Sharkey-Corrigan Pipe Organ Series Begins Saturday

The first Texas A&M International University faculty performance on the Sharkey-Corrigan Pipe Organ will take place Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Mariko Morita,  TAMIU visiting assistant professor of organ and accompanist, will inaugurate the new Sharkey-Corrigan Recital Series.

Admission is free of charge and public is welcome to attend.

The evening program will include Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E flat Major; Buxtehude’s Ciacona in E Minor; Messiaen’s Apparition de l’ Eglise Éternelle; Gárdonyi’s Mozart Changes, Franck’s Cantabile and Widor’s “Allegro” from Symphony VI in G Minor, Op. 42. 

Born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Morita started her musical training at the Yamaha Institute of Music in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi.   After the completion of her Associate Bachelor of English at Nanzan Junior College in Nagoya, Aichi, she transferred to Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA. earning a Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music in Organ Performance.  A Graduate Award Fellowship recipient, she earned a Master of Sacred Music in Organ Performance from Emory University in Atlanta, GA.  She is a Doctor of Music candidate in Organ Performance and Literature at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Ind.

In 2004-05, she spent a year as Music Intern at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. where she provided organ music for the diverse 3,000-member congregation and played an integral part in the church’s renowned choral program.  She also served as accompanist at Seton Hill College, Emory University, and at the String Academy of Indiana University during her studies at these institutions.

For three consecutive summers (2001-03), she participated in the International Summer Music Academy in Leipzig, Germany, a co-sponsored program by the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, performing in the recitals at Thomaskirche in Leipzig and the Brandenburg Dom in Brandenburg, Germany.  Well-traveled, she has performed in the US, Odense, Denmark and Tokyo, Japan.

Her duties at TAMIU include performance and instruction on the Sharkey-Corrigan Pipe Organ and serving as staff accompanist for the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of Fine and Performing Arts.

The Sharkey-Corrigan Pipe Organ was a gift of the E. H. Corrigan Foundation, lead by longtime Laredo businessman E. H. Corrigan, passionate supporter of the arts. Corrigan has said his gift is a statement of an affection for his hometown and intended to provide this area with one of the finest pipe organs, making real its musical riches for generations to come.

Constructed by the Kegg Company of Hartville, Ohio, the Sharkey-Corrigan Pipe Organ has 69 ranks and 52 stops. It features 3998 pipes, four keyboards and a pedal board and pipes placed in three locations.  The largest pipes are made of zinc, but most are alloys of tin and lead. Three sets of wood pipes are made of poplar, basswood and pine. The Organ’s total weight is approximately 35,000 pounds.

Its inaugural performance took place this past July and featured Dr. David Heller of Trinity University.

For more information, call the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 326.280, visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library 268, e-mail prmis@tamiu.edu  or visit tamiu.edu/organ/

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu