For More Information Contact:
Elisa C. Marus
(901) 268-2588
[email protected]
March 19, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Peter Celebrates 175th Anniversary
With National Renowned Organist Bruce Neswick
Memphis- St. Peter Catholic Church is engaged in a yearlong celebration of its 175th anniversary and is proud to announce the Hymn Festival, “A Symphony of Psalms” on Sunday, May 10 at 4:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. This ecumenical worship service will feature nationally renowned organist Bruce Neswick and is co-sponsored by the Memphis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The service will include hymns performed by a choir composed of singers from throughout the city, readings, and organ works inspired by the biblical book of Psalms.
As a recitalist, Neswick has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe and has been a featured performer at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. Currently, he serves as Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon. Previously, Neswick was Professor of Music in Organ and Sacred Music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and Director of Music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where he directed the Cathedral Choir of Girls, Boys and Adults and had oversight of the musical life of that historic Cathedral.
Active in the field of church music, Neswick has been on the faculties of and performed at several church music conferences, including most recently, at St. Florian Abbey in Austria, in the annual BrucknerFest, the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative conference, and the Yale Organ Week. His skill at improvisation garnered him three first prizes from the 1989 San Anselmo Organ Festival; the 1990 American Guild of Organists’ national convention in Boston; and the 1992 Rochette Concours at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland.
Neswick holds a Master of Music from Yale University in 1980 and a Bachelor of Music from Pacific Lutheran University in 1978. His teachers have included Robert Baker, David Dahl, Gerre Hancock, Margaret Irwin-Brandon and Lionel Rogg. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Neswick has served the Guild in many capacities, including chapter dean, regional convention chair, regional education coordinator, member of the national nominating committee and member of the national improvisation competition committee.
This event is free and open to the public. A reception will immediately follow the service. For more information on the Hymn Festival and upcoming events for St. Peter’s 175th Anniversary, visit http://www.stpeterchurch.org/175