TAMIU Organ Recital Series Features Top Organist Sunday

One of the nation’s top organists will be the featured performer at the next Texas A&M International University Organ Recital Series offering Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts’ Recital Hall.

Dr. Brian Mathias, organist for Washburn University in Topeka, KS, will perform in the free concert.  Concert support has been provided by TAMIU’s Housing and Residence Life.

TAMIU president Dr. Ray Keck said the philanthropy of E. H. Corrigan, who made the Sharkey Corrigan Organ possible, has made it possible for TAMIU to attract world-class musicians to perform on the Organ.

“We are so grateful for the philanthropy of E.H. Corrigan that makes these experiences possible here.  Having world-class musicians perform for both solo recitals and with the Laredo Philharmonic is a true blessing for our community,”  Dr. Keck said.

The Sunday program will include selections by Bach, Franck, Paulus and Vierne, among others.

Dr. Mathias is currently adjunct instructor of Organ at Washburn University in Topeka and associate organist at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, MO. An active recitalist, his recent recital engagements include the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the LDS Conference Center (Salt Lake City, UT), the Cathedral of the Madeleine (Salt Lake City), the Community of Christ Temple (Independence, MO), and All Faiths Chapel at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS).

Prior to this current appointment, he taught at the University of Kansas and Brigham Young University. Mathias also serves on the faculty of the annual BYU Organ Workshop.

Mathias has been a competitor in a number of recent international organ competitions and was a semifinalist at the 2011 Canadian International Organ Competition (Montréal, Quebec), and a quarterfinalist at the prestigious Grand Prix de Chartres International Organ Competition (Paris, France) in 2010. Most recently, he received an honorable mention in the 2012 Miami International Organ Competition.

He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Kansas, where he studied organ with James Higdon and carillon with Elizabeth Berghout. He received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Brigham Young University where he undertook studies in organ with Don Cook and Douglas Bush and carillon with Don Cook.

In recent years the TAMIU Organ Recital Series has attracted some of the world's finest concert organists to perform on the Sharkey Corrigan Organ. One, Paul Jacobs, went on to win a Grammy for his Messian interpretations.  He returns to Laredo in September to play with the Laredo Phil.

For more information, call 326.2654 or visit tamiu.edu/coas/fpa

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