First Friday Concert - April 5, 2024 @ 12:10 p.m.

The First Friday Concert at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1000 Michigan Ave., La Porte will be April 5 at 12:10 p.m. It will feature Tim King, a native of Central Kentucky with degrees from Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Louisville. He is a former Executive Director of The Louisville Orchestra and the retired Executive Director of the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra.

His singing career includes more than 175 appearances with orchestras ranging from Buffalo, NY, and Columbus, OH, to Las Vegas, NV, and Santa Barbara, CA.

He will be singing “An Updated American Songbook” with composers such as
Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Jerome Kern, but also Joni Mitchell, Josh Groban and Alan Menken.

He will be accompanied on piano by Jeff Otto, a Northwest Indiana musician.  He is pianist with the Midwest Big Band, a local 17-piece orchestra; and he plays keys with Gone 2 Paradise, a Jimmy Buffett tribute ensemble. He routinely serves as musical director for local theatre productions. He’s always performing somewhere.

Program - An Updated Great American Song Book

TIM KING, VOCALIST & JEFF OTTO, ACCOMPANIST

  • ISN’T IT ROMANTIC? (from “Love Me Tonight”) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart 1932

  • I GOT RHYTHM (from “Girl Crazy”) George and Ira Gershwin 1930

  • THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (from “Swing Time”) Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields 1936

  • I LOVE A PIANO (from “Stop!, Look!, Listen!”) Irving Berlin 1920

  • BOTH SIDES NOW Joni Mitchell 1969

  • AWAKE Josh Groban, Thomas Salter and Eric Mouquet 2006

  • EVERMORE (From “Beauty & the Beast) Alan Menken and Tim Rice 2017

First Friday Concert - March 1, 2024 @ 12:10 p.m.

Our musician for our March 1, 2024 First Friday Concert is our very own John Gouwens. Join us at St. Paul’s (1000 Michigan Avenue) at 12:10 p.m. for what is sure to be a lively performance.

John Gouwens served as Organist and Carillonneur at Culver Academies from 1980 to 2019. He is now Organist and Choirmaster at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, and Carillonneur at The Presbyterian Church, both here in La Porte. He is very active in every aspect of the carillon field, including composing and arranging music, authoring a method book for teaching, performing throughout North America and Europe, and consulting on carillon installations (including The Children’s Carillon at The Presbyterian Church). He studied organ at Indiana University (with Clyde Holloway), The University of Michigan (with Robert Glasgow and Robert Clark), and at The University of Kansas. At the latter, his main emphasis, ultimately, was carillon, which he studied with Albert Gerken. He proceeded directly from Kansas to his position at Culver. He has made eight recital tours in Europe, most recently in the summer of 2023, playing recitals in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Poland.

Program

  • Overture, from The Occasional Oratorio................................. George Frideric Handel (1746) | Transcribed by Noel Rawsthorne | (1685–1759)

  • Psalm Prelude, Set 1, Op. 32, No. 1....................................... Herbert Howells. (1915)    (1892–1983)

  • Chorale Prelude from Opus 122................................................ Johannes Brahms. (1896) } O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded  (Hymn 168)  |  (1833–1897)

  • Eclogue, Op. 10 for piano and strings........................................ Gerald Finzi. (1927) | (Transcribed by Robert Gower) | (1901–1956)

  • Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat, Op. 99, No. 3................................... Camille Saint-Saëns

  • Hymn and Improvisation: [Tune to be announced]........................ to be announced

  • Concerto for Harpsichord in D, S. 1054:  1. Allegro.................. Johann Sebastian Bach. (Transcribed by Bernard Winsemius) | (1685-1750)

 

Further recitals by John Gouwens

Sunday, March 17, 4:00pm – Organ Recital at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Valparaiso, Indiana

Sunday, May 19, 3:00pm – Carillon Recital at The Presbyterian Church, La Porte

Sunday, July 7, 2024, 7:00pm – (all-American) Carillon Recital at The Presbyterian Church, La Porte

Sunday, September 1, 7:00pm – Carillon Recital at The Presbyterian Church, La Porte

Sunday, December 1, 3:00pm – Carillon Recital at The Presbyterian Church, La Porte