🎼 Pamela Decker
Below is an expanded showcase of the featured composers and world premieres at the 2018 AGO National Convention in Kansas City (July 2–6), spotlighting artistic innovation, biographical depth, and premieres that enriched the event’s legacy.
Bio & Legacy
Dr. Pamela Decker, a Stanford-educated composer and organist (Fulbright scholar in Germany), received the prestigious AGO Distinguished Composer Award in 2018. Her compositions—spanning choral, orchestral, solo organ, and chamber—are performed and recorded globally.
Work & Premiere
Commissioned by the convention, The Seven Last Words and Triumph of Christ is a monumental nine-part cycle (~40 min) for solo organ, paired with interpretive dance choreographed by Kaley Jensen. The world premiere, performed by Douglas Cleveland, was a featured evening concert during the convention.
Composer’s Vision
Decker fused deep spirituality and modern expressivity:
“The Seven Last Words” explores Christ’s final phrases with dialogic organ writing, while “Triumph of Christ” culminates in a musically vivid exultation.
Her use of dance aimed to embody narrative through movement, creating a multidimensional experience.
Innovation & Legacy
This work expanded the convention’s artistic scope—bringing visual art into organ performance—and reinforced Decker’s legacy as a composer uniting profound theology, organ tradition, and contemporary innovation.
Emma Lou Diemer — Remembering
Bio & Legacy
Born in 1927 in Kansas City, Emma Lou Diemer is a celebrated American composer known for her versatile output, including organ, choral, and orchestral works.
Work & Premiere
Remembering, a reflective piece for solo organ, meditates on World War I remembrance and was premiered at the convention.
Composer’s Vision
Drawing emotional resonance from civic memory, Diemer bridges personal and collective reflections, subtly invoking the era’s bittersweet tones.
Innovation & Legacy
By engaging historical remembrance, Diemer connected contemporary audiences with the century-old past while reiterating the organ’s capacity for elegiac depth.
Frank Ferko — Cartes Postales de la Guerre
Bio & Legacy
Frank Ferko (b. 1950) is an American composer acclaimed for sacred choral works. His choral and vocal compositions are known for their layered emotion and literary foundation.
Work & Premiere
Cartes Postales de la Guerre (“Postcards from the War”) is a new piece for organ and mezzo‑soprano. It premiered in a Thursday workshop session (July 5), performed by Benjamin Sheen (organ) and Julia Scozzafava (mezzo) at St. Andrew’s Episcopal.
Composer’s Vision
The work weaves personal correspondence from wartime into musical snapshots—juxtaposing tenderness and trauma, spotlighting the organ’s ability to dialogue intimately with voice.
Innovation & Legacy
Ferko’s premiere exemplified the convention’s dedication to new collaborative works, blurring lines between solo instrument and voice, anchored firmly in history yet resonant today.
Sir James MacMillan — Everyone Sang
Bio & Legacy
Sir James MacMillan (b. 1959), a leading Scottish composer, is globally hailed for music rooted in faith, politics, and a visceral orchestral language.
Work & Premiere
Everyone Sang, set for organ and choir, also centers on WWI reflection. It brought MacMillan’s emotionally potent style to Kansas City audiences via choir-accompanied premiere.
Composer’s Vision
Employing Hughes’s poem about liberation amid tragedy, MacMillan’s setting blesses the chorus while uniting community and musician in shared remembrance.
Innovation & Legacy
This premiere highlighted the organ’s role in memorial ritual and communal expression, echoing liturgical significance in secular workshop presentations.
Cecilia McDowall — O Antiphon Sequence
Bio & Legacy
An award-winning British composer (b. 1951), Cecilia McDowall is renowned for lyrical choral and instrumental works—often rooted in sacred texts.
Work & Premiere
She contributed O Antiphon Sequence, a solo organ piece exploring Gregorian fragments within a contemporary framework.
Composer’s Vision
By reimagining medieval chants through modern harmony and structure, McDowall created a work that fuses liturgical reverence with surprising sonic textures.
Innovation & Legacy
Her piece exemplified the convention’s mission to reinvigorate tradition with creativity, bridging centuries in a single composition.
Jean-Baptiste Robin — The Hands of Time
Bio & Legacy
French composer and organist Jean-Baptiste Robin (b. 1976) blends improvisational depth with a strong compositional voice, grounded in French organ tradition.
Work & Premiere
The Hands of Time, for solo organ, reflects on temporality and motion—with clock-like motifs unfolding and receding.
Composer’s Vision
Robin wrote of the passage of time as an organ piece: “organic, inevitable, fluid yet precise,” channeling his background in French Romantic and contemporary idioms.
Innovation & Legacy
This premiere continued the convention’s celebration of European organ idioms interpreted afresh, spotlighting Robin’s rhythmic brilliance and poetic pacing.
Chen Yi — Totem Poles
Bio & Legacy
Chinese-American composer Chen Yi (b. 1953) fuses Eastern and Western traditions. Her oeuvre, including concertos and choral works, is celebrated for its vibrant textures and cross-cultural synthesis.
Work & Premiere
Totem Poles, a solo organ work, premiered in Kansas City .
Composer’s Vision
Evoking monumental carvings and cultural symbolism, the piece layers rhythmic ostinati with pentatonic-inspired melodies, invoking ceremony and motion.
Innovation & Legacy
Chen Yi’s premiere portrayed the organ as a canvas for global narratives, integrating Chinese musical heritage into a Western liturgical instrument.
Benjamin Cornelius-Bates — Sonata No. 1
Bio & Legacy
An up-and-coming composer, Benjamin Cornelius-Bates contributed to the AGO’s Marilyn Mason Award segment—supporting emerging voices.
Work & Premiere
His Sonata No. 1—written for intermediate organists—was premiered during the convention.
Composer’s Vision
Aimed at accessibility, the sonata balanced technical approachability with musical integrity, offering engaging structure for students and professionals alike.
Innovation & Legacy
Cornelius-Bates represents the next generation of organ composers fostering educational repertoire.
Mark Kurtz — Re‑Formation (after Bach)
Bio & Legacy
Mark Kurtz is the recipient of the AGO/Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition.
Work & Premiere
Re‑Formation (after Bach) premiered in Kansas City—transforming Bach-sourced thematic material into a fresh organ composition.
Composer’s Vision
Kurtz reflected:
“By deconstructing Bach motivic fragments and reassembling them, the work nods to tradition while exploring modern sonic possibilities.”
Innovation & Legacy
This creative homage highlighted the convention’s ethos: honoring Bach’s legacy through contemporary reinterpretation and inventive exploration.
Dr. Tony Maglione — The Wedding of Solomon
Bio & Legacy
Dr. Tony Maglione, based in Kansas City and affiliated with the local AGO chapter, is known for compositions and liturgical music contributions.
Work & Premiere
The Wedding of Solomon, commissioned specifically by the 2018 AGO Convention, celebrated the event’s community identity and local artistry .
Composer’s Vision
Scored for organ (possibly with choir), the piece invoked biblical imagery while embedding Kansas City’s musical character—musical architecture echoing regional resonance.
Innovation & Legacy
Maglione’s premiere exemplified local talent engagement, rooting the international event in community creativity.
🎶 Additional Featured Works
- David Conte – “Soliloquy” (organ solo), performed by Todd Wilson at Community of Christ.
- Kurt Knecht – “Romance & Tarantella” (organ solo), performed by Christopher Marks.
- Thomas Kerr – “Arietta,” presented by Caroline Robinson at Village Presbyterian.
- Stephen Paulus – “As if the whole creation cried,” performed by Michael Bauer.
- Henry Lodge, Ann Ronell, Newell Chase, Dave Wickerham — selections performed in silent‑film organ concerts at Music Hall.
🎹 Summary: Innovation & Artistic Legacy
| Composer & Work | Why It Mattered |
| Pamela Decker – Seven Last Words | Central commission; fused dance, organ, spirituality |
| Diemer, Ferko, MacMillan | Connected organ music to WWI remembrance |
| McDowall, Robin, Chen Yi | Emphasized historical, temporal, and cross-cultural depth |
| Cornelius-Bates, Kurtz | Supported emerging composers & creative reinterpretations |
| Maglione | Celebrated local artistry within a global event |
These premieres formed a rich tapestry of artistry—ranging from deeply personal reflection to communal celebration, traditional homage to radical reinterpretation. They reinforced the AGO’s vision: the organ as a living, vibrant voice, capable of engaging memory, culture, design, and innovation.
✨ Conclusion
The 2018 AGO National Convention showcased creative breadth and depth, elevating the organ’s modern relevance. Through distinguished premieres and commissions—from globally renowned composers to rising regional voices—the convention honored legacy while nurturing innovation. Each work, in its solo, choral, or theatrical form, reaffirmed the organ’s place as a dynamic instrument of both reverence and exploration, leaving a lasting legacy in Kansas City and beyond.