To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Organs in Revue a concert is being held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hibbing. The public is welcome. There is no admission fee. Donations are accepted to the Claribel Hamilton Organ Scholarship Fund.
During the celebration event four organists, who’ve performed most often over the past 40 years: Vicki Gornick, Dr. Tom Hamilton, Karen Sande and Rachel Kresha, will be presenting 15 to 20 minute programs. A reception will follow in the church social hall.
Organs in Revue Board Member Nadine Berg shared her thoughts on the 40 year milestone via email to the Mesabi Tribune.
“Between featured organists and additional musicians on a wide variety of instruments and voices, over 200 performers have offered their talents to somewhere around 400 recitals in a dozen different venues,” Berg wrote. “I find this extraordinary.”
Gornick is a graduate of UMD with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Degree and has had further organ study at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. She was named Finlandia Foundation National “Performer of the Year” in 2001 and presented concerts across the United States. She has also performed in Finland, Sweden and Canada. She is the organist for two churches, directs the Blessed Sacrament Choir and maintains a studio in Chisholm for private piano and organ study. She is the Program Director for Organs in Revue, now in its 40th season, a member of the American Guild of Organists, and a Northern Lights Music Festival board member.
Hamilton, a native of Hibbing, serves as Minister of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Duluth, a position he has held since 2013. He is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he was a student of Ruth Berge and sang in the Concordia Choir under Paul Christiansen. He studied with Paul Westermeyer and John Ferguson at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning a Master of Sacred Music degree in 1994. Most recently, he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa in the studio of the late Delbert Disselhorst. Hamilton has served churches in Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Chicago area. He was also previously on the faculty at the University of Dubuque (Iowa) and the University of Wisconsin—Superior. He is currently a member of the Arrowhead Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and serves as sub-dean. He is also organist/continuo for the Borealis Chamber Artists, a recently formed professional choir in Duluth. He maintains an active schedule as teacher, clinician, and performer throughout the Midwest.
Kresha is the Cathedral organist at Christ the King Cathedral in Superior, WI and adjunct professor of organ at the University of Superior-Wisconsin. She is pursing a Masters in Theology and Arts at United Theological Seminary in St Paul. She received a master’s degree in organ performance at Emory University in Atlanta, GA and undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, and Cottey College. Rachael lives with her partner and two children and sheepadoodle in Duluth, MN.
Sande, a native of Elgin, Minnesota, received a Bachelor of Music degree from St. Olaf College and Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College in Princeton NJ. She has served churches in New Jersey, Illinois and Minnesota. First Lutheran—Duluth has been her home since 1998, where she is Director of Music, organist, accompanist and handbell director. She also teaches piano and organ lessons.
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