Virtuoso Concert Organist to Play as Part of Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

WORCESTER, Mass. – Stephen Hamilton, virtuoso concert organist, will perform Sunday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel at the College of the Holy Cross. The concert is free and open to the public.

As part of the Holy Cross Chapel Artists Series, the program will feature organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Barnardo Pasquini, Antonio Valente and Felix Mendelssohn. This concert, as well as the entire 2007-2008 Holy Cross Chapel Artists Series, is dedicated to the memory of renowned composer Daniel Pinkham, who died in December of 2006.

"Dr. Stephen Hamilton is one of New York City's most prominent organists; he is highly regarded as a superb teacher and a brilliant performer,” hails James David Christie, distinguished artist in residence at Holy Cross.

Hamilton is the minister of music at the historic Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal), in New York City, where he conducts the semi-professional Holy Trinity Choir and is artistic director of music at Holy Trinity, the church's concert series. He is a member of the artist faculties at Hunter, Mannes and Queens Colleges and is a teacher of master classes and workshops, frequently lecturing on issues related to church music as well as organ teaching, playing and interpretation.

Hamilton has played in hundreds of solo recitals and has been on the nationally broadcast radio program Pipe Dreams and on WETS-FM's Pipes, Pedals and Pistons. His CD release of Marcel Dupré's  “Le Chemin de la Croix” received exceptional reviews from a number of magazines including The American Organist and The American Record Guide.

Pinkham, one of America’s most active and most-performed composers, taught at New England Conservatory from 1958 until 2000.  In addition to composing, he was an organist, harpsichordist, conductor, pioneer in the early music movement, and longtime music director at Boston’s historic King’s Chapel. With an A.B. and an M.A from Harvard University, his scholarship and work were recognized with a Fulbright Fellowship in 1950 and a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1962. He received six honorary degrees: New England Conservatory, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Adrian College, Westminster Choir College, Ithaca College, and the Boston Conservatory.