An acknowledged leader of organ performance, French organ virtuoso Monsieur Daniel Roth will perform at Hope College on Tuesday, March 14, at 8 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Acclaimed by London's "Musical Times" as "a master
both stylistically and technically," Roth made his debut at
age 20 on the organ of the Basilique du Sacré Coeur in
Paris. There he eventually succeeded his teacher, Madame
Falcinelli, as Titular Organist. He was later appointed
Titular Organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, and was Artist-in-
Residence of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington, D.C.
Upon returning to France, he assumed teaching
positions at the Conservatory of Marseille, the Conservatory
of Strasbourg, and the Musikhochshules of Saarbrücken and
Frankfurt am Main. In 1971, Roth won the prestigious Grand
Prix de Chartres.
He has toured extensively in Europe, Great
Britain, Scandinavia, Japan, the United States and Canada,
and has been guest artist at the Third Congress of Organists
(Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia), the national
convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and
the national convention of The American Guild of Organists
(Detroit).
His latest CD releases are titled "Prelude and
Fugue on B-A-C-H," and the "Fantasie and Fugue on 'Ad nos.'"
His March 14 performance will include selections
such as "Fantasia Chromatica," by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck;
Bach's "Sonata II in C minor, BWV 526"; César Franck's
"Interlude Symphonique," transcribed by Roth for organ from
the orchestral score; and "Improvisation on a submitted
theme," composed by Roth himself.
This recital was made possible with the generous
support of the college's Tom Donia Memorial Organ Fund. The
fund was created in 1990 by family and friends of Tom Donia,
a 1971 Hope graduate who died in 1990. The director of
communications for the American Red Cross, Donia had a life-
long interest in music.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on the corner
of 12th Street and College Avenue on the campus of Hope
College.