 Richard Webster |
Webster is organist and choirmaster at the Parish Church of St. Luke’s in Evanston, Ill. As a Fulbright scholar he studied the English choral tradition and served as organ scholar at Chichester Cathedral. At St. Luke’s he leads the Choir of Men and Boys, The Girls Choir, Adult Schola, and the St. Luke’s Singers in a program that is respected internationally in the field of church music.
Webster has played recitals across the U.S., as well as England, France, Belgium, Germany, and South Africa. As a composer he has contributed much to the field of new church music. He was commissioned to compose two new hymn settings for the opening service of the 2002 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Philadelphia. A frequent organist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he has performed and recorded with them in works from Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle to Ives’s Fourth Symphony. The widely popular compact disc Fanfare! features his music.
The three-manual Aeolian-Skinner organ at Wabash College is one of the finest in the region. Through a generous endowment, named for Wabash alumnus Roger H. Ide (Wabash Class of 1959), the organ was completely renovated and upgraded in 1998. The inaugural recital was performed by Marilyn Keiser, and subsequent recitals have been given by David Goode, David Murray, and Thiery Escaich.
Webster will offer a varied program of works by North German baroque masters, compositions by Czech composers, contemporary American works, and Maurice Duruflé’s Toccata from Suite, Op. 5.
The concert is free and open to the public.