chapter celebrated a “Festival of New Hymns” with Bruce Bengtson, and bid farewell to the Caruth Auditorium Aeolian-Skinner organ.
1992
A spring meeting attended by Mme. Duruflé-Chevalier focused on choral and organ works by the late Maurice Duruflé. Convention planning moved into high gear. The Recital Series, in its first collaboration with the Dallas Symphony Association, co-sponsored David Higgs in a premier solo recital on the new Fisk organ at the Meyerson.
1993
In May the chapter was successful in helping to sponsor the first broadcasts of “Pipe Dreams” on WRR-FM. The Education Projects Committee sponsored a second well-attended workshop on conducting.
1994
The chapter played host to the 42nd National Convention of the AGO attended by 1,743 persons. Highlights included the premiere of Conrad Susa’s commissioned church opera The Wise Women and performances on the various instruments installed since the 1972 convention. The Education Projects Committee sponsored a Hymn Voluntary Writing Competition in conjunction with the convention. The Recital Series presented Cherry Rhodes and Thomas Murray in recitals at the Meyerson co-sponsored by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. It also brought the fortepianist Malcolm Bilson to Dallas for a solo recital.
1995
The chapter began the year with a Service of Thanksgiving for the successful AGO Dallas 94 Convention. Committees began work on revitalizing the Recital Series, revising the Work and Compensation Guidelines, and planning for a year of programs on the state of church music at the end of the 20th century. Education Projects presented Ann Jones in a choral conducting workshop and Jon Gillock in a performance and masterclass on Messiaen’s Le Livre du Saint Sacrément.
1996
The chapter presented a series of programs centered around the theme, “The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land.” Sponsored primarily by the Education Projects Committee, the theme focused on the problem of maintaining music and worship expressions of integrity in a fast-changing, pop-culture influenced world. Featured presenters included Dr. Bruce Leafblad, Dr. Don Saliers, and Dr. Paul Westermeyer. The renewed Recitals Series presented among others, Alan Morrison at the Meyerson Symphony Center (co-sponsored with the Dallas Symphony Association.) The Neighborhood Recital Series presented two organ recitals to the public free of charge, featuring local organists playing outstanding, but less frequently heard instruments.
1997
Variety characterized the programs of the Dallas Chapter. Robert MacDonald of Fort Worth accompanied silent films at the Park Cities Baptist Church organ and Al Travis of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth hosted a joint meeting of Dallas and Fort Worth Chapters, presenting a “tonal tour” of the new Casavant organ. Masterclasses were presented by Harald Vogel and Hans Fagius. The chapter assisted the Dallas Symphony Association in the staging of the First Triennial Dallas International Organ Competition, held at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The first-place winner was one of our own chapter members, S. Wayne Foster, student of Dr. Lenora McCroskey.
1998
The tone was set for the 80th anniversary of the Dallas Chapter at the Church of the Transfiguration with emphasis on our spiritual health and concluding with a walk on the labyrinth. The Recital Series was named in honor of Dr. Robert T. Anderson in deep appreciation for his life-long achievements and remarkable influence in Dallas and throughout the world. The Recital Series continues to be one of the finest and most visible aspects of the chapter in the community, as well as the ongoing quality of programming offered to its membership.
1999
The AGO Guild Service celebrated the chapter’s 80th anniversary. Highlights of the season’s programming included a demonstration concert by the Children’s Chorus of Dallas, a program on working with brass players, a program on the use of MIDI and other new technologies, and an East Texas “Organ Crawl” to Tyler, Kilgore and Longview.
2000
Louis Robilliard (French recitalist), Dan Locklair (composer), George Ritchie (Bach specialist), Barbara Resch (music educator), and Stephen Cleobury (Kings College, BBC, England), were outstanding visiting presenters. The year closed with a successful dinner and theatre organ program (Phil Bordeleau) at the Lakewood Theatre.
2001
Legendary organist Fred Swann set the tone for a splendid year of organ playing, which included young and veteran organists in the “Pipes Spectacular!” concert, as well as the Robert T. Anderson recitalists Ullrich Boehme, Carla Edwards and Robert Bates. Fred also included conversation about his distinguished musical career. The chapter had other evenings of learning and listening at the J. Eric Jonsson Central Library (Chapter archives and historic scores and recordings), with the Fort Worth chapter at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford (Sacred Harp singing), with David Heller (hymn-playing and improvisation) and Robert Bates’ workshop on French Organ Music. The final event was AGO Night at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre with a topical and hilarious melodrama.
2003
Stephen Cleobury worked with the Orpheus Chamber Singers, Don Krehbiel, Director, in an open rehearsal. The Dallas and Fort Worth Chapters combined efforts for an "Otto Hofmann Retrospective and Organ Tour" to The Matthew Memorial Presbyterian Church in Albany, Texas. Education Projects sponsored a highly successful Pipe Organ Encounter for 31 students from across the country during July of 2003.
2004
The Education Projects Committee presented "Herbert Howells - People, Places and Music” with Larry Palmer and Scott Cantrell presenting a multi-media presentation of Howells’ choral and organ music. Two programs were presented at the Meyerson Symphony Hall – a joint meeting with the Fort Worth Chapter to attend an open Dallas Symphony rehearsal of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and our own Bradley Welch performed the Stephen Paulus Organ Concerto with the DSO. The Recital Series present fine recitals by Peter Sykes and Christa Rakich.
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