Wilma Jensen



Christi John Bye


Wilma Jensen, organist with Christi John Bye, soprano

Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
Free Admission ~ Voluntary offering

…a visionary organist.” —Dijon, France

World-renowned concert organist and former professor of organ at Indiana University Wilma Jensen is joined by soprano Christi John Bye. Dr. Jensen is also Organist/Choirmaster Emerita of St George’s Episcopal Church, Nashville, Tennessee.

A huge talent in a modest and petite package, Wilma Jensen consistently im­presses with the thoroughness of her preparation, the depth of her under­stand­ing, and the passion of her delivery. Whether as teacher, organist or conductor, she is the em­bodiment of music.” —Michael Barone (Minnesota Public Radio; Pipedreams)

Hailed as an outstanding recitalist, Dr. Jensen was named Distinguished Artist of 2016 by the American Guild of Organists. During her extensive career as a concert organist, Dr. Jensen has played recitals on many of the iconic pipe organ across the United States and in Europe. Highlights include recitals at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, The Riverside Church in New York City, the Chapel at West Point United States Military Academy, and numerous appearances in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, England and France, including four solo recitals at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. For the American Guild of Organists, she has played many times at Regional Conventions and three times at the organization’s National Conventions.

Christi John Bye began her musical association with Wilma Jensen as a staff singer at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN in 1994. Since then the two have presented joint recitals in New York City, Nashville, Jacksonville, Florida, and Kansas City, Missouri. While living in St. Louis, MO, she performed with the jazz group Two Times True at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens Summer Jazz Festival and other venues. Christi has appeared with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Chamber Music Society of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and the St. Louis Bach Society Orchestra, among others, and she has sung on more than 30 albums, including three of her own. Christi now lives in Westlake Village, California, with her husband Jake and their three young boys.

Dr. Jensen will play six solo organ works by Vierne, McCabe, Morricone, Tournemire and Widor, and will collaborate with Ms. Bye on a variety of songs by Handel, Hurwitz, Alain, Gershwin and others. Please note that this concert is on Sunday, March 5, not on a Saturday as is the usual case for Friends of Music events.

Program:

  • Vierne: Pièces de Fantaisie
        Hymne au Soleil (Hymn to the Sun)
        Étoile du Soir (Evening Star)
  • McCabe: Flourish and Chorale
  • Handel, arr. Jensen: Eternal Source of Light Divine
  • Handel: Lascia ch’io pianga
  • Alain: Vocalise Dorenne/Ave Maria
  • Rombi, tr. Jensen: Ave Maria
  • Morricone, tr. Jensen: Gabriel’s Oboe (from The Mission)
  • Doyle: Weep You No More, Sad Fountains (from Sense and Sensibility)
  • Hurwitz: Audition (from La La Land)
  • Gershwin: S’Wonderful (from An American in Paris)
  • Lane: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (title song from the musical)
  • Tournemire: Petite rapsodie improvisée
  • Widor: Allegro, Symphony VI

Artists:

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