A virtual interview with Patrick.
When you planned your program, were there aspects of this organ you considered or that you wanted to highlight?
I was honored when Elizabeth Lenti asked me to be part of the anniversary recital series. I spent some time planning a program of music, some of which I had learned before, along with a few new pieces. With the exception of a single work by J. S. Bach, it's a program by English and American composers. I think it is especially important for American organists to play music by American composers, and there is always something new to learn. My favorite piece on the entire program might be a creative little miniature by the late McNeil Robinson—his quiet setting of the hymntune Llanfair. The timing of this particular recital coincides with another performance at Saint Thomas Church in New York in October, and I'll play much of the same music there. The organ at St. Peter's speaks with many different kinds of sounds and voices, so I've tried to adapt the music I'll play to highlight some of the beautiful sounds it contains.
When you were the first assistant organist at St. Peter's, you were involved in some of the initial planning and design for this instrument. But while you were at graduate school at Indiana, the organ design was completed and built. What was it like coming back and playing this brand new instrument for the first time?
Fisk had already been chosen as the builder when I worked at St. Peter's, but the tonal scheme and design were really the product organist and choirmaster at the time, Ben Outen. I sat in on one conference call with Steve Dieck, Ben, and a few other key persons on the organ committee. Ben went on a study tour with Fisk to France at one point, and was inspired to incorporate many French characteristics instrument, which I think was achieved. I played the organ for the first time when I was home on a break from Indiana not long after its installation in 2010. I had not been inside St. Peter's since all of the renovations were completed, so it was a novel experience to walk in and see a beautiful chapel where the previous organ chamber had been, along with beautiful new floors and a refreshed interior. One of my favorite things about the nave are the red caps on the pendant lighting; so much dust had accumulated over the years that no one remembered they were a beautiful, deep red color!
As an active recitalist, you play pipe organs in a range of venues. Are there qualities of this Fisk that really stand out to you or that you look forward to incorporating into your performing or programming?
Fisk organs are known to be instruments of first-rate craftsmanship, and the firm has made a name for itself chiefly in this regard. The company's artisans take great care and pride in their work. Fisk organs are also known to be voiced boldly and extrovertedly, and the resulting sounds their instruments make are unmistakeable. The organ at St. Peter's has a beautiful color palette that is always pleasing to sit down and explore. This is also true of the two Fisks at Indiana University that I have had the opportunity and privilege to play.
