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Organists pick Youngstown for convention
By Guy D’Astolfo
YOUNGSTOWN
The biannual convention of the American Guild of Organists Great Lakes Region will be in Youngstown in 2017.
The Youngstown chapter of the AGO will host the four-day event, which will draw 300 to 500 members, said Adam Zagotti, sub-dean of the chapter and convention coordinator.
Representatives from the AGO visited Youngstown several months and were impressed by its world-class pipe organs and venues, the architecture of downtown churches and Stambaugh Auditorium, said Zagotti, who is also the organist and music director at Trinity United Methodist Church, downtown.
“The councilor for the Great Lakes Region deemed Youngstown ‘a city that our members need to experience,’” said Zagotti.
The Youngstown AGO chapter, in conjunction with local churches, colleges and Stambaugh Auditorium, will offer guests a series of concerts and workshops at the 2017 event, many of which will be open to the public.
A fundraising campaign will be announced later this summer, said Zagotti. The Youngstown chapter wants to keep the cost of attending the convention low, and toward that end is seeking underwriters.
Interested people can contact Zagotti at 330-330-5733 or organist@trinityyoungstown.org.
The 2017 convention will include concerts, recitals and a competition for young organists from the region.
Venues will include St. Columba Cathedral, St. John Episcopal Church and First Presbyterian Church (both on Wick Avenue), Christ Episcopal Church in Warren, Stambaugh Auditorium, Bliss Recital Hall at Youngstown State University, and possibly Harbison Chapel at Grove City College, said Zagotti.
In addition to organs, performances will include choral music, handbells and instrumental ensembles.
Committees will be formed over the summer and by next year the slate of artists and lecturers will be finalized.
The Great Lakes Region includes Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, but AGO members can attend any regional convention and are not limited to their geographic region.
The conventions provide opportunities for members to hear great music performed by masters of the instrument, and connect with other members, said Zagotti.
The past two regional conventions were held in Lexington, Ky., in 2011; and Kalamazoo, Mich., in 2013.
The 2015 convention will be in Indianapolis.