by Dr. Dean Billmeyer, Organist in Residence
Greetings! Many of you who know me know that I served as University Organist and Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota – I retired from the University in 2023 after 41 years on the faculty. But it has also been my great pleasure to serve as St. John’s Organist in Residence since 2021.
At St. John’s I work closely with Music Director Richard Gray and the choir, and play for the Christmas and Easter holidays as well as Evensongs, the annual Lessons and Carols service, and other services. It was a special honor to participate in the national conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians at our church in 2024.
St. John’s excellent E. M. Skinner organ has a long history. Originally installed in late 1922, our instrument came from one of America’s premiere builders of pipe organs, located in Boston. The organ was then what we would deem a rather “small” four-manual, with 30 ranks of pipes and 1,960 pipes in all. The organ was enlarged in the 1960s by the M. P. Moeller Company, and again in 2007 by the Schantz Organ Company, and now comprises 55 ranks and 3,345 pipes. The Schantz Company replaced the organ console, and added the small Antiphonal division, located at the entrance to the nave, in order to help support congregational singing.
It has already been almost twenty years since the organ’s last major renovation, and the “wear and tear” of constant use is showing up with some mechanical problems. When Richard Gray invited me to give a recital, I decided this would be an opportunity to benefit the Organ Fund, support the ongoing care of the instrument, and help lay the groundwork for a future major organ project. I am looking forward very much to giving an organ concert to benefit the Organ Fund at St. John’s on Friday, January 23 at 7pm.
My recital will feature music by J. S. Bach, Herbert Howells, and Louis Vierne, and will also include a couple of “rarities.” 2025 was the 150th anniversary of the birth of the well-known humanitarian, physician, and organist Albert Schweitzer. Two short pieces that Schweitzer composed when a teenager have just been published in Germany a few months ago, and I will be pleased to include these in my program.
I will also play a beautiful piece by St. John’s former organist George Fairclough. Fairclough served St. John’s from 1901-1942. He was also the first organ professor at the University of Minnesota (I was the sixth!), and I am very pleased to be part of the history connecting the University to St. John’s. In Fairclough’s “Eventide” we will hear the original colors of the Skinner organ as it sounded a century ago.
The program on January 23 will be in the Church and also livestreamed on YouTube. It will last an hour, and we will join for a reception in the CYF Center (aka the undercroft) afterwards. I hope you can join me for this event!