Workshop 1: Boosting Your Practice Session with Improvisation

In this presentation, Dr. Spencer Miller will demonstrate how to use improvisation within a practice session to improve overall musicianship, solidify repertoire, and advance one’s creative abilities. Dr. Miller will first introduce a different way to think about improvisation, and then demonstrate improvisational templates as well as how to create improvisation exercises from one’s current repertoire.

Workshop 2: Introduction to the Pipe Organ / Parallels between Piano and Organ Repertoire 

Dr. Will Thomas will provide a brief introduction to the pipe organ by demonstrating the different pallet of colors the instrument contains. He will also discuss basic fundamentals of pedal technique by playing musical segments from major organ repertoire including an example form a  J. S. Bach fugue and a movement from a composition by César Franck. During the presentation, Dr. Thomas will discuss the organ compositions of German Romantic composers Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms who are more associated with the piano. Additionally, Dr. Thomas will perform the third movement from Mendelssohn’s fourth organ sonata as well as a Brahms composition based on a German Choral.