SNC:AGO RECITALISTS

Jillian Gardner: January 11, 2019

Jillian Gardner is completing her studies at Baylor University in the the Artist Diploma program with Dr. Isabelle Demers. She began studying organ at age fourteen with Stephen Best of Utica, New York, and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Organ performance in 2015 from the Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Jack Mitchener, James David Christie, Marie-Louise Langlais and Webb Wiggins. She completed her Master’s degree in Organ Performance (2017) with Dr. Demers at Baylor University.

Gardner was a featured artist at the 2014 and 2017 Organ Historical Society Conventions in Syracuse, New York, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has performed in many prestigious venues in the United States. In July 2016 she gave recitals at Chester, Coventry, Truro and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedrals in the United Kingdom and in 2018 recitals at St. Paul Cathedral (London), St. George’s Hanover-Square (London) and St. Mary Redcliffe Church (Bristol).

Between 2013 and 2017 Gardner won a number of organ competitions in the United States and Canada. The Diapason magazine named her in its first class of “Top 20 under30” which recognizes musicians under the age of 30 who have made significant contributions in organ performance, harpsichord and church music.

Ms. Gardner has been the organist at churches in New York and Ohio. Currently the Director of Music and Organist at Austin Avenue United Methodist Church in Waco, Texas, she oversees the music program and directs the adult Chancel Choir and Handbell Ensemble. At the McGill Summer Organ Academy in Montreal, Canada (2013, 2015) she studied with Olivier Latry, Hank Knox and Hans-Ola Ericsson. She is the National Convener for AGO’s Young Organists and is the Dean of the Baylor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Passionate about making the organ accessible to as many people as possible. Gardner’s diverse programs and signature pink organ shoes brighten each of her colorful performances. She is an advocate for physical fitness, believing that a healthy mind and body contribute to the quality of one’s artistry. Gardner is enthusiastic about travel in the United States and abroad as she pursues a combined career as a church organist, teacher and recitalist.

Visit the artist’s website: Click Here

THE PROGRAM

Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, Opus 99, 3: Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Douze Courtes Pièces, Opus 86: Rachel Laurin (b. 1961)

Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Les Corps Glorieux: Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

V. Force et agilité des Corps Glorieux:

Fugue in G Minor: Albert Lewis Barnes (1861-1906)

The Sleeping Beauty: Act III, Opus 66: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).
Transcribed by Jillian Gardner

#23 Pas de Quatre
#23c La Fée-Argent (The Silver Fairy)
#25b Cendrillon et Fortuné (Cinderella and Prince Fortune)
#25c L’oiseau Bleu et la Princess Florine (The Blue Bird and Princess Florine)
#26a Chaperon Rouge et le Loup (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf)
#30 Apotheose.

Organ Sonata No. 8, Opus 132: Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
IV Passacaglia