Hope College welcomes organist James Diaz for the 2004 Donia Organ Recital at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Diaz was named First Prize winner at the second Dallas International Organ Competition in March of 2000. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree on a full scholarship at the University of Michigan, where he studied with Robert Glasgow, he went on to receive a master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1994, he won both the Gold Medal and the Concerto Prize at the Calgary International Organ Competition in Canada. He is featured on a recording of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on the New World Records label. Currently he is organist and choirmaster at St. Michael and All Angels' Episcopal Church in Dallas.
"Nothing seemed too difficult for this masterful young organist," reviewed "The Calgary Herald" after a Canadian performance.
His performance at Hope College will include "Fanfare" by John Cook, Eugene Gigout's "Scherzo," Marcel Dupre's "Carillon, Op. 27, no. 4" and "Fileuse, Op. 21, no. 2," and excerpts from "Suite Francaise" by Jean Langlais, as well as other works.
The recital at Hope was made possible through 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 College Avenue at 12th Street.