Newswise — At the beginning of June, Dr. Faythe Freese, associate professor of organ, will spend four nights doing something only one other American has been allowed to do " she will record a CD at L'Eglise de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris (Church of the Holy Trinity).
According to Freese, she will be the second American allowed to record on this historic organ. Famed 20th-century composer and musician Olivier Messiaen was the principal organist at the church for more than 60 years.
Freese will record "To Call My True Love to My Dance," a work for organ she premiered in January 2008 during the 2008 UA Church Music Conference in the Moody Music Building. She commissioned the work from noted composer and organist Naji Hakim, who succeeded Messiaen as the principal organist at L'Eglise de la Sainte-Trinité in 1993. She also plans to record other works for the CD, which will be released at the end of 2008 by JAV Recordings.
Freese will record June 3-6 from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. " hours designed to avoid the crowds that visit the church and the daytime's traffic noise. She says she's very fortunate to be allowed to record on this particular organ, thanks to Hakim and the administrative staff of the church.
"There has been one American organist who has recorded on this organ," Freese says. 'It is notoriously difficult to get on this organ."
Freese recruits and teaches undergraduate and graduate organ students majoring in organ performance at UA's School of Music. She holds degrees in organ performance and church music from Indiana University.
Freese has recorded three compact discs: "Sowerby at Trinity," released on the Albany label; and "Faythe Freese in Concert" and "Roaring Ranks with Faythe Freese," released on the Arkay label. Her publications "Sunday Morning Organist: A Survivor's Guide for the Pianist" and "Sonus Novus: Intonations and Harmonizations" are available from Concordia Publishing House.
The School of Music is a branch of The University of Alabama's College of Arts and Sciences, the University's largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.
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