The American Guild of Organists (AGO) will be convening in Augusta for the first time in nearly 40 years, this month.
The guild is an international, educational and professional organization of academic, church and concert organ musicians, headquartered in New York City. Alongside its national convention every even-numbered year, AGO holds regional conventions in odd numbered years, alternating between major U.S. cities.
Augusta will be the site of the Southeast AGO Region Convention, one of six cities awarded conventions this year. The Augusta chapter of the guild has raised some $40,000 in grants and donations toward hosting the conference in the CSRA — including from the Knox and Porter Fleming Foundations.
“We have had the most success of any of the six cities involved in this,” said Keith Shafer, convention coordinator and dean of AGO’s Augusta chapter, noting most regional conventions have raised roughly $10,000, and so were only able to hire two prominent organists.
AGO Augusta, however, was able to book six internationally recognized musicians for the four-day event, including renowned organists Chelsea Chen, Alcee Chriss, Jens Korndörfer and Vincent Dubois.
“It’s the old, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” said Shafer, who was a novice in the guild the last time the convention came to Augusta in 1987. “Our entire national leadership in New York City is coming to our convention.”
The convention will start June 18 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church downtown. Over the course of the convention, there will be performances at different churches in Aiken (such as St. Thaddeus Episcopal and St. John’s United Methodist) and Augusta.
While church music will be part of some of the organists’ repertoires — some of the performers, such as Korndörfer, are even worship leaders — selections will also include classical and contemporary organ music.
“A number of the organists that we’re bringing in have arranged their own pieces of music, and there’s even some rock music included in it,” said Shafer. “So it’s a wide ranging program, not just limited to the church.”
A robust schedule concerts will be complemented by other attractions and activities, including music displays and demonstrations, reading sessions, and workshops on topics as varied as how to put together one’s own Hauptwerk organ, to getting compositions published, to balancing career and family.
“A lot of hard-working volunteers put this convention together,” Shafer said. “We’re looking forward to welcoming people from all over the country to Augusta and Aiken.”
The American Guild of Organists Southeast Region Convention 2023 will start on Sunday, June 18, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 605 Reynolds St., at 1 p.m., and will continue through Wednesday, June 21 at various locations throughout Augusta and Aiken.
For more information, including ticket prices and event schedules, visit www.ago23augusta.org.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
