Organ Program at USU Presents Performance and Award

Utah State University’s Department of Music is celebrating the second anniversary of the Campbell Holtkamp Organ rededication with a performance Friday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m., in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center on the Logan campus.

“This performance is to honor the support of the Campbell family and its dedication to the program,” said Lynn Thomas, director of organ studies in the Caine College of the Arts.

Each year around this time, the organ program will host a commemorative performance to honor the family and award the Campbell Organ Prize to someone who has performed a significant service to those in the state of Utah who play the organ. This year’s award goes to Parley Belnap, emeritus professor of organ at Utah State University and Brigham Young University.

“Most organists of significance from Utah likely studied under Parley Belnap,” said Thomas. “He was instrumental in getting the Campbell Holtkamp organ to Utah State when he taught here and was also one of the first professors in the organ program with significant credentials and background.”

This year’s performance will also feature guest artist Eric Gundersen, a music alumnus who is the music director at the St. James Episcopal Church in Conroe, Texas. Gundersen served as guest organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City while attending Utah State University, focusing on music training and organ studies. After graduating from USU, he went on to earn a master’s degree from Yale University and a doctorate degree from Rice University. Gundersen has performed at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, and more throughout Europe and the United States.

“I invited Eric to be the guest artist for this performance because he has gone on to remarkable heights as an organist,” said Thomas. “Yale University is a top level school for church musicians, and earning a degree in music from Rice University is as prestigious as earning a degree in engineering from MIT.”

The Campbell Organ performance is free and open to the public. For more information visit the Caine College of the Arts Box Office in room 139-B in the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s campus, call 435-797-8022 or see the college’s Production Services website.

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Writer: Kara Rindlisbacher, 435-797-9203, kara.rindlisbacher@usu.edu

Contact: Denise Albiston, 435-797-1500, denise.albiston@usu.edu