Improvisation on the Organ with Guest Recitalist Robert McCormick

Join us for a talk and demonstration of improvisation with Robert McCormick, a master improviser who serves as organist and director of music at Church of the Good Shephard in Rosemount, PA. This talk is sponsored by the Portland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Check out an example of Robert’s playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=862N-qLAMZA

About the organist: Described by Choir & Organ as “indomitable and immensely gifted” and by The Macon Telegraph as “an artist of rare sensitivity and passion,” Robert McCormick is widely heralded by his colleagues as one of the finest concert and church musicians of this era. Concert appearances across the United States include Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Summer Organ Festival at the Riverside Church (New York), the Pittsburgh Organ Artists Series, the East Texas Organ Festival, Basically Bach Festival at St. Peter’s Lutheran (New York), the Great Organists series at St. John’s Cathedral in Albuquerque (New Mexico), the Atlanta Summer Organ Festival, concerto performances of works by Barber, Saint-Saëns, and Jongen, and recitals and workshops for numerous American Guild of Organists chapters. He has been a featured artist and clinician at numerous conventions and conferences of the AGO, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the Royal School of Church Music in America, playing recitals and services and presenting workshops on church music and choral training. He is widely known for his creative and unique abilities in organ improvisation.

His recording from St. Paul’s, K Street, We Sing of God, was released on the Pro Organo label. Choir & Organ’s review of the disc describes the choir as “one of the most responsive and adaptable choirs on the Eastern seaboard” and that “[McCormick] also shines at the organ.”

Mr. McCormick is the newly-appointed Organist and Director of Music at Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania. He was Organist and Choirmaster of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia from 2016-2023. This follows eight years as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Parish, K Street, Washington, D.C. and seven years as Organist and Music Director at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York.

He holds the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Westminster Choir College. During his time at Westminster he was also Assistant Organist at Trinity Church, Princeton. His teachers include McNeil Robinson and Robert Carwithen.

Robert McCormick is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.