Tickling big keys

The Jacobs School of Music has appointed two internationally prominent performer-teachers to its organ department. Organists Janette Fishell and Todd Wilson will begin their tenure as professors of music in the fall.\nThe two will replace Chancellor’s Professor of Music Marilyn Keiser and Professor of Music Larry Smith, both of whom will retire within the next year. Keiser will retire in May, while Smith will retire in December. \nThough the retirement of two out of three organ professors is unusual, the School of Music is thrilled to add two well-known professors to its ranks.\n“(Fishell and Wilson) are both remarkable performers with established careers,” said Gwyn Richards, dean of the School of Music. “They have a wealth of wisdom about church music; organ repertoire, and they have wonderful ideas about the future of the profession.” \nFishell said she currently teaches at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., where she heads the Organ Performance and Sacred Music degree programs. She’s also the chair of the keyboard studies department, she said. She is director of music and principal organist at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, has been a featured recitalist and lecturer at 10 conventions of the American Guild of Organists and is founder and artistic director of the East Carolina Religious Arts Festival. \nShe said she has released numerous CDs of her performances and has played in many of the world’s greatest concert venues, such as Suntory Hall in Tokyo; King’s College in Cambridge, England; and the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary.\nAs an IU alumna, Fishell said she is ecstatic to return to her alma mater.\n“The Jacobs School of Music has so much to do with who I’ve become as a musician and teacher,” Fishell said. “The idea of being a student there and now returning as a professor is amazing. I want to be the kind of professor that I had at IU.” \nWilson said he is currently head of the organ department at the Cleveland Institute of Music and he teaches at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Wilson is also director of music and an organist at The Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian) in Cleveland, where he heads a program of choirs as well as a concert series. In addition, he said he serves as organ curator of the recently restored E. M. Skinner organ at Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra. \nAfter receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, he said he received further coaching in organ repertoire at The Eastman School of Music. \nHe has also won numerous competitions, including the Grand Prix de Chartres and the National Organ Playing Competition in Fort Wayne. Wilson has released several CDs, and his latest features a live recital of American music from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. His active interest in improvisation led to his popular improvised accompaniments to classic silent films.\nWilson is also looking forward to his new position. \n“In every respect, it is a fabulous opportunity,” Wilson said. “I’ve always wanted to teach in an organ department with more than one teacher, and there are very few in this country. There is terrific potential for what can be done at IU in the next few years.”\nWilson said he looks forward to new challenges.\n “It will be a totally new chapter for the organ department at IU,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being a part of it.” \nStudents are also eager to learn from Fishell and Wilson. \n“I think it’s fair to say that we are pretty excited,” said Andrew Kotylo, doctoral candidate in organ performance and literature. “Not just because of the ‘name’ factor of these two teachers within the profession, but because they are legitimately brilliant teachers with unique talents that will complement each other and remaining faculty member, Dr. Christopher Young, who is brilliant in his own right.” \nKotylo said he hopes the addition of Fishell and Wilson will draw more top students to the organ department and believes their addition demonstrates the School of Music’s commitment to the future success of the organ program. \n“Everyone, naturally, wants to be a part of something that is a winner,” Kotylo said. “It will be hard for anyone to argue that with Wilson, Fishell and Young comprising the faculty, there is any better organ program in the country than IU.” \nThe School of Music was not planning to hire two professors right away. \n“We were going to wait until next year to look for the third person, but when we met them both, we were so struck,” Richards said. “We saw two extraordinary people at the height of their profession. We thought if they were both interested in coming to Bloomington, then we needed to take advantage of their interest.” \nFishell said she is glad that IU jumped on the opportunity. \n“We have the pleasure of writing the next chapter,” Fishell said. “We have the opportunity to go in new directions. I am excited beyond words.”