Concert Reminder and Update

Our Thanksgiving Concert in honor of A.F. Schultz is Saturday, April 26, at 2:30 PM in the Church. The concert features Trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and our own Douglas Leightenheimer at the Organ. Please come and invite your friends! This promises to be a very special event in the history of the parish.

 

 

Mary Elizabeth Bowden has arrived in Tucson for this weekend's concert, and has already made an impact here. On Thursday morning, Mary and Alan played together at the Upper School Mass, after which her trumpet could be heard across the St. Michael campus (at least as far as the church office!). On Thursday afternoon, Mary Elizabeth Bowden presented a Master Class at the University of Arizona. Busy day!

Keith and Elizabeth Hege are hosting a special party/reception with Mary Elizabeth Bowden at their home 6:30 PM Friday evening. Then Saturday is the concert!

 

The free concert is to be held in thanksgiving to God for enabling us to retire the loan for our Æolian-Skinner organ and establish an endowment for its upkeep in the name of Alan F. Schultz. May it be known as the “A. F. Schultz Organ” in gratitude for Alan’s ministry of teaching in our parish school and his talented musicianship at St. Michael’s, St. Mark’s, and throughout Tucson!For more information, please check out our Schultz Organ page. See you at the concert!

A Concert in Honor of Alan F. Schultz

The Episcopal Parish of
St. Michael and All Angels
cordially invites you to a concert
of thanksgiving in honor of
Alan F. Schultz
The concert will feature renowned trumpeter,
Mary Elizabeth Bowden
and noted organist
Douglas Leightenheimer.
Saturday April 26th at 2:30 PM
St. Michael and All Angels Church Sanctuary
602 North Wilmot Road, Tucson, AZ

Easter Week will culminate in a special concert with Trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden and organist Doug Leightenheimer, in celebration of the naming of the A. F. Schultz Organ. Bring your friends and neighbors!

The free concert will be in thanksgiving to God for enabling us to retire the loan for our Æolian-Skinner organ and establish an endowment for its upkeep in the name of Alan F. Schultz. May it be known as the “Schultz Organ” in gratitude for Alan’s ministry of teaching in our parish school and his talented musicianship at St. Michael’s, St. Mark’s, and throughout Tucson! Alan has also be involved with Tucson Civic Chorus (now the Tucson Masterworks Chorale) and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

A member of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Santa Fe Opera, and at Colorado’s Breckenridge Music Festival. The First Prize winner of the 2012 International Women’s Brass Conference Trumpet Competition, she is co-founder of Florida’s Chrysalis Chamber Players, a recipient of a Yale Alumni Grant, and has collaborated in chamber music programs at the Marlboro Music Festival, The Banff Centre and at the Sydney Opera House.

In addition to being the music director and organist at St. Michael’s, Douglas Blair Leightenheimer is a second year doctoral student at the University of Arizona music department. For fifteen years he was director of music for First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC, also serving as music director for the Schola Cantorum of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. He was recently heard on KUAT radio as it broadcast his April 2013 recital, the Mildred Flood Mahoney Memorial Organ Series Concert at the University of Arizona.

Donations to the Schultz Organ Fund and Endowment are gratefully accepted. Free will offerings will also be accepted at the concert. More information can be found on our Schultz Organ page. Thank you for your generosity!

Introducing the A F Schultz Organ Fund

March 25, 2014
Feast of the Annunciation to Our Lady

Dear Friends:

Two Sundays ago I was so happy to announce that the final loan payment for St. Michael’s Aeolian Skinner Organ was made. This effort to provide the church with a fine instrument for worship took over 20 years and the dedication of many people to accomplish! The acquisition, transport, refurbishment, architectural accommodation and installation cost over $1.2 million dollars! Solo Deo Gratia!

I am so happy to announce that the Vestry, upon completion of this goal, and the recommendation of many, has decided to dedicate the parish organ to Alan F. Schultz. Alan is such a worthy person to associate with this wonderful instrument which enhances, like nothing else, our worship of God! As a loved and respected teacher of English at St. Michael’s School for over 30 years who has trained students in writing, declamation, and public speaking and provided music for our school masses until this day, Alan has enriched the lives of thousands of students and their teachers over the years. Alan has served our parish as its organist for many years and composed Masses and other pieces for special occasions. Alan has shared his talent of musical composition and performance with the wider community through the Southern Arizona Community Orchestra, where he remains Conductor Emeritus, and the Tucson Masterworks Chorale. Alan also had an important role in bringing the Aeolian Skinner organ to St. Michael and All Angels over 20 years ago. May our instrument be called “The Schultz Organ!”

We want to insure the proper upkeep and maintenance of this fine instrument for generations of worshippers to come. To this end, we will establish “The Alan F. Schultz Endowment for the Organ.” Our initial goal will be $120,000. Quietly, we already have received over $14,000 in cash and over $30,000 in pledges toward the goal. We have $76,000 to reach our goal.

With joy and thanksgiving will you help with a pledge or gift to this special endowment in Alan Schultz’s honor? Pledges can be paid over four years. Reminders will be sent out early September in time for the annual Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29th. All pledges and/or gifts will receive special recognition. All Book of Pipes contributions, once placed on the principal of the loans, will now be placed in the endowment. Once the corpus of the Schultz endowment is established, the earnings will accrue to be used to maintain the organ, providing good stewardship for the care of this instrument for years to come!

Thank you for your generous response. Please see our Music page or our new Schultz Organ page for info on how you can help us with this effort. You can also donate now using the PayPal button below.

On April 26th at 2:30pm will have a special Concert of Thanksgiving by Trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden and our own Douglas Leightenheimer! We will announce the totals at the concert! Thank you for taking part in this effort to thank God for so many blessings!

Sincerely in Our Lord,
John R. Smith, Priest and Rector