Pipes at One

Trinity’s first free midday offerings were pipe organ concerts, and on Tuesdays each fall and spring, the church returns to its roots — with music that is anything but old-fashioned. Played by Trinity’s own acclaimed musicians Avi Stein and Alcée Chriss III, as well as celebrated guest soloists from around the globe, St. Paul’s beautiful pipe organ will offer the kind of eclectic repertoire it was built for. “We are always asking, how can you present this ancient instrument in fresh ways?” says Melissa Baker, Trinity’s director of artistic planning. This season’s lineup more than answers that question.

May 6, 1–2pm | Angela Kraft Cross

May 13, 1–2pm | Mina Marie Jelinek

May 20, 1–2pm | Sarah Simko

May 27, 1–2pm | Alex Leonardi

June 3, 1–2pm | Emily Amos  

May 6, 1–2pm

Angela Kraft Cross

Not only an internationally respected virtuoso organist, pianist, and composer, Cross is also an eye surgeon, with dual degrees in physics and organ performance from Oberlin College. And yet her passion for sharing the joys of her instrument keeps her performing for a wide-ranging audience that includes a healthy YouTube following. Adept at a diverse repertoire, Cross is an avid composer herself, as well as a vocal advocate for fellow female composers. She has published three books of organ works and two choral anthems with Lorenz/Sacred Music Press. Today’s program will include both her original pieces and those of other composers.

May 13, 1–2pm

Mina Marie Jelinek

A musician of prodigious technique and sensitivity, Jelinek has worked at such high- profile venues as the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and studied with teachers from the acclaimed Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School, and the National Conservatory of Paris. Her program will consist of virtuosic French works and pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.

May 20, 1–2pm

Sarah Simko

The associate organist at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in Detroit, Simko received a Graduate Award from the Presser Foundation to create a comprehensive set of recordings of organ music by living American female composers. During her time as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, Simko worked with the Department of Mathematics to explore how the brain processes music, through detailed study of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Sonatas. A member of both Diapason magazine’s “Top 20 under 30” and the Oakland County Executive’s “Elite 40 under 40”, Simko received first prize in the Schoenstein Competition in the Art of Organ Accompaniment, hosted by the University of Michigan at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor.

May 27, 1–2pm

Alex Leonardi

Currently the organ scholar at Trinity Church, Leonardi is a master’s student at The Juilliard School. They received a bachelor’s degree in organ performance from the Curtis Institute of Music, where they held the Dr. Mi-Wha Lee Fellowship. As a young musician, they studied under Dr. Matthew Lewis in the pre-college division of Juilliard. A semi-finalist in the American Guild of Organists National Improvisation Competition, Leonardi is an avid improviser, which they will demonstrate in today’s program.

June 3, 1–2pm

Emily Dawn Amos

A prize-winning organist and recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Amos began studying organ at age eight. Her interest began after hearing cutting-edge organist Cameron Carpenter, who gave her his autograph and first lesson on the instrument. By age nine, the Alexandria, Louisiana, native had become the youngest musician ever admitted into a “Pipe Organ Encounter” — an outreach program run by the American Guild of Organists that provides instruction and exposure to notable organists and instruments. Amos currently studies with Ken Cowan at Rice University and will play a program of French music and orchestral transcriptions.

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