Tuesday Organ Recital Series featuring Manuel Piazza (St. Thomas Huron Street, Toronto)

Описание: Tuesday Organ Recital Series
1:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 3'rd
Manuel Piazza, Organ


Poèmes évangéliques Jean Langlais (1907–1991)
I. L’Annonciation
II. La Nativité
III. Les Rameaux

Sixième symphonie, opus 59 (extraits / excerpts) Louis Vierne (1870–1937)
II. Aria
V. Final

L'orgue mystique, opus 56, n o 23: Charles Tournemire (1870–1939)
In Ascensione Domini (extrait / excerpt)
I. Prélude à l’Introït

L’Ascension (extrait / excerpt)
III. Transports de joie d’une âme devant Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)
la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne

Prélude, Adagio, et Choral varié Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986)
sur le “Veni Creator”, opus 4


Manuel Piazza

Manuel Piazza is the Assistant Director of Music at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church in Toronto, where he accompanies the High Mass and Evensong choirs and directs the parish's new children’s choral program, The St. Thomas’s Choristers. He won first prize in the 2021 RCCO National Organ Playing Competition and second prize in the 2024 Elizabeth B Stephens International Organ Competition, and he has held significant church positions in Canada, the United States, and England. Manuel completed his Bachelor in Organ Performance at the University of Toronto, studying with John Tuttle. He has performed in masterclasses led by Olivier Latry, William Porter, Stefan Engels, David Briggs, James O’Donnell, Ben van Oosten, Jürgen Essl, Wolfgang Zerer, Christophe Mantoux, Olivier Penin, Fréderic Blanc, and Isabelle Demers. As an undergraduate in Toronto, he served as choir director and organist at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church, organ scholar at Trinity College (UofT), organ scholar at St. James’ Anglican Cathedral, and an organist at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica. After graduating, he was the organ scholar at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall (UK), where he played for Evensong three times a week under the direction of Christopher Gray, and performed with ensembles such as the London Sinfonia. In May 2022, he graduated with an MM from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied organ repertoire with Martin Jean and improvisation with Jeffrey Brillhart. Additionally, he served as senior organ scholar at Trinity Church on the Green, where he was mentored by Walden Moore. He also accompanied the Schola Cantorum, conducted by David Hill. The next year, he was Interim Assistant Director of Music at Trinity Church, Boston, under the direction of Colin Lynch. Manuel's playing has been praised for its "seamless registration changes ... imaginative stop selections, smoothly shifting tone colours … (and) abundant energy" in Organ Canada. Other awards include the Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarship, the Mary Baker Scholarship in Organ Accompanying, the Julia R. Sherman Memorial Prize for excellence in organ playing, the Aidan Kavanagh Prize for Academic Achievement, and the Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Prize. Manuel currently studies with Dr. Isabelle Demers at McGill University, where he is working towards a Postgraduate Artist Diploma.


Organ Recitals at St. James Cathedral
March 3 Manuel Piazza (St. Thomas Huron Street, Toronto)
March 10 Bruce Burbidge (Christ’s Church Cathedral, Hamilton)
March 17 JP Feo (St. James Cathedral)
March 24 JP Farahat (St. Basil’s Church, Toronto)
March 31 Holy week: no recital

The organ at St James Cathedral is a fine English Romantic / American Classic instrument
in beautiful acoustics with a large, colourful antiphonal division on the rear wall of the
Cathedral. It was built originally in 1888 by the Samuel R. Warren Company of Montréal,
Québec, and then expanded and maintained by Casavant Frères of St. Hyacinthe, Québec
most especially in 1916, 1936 and 1967. In more recent years further upgrades were
accomplished, including the addition of a 32-foot reed. The console was installed by
Letourneau Organs in 2022. The organ has 87 ranks, 67 speaking stops over four manuals
and six divisions, and 5101 pipes.