The internationally acclaimed concert organist, Wolfgang Rübsam, along with his former student, recording artist Dr. Julia Brown, will be in residency at the UO School of Music for the 2021 John D. Hamilton Organ and Harpsichord Visiting Artist Series. 

Dr. John Hamilton, former University of Oregon (UO) School of Music and Dance Professor of Organ, who passed away in 2014, left an endowed gift to support and maintain the school’s world-renowned Baroque-style pipe organ by Jürgen Ahrend and to ensure that an annual concert is performed on it. As our Visiting Guest Artists for 2021, we have invited Wolfgang Rübsam and Dr. Julia Brown, to come, teach and perform at the UO School of Music and Dance from Oct. 11 – 15, 2021. Before his UO residency, Rübsam will perform an all-Bach organ recital at Central Lutheran Church, Eugene, on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 4:00 PM on their Brombaugh organ. As a part of their residency, Brown and Rübsam will offer a masterclass which is open to the public, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM in Beall Concert Hall.

Rübsam and Brown will present a Harpsichord Concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, at Berwick Hall at the University of Oregon. The Thursday harpsichord recital will feature works by Sweelinck, Louis Couperin, CPE Bach, and JS Bach. Together they will present the John D. Hamilton Memorial Organ Recital on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at 7:30 pm. Friday’s organ recital includes works by Marchand, Buxtehude, Scheidemann, deGrigny, and JS Bach.

Wolfgang Rübsam is internationally known for his over 100 highly acclaimed organ repertoire recordings of baroque and romantic literature, as well as for his Naxos Bach recordings on the modern piano. Since 2017 he has also made many recordings on the “Lautenwerk,” a special harpsichord with gut strings without dampers, an instrument that Johann Sebastian Bach loved very much because of its cantabile character. When Wolfgang Rübsam won the Grand Prix de Chartres in interpretation in 1973, he became professor of church music and organ at Northwestern University in Chicago / Evanston, Illinois. During his 23-year tenure, he was also a university organist at the University of Chicago for the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. In the 14 years following, he taught at the University of Music in Saarbrücken Germany. Rubsam has given numerous concerts and master classes in the USA and in Europe, as well as serving on juries for the most renowned international organ competitions.

Projecting “a warmly musical personality”, Julia Brown’s many recordings on Naxos hail her as an “unquestionably first-class artist and superb technician… exceptionally sensitive”.  Her organ and harpsichord recordings of W. F. Bach, J. S. Bach, Buxtehude and Scheidemann have gained high critical acclaim.  In demand as a historical keyboardist and collaborative artist, Brown’s performances include chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and continuo playing, in addition to solo recitals.  Brown has appeared in concert in North and South America and in Europe, having performed at the Oregon Bach Festival, Astoria Music Festival, Chico Bach Festival, American Guild of Organists Regional and National Conventions, Organ Historical Society Conventions, Latin American Organist Conventions, and National Public Radio.  Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brown studied piano, harpsichord, and organ in her native Brazil before receiving her MM and DMA from Northwestern University as a student of Wolfgang Rübsam. Julia is Director of Music and Organist at Mayflower Congregational Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

All events in the John D. Hamilton Performance Series are open to the public. Attendees are required to wear masks in all UO and SOMD buildings and performance spaces.
For more information: Barbara Baird, 541-346-3791, bbaird@uoregon.edu.