15th Annual Summer Organ Concerts

IN PERSON & VIA LIVESTREAM

Join us in person at Westwood UMC or via Facebook Live for three 60-minute concerts by world-class organists performing on the landmark Shaffer Memorial Organ in a magnificent cathedral setting. FREE ADMISSION.
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Sunday, July 11th (3pm) – click here to watch the replay
PETER L. BATES
Minister of Music & Resident Organist – Covenant Presbyterian Church
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Sunday, July 25th (3pm) – click here to watch the replay.
YOOJUNG CHUNG
Organist – Westwood UMC
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TIMOTHY DURKOVIC
Pianist
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Sunday, August 8th (3pm) – click here to watch live!
JAMES CASEY
Organist – St. Paul the Apostle Church
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LOCATION

Westwood Church – map
10497 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.474.4511

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FREE ADMISSION & FREE PARKING: Abundant secure parking is available for all events at the church below Belmont Village, the building east of the sanctuary. From Wilshire Blvd., use the driveway by the main steps in front of the sanctuary and proceed under the overhang to the underground parking lot. Please observe the signs that identify which spaces are for church use. After parking, proceed to the stairwell and elevator located at the church end (west end) of the parking structure.

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PETER L. BATES

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Peter L. Bates has been on the staff of Covenant Presbyterian Church as minister of music and resident organist since June 1997. Prior to that appointment, he was for ten years director of music and organist at St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal, Long Beach. In addition, he served 14 years as principal guest organist at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, playing hundreds of noonday recitals, weddings and funerals. He holds a Master’s degree in Music, specializing in organ performance. A past dean of the Long Beach Chapter, he has served the AGO as Southern California Area District Convener for the past six years and is Director of the Committee on Sharing Skills and Resources for the national organization. He has been honored by The Long Beach Alumnae of Sigma Alpha Iota as a “Friend of the Arts” for his contributions to the musical life of Long Beach.

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PROGRAM

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Anniversary Fanfare – Robert Hebble (1934-2020)
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Reverie – William Grant Still (1895-1978)
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Ten Pieces for Organ – Eugène Gigout (1844-1925)
Prelude – Chorale and Allegro
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Symphony III (The “Organ”) Opus 78 – Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Transcription: P. L. Bates (b.1955)
Adagio
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Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major (BWV 1046) – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Transcription: P. L. Bates
Minuet
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Two Pieces – Percy Fletcher (1879-1932)
Fountain Reverie
Festival Toccata

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YOOJUNG CHUNG

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Yoojung Chung, a native of South Korea, began her music education at the age of four with piano lessons. She started accompanying church choirs at the age of thirteen and took organ lessons from Dr. Dong-Lim Min, a distinguished concert organist in South Korea and Germany.
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Yoojung earned a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance and Church Music at Yonsei University under Professor Myung-Ja Cho and Master of Music in Organ Performance and Church Music at Northwestern University under Professor Douglas Cleveland, as well as the Kenneth G. and Helen C. Merrill Scholarship. Then, she continued to pursue her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at Indiana University under Marilyn Keiser; however, after completing her first year, she moved to Southern California in 2007 due to her husband’s job relocation.
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Yoojung resides in Ontario Ranch area, and she is an active piano accompanist and private piano instructor. Prior to the Westwood UMC organist position, she served as organist at Anaheim UMC for 11 years and a few other churches in New York, Illinois, and Indiana. Also, she has been a piano accompanist and adjunct faculty member at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo and Concordia University in Irvine. She is an active member of American Guild of Organist of Orange County and Music Teachers’ Association of California Orange County Branch where she served as Board member.

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PROGRAM

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Prelude, Fugue, and Chaconne in C Major, BuxWV 137 – Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
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Premier Choral – Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981)
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Symphonie-Passion, Op. 23 “I. Le Monde Dans L’Attente Du Saveur” – Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
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6 Duos for Organ and Piano, Op.3 – Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) – Featuring pianist Timothy Durkovic
1. Humoresque
2. Allegro cantabile
5. Sérénade
6. Variations
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Sinfonia from Cantata 29, BWV 29 – J.S.Bach (1685-1750) – Transcription: Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)

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TIMOTHY DURKOVIC

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Los Angeles based pianist, Timothy Durkovic is an active soloist and chamber musician, collaborating regularly with some of world’s finest instrumentalists and vocalists including Lynn Harrell, Martin Chalifour, Andrew Sords, Helen Callus, Movses Pogossian, John Walz, Timothy Landauer, Richard O’Neil, Jonathan Mack, the Calder Quartet, the Miró Quartet, and the Casal Quartet among others. He is the Grand Prize Winner of the 1996 Los Angeles Liszt Competition as well as a winner of the Beverly Hills Auditions, the Carmel Music Society Competition, the 2001 San Diego Duo Piano Competition, and the 2001 IBLA Grand Prize Duo Award (Sicily, Italy) with his duo partner, Chie Nagatani, as well as the recipient of the prestigious Outstanding Master’s Graduate Award from the USC Thornton School of Music. He has served as the Director of Keyboard Studies at Long Beach City College as well as on the faculties of the Orange County High School of the Arts, the University of La Verne, and the USC Thornton School of Music. He also performs regularly as part of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. Tim makes regular appearances at Chamber Festivals both nationally and internationally, including the High Desert Chamber Music Festival in Bend, Oregon, the Festival Bravissimo in Guatemala and ProMusica in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and has been featured as a headline entertainer on Crystal Cruises, Regent Cruises and Hapag Lloyd Cruises. His playing has been described as having great “sensitivity to colors” (Salt Lake City Tribune) and “effortless, with the music always in the forefront, and an overall effect…of music making that is too rarely heard.” (Frederick Swann). His CD recording “Gargoyles,” available on iTunes, received rave reviews as being “an incisive and exciting performance” from Lowell Lieberman, the title track’s composer himself. He has also performed and arranged music for advertising campaigns for clients such as Christina Aguilera and Dignity Health. Born and raised in Guatemala, Mr. Durkovic studied at the National Conservatory of Guatemala, the Juilliard School, Salem College and the USC Thornton School of Music. Tim is also a Broker Associate and President of the Durkovic Group, a luxury real estate group with Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

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JAMES CASEY

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James Casey, a native of Wisconsin, was drawn to the organ at an early age. When he was seven years old, his church’s installation of a new organ inspired a life-long love of the instrument. He received a Bachelor of Music in Organ and Church Music from Drake University and went on to receive his Master of Music in Organ at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. He has held posts as organist and director of music in San Francisco, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
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Mr. Casey has served as organist of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood since 2001. Prior to this appointment, he was the Associate Organist-Choirmaster at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He accompanied the St. James’ Choir during their week in residence at Westminster Abbey, London, and also served as organist for the Choir of St. Mark’s School of Texas during their residencies at Exeter Cathedral, Devon and St.
Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
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A countertenor, Mr. Casey has worked as a staff singer at Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), the Cathedral of St. Philip (Atlanta), and St. James’ Church (Los Angeles). He has been a featured soloist with the former Paulist Choristers of Los Angeles, the De Angeles Vocal Ensemble, and the Bach-Collegium San Diego.
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From 1997-2021, Mr. Casey served as Director of Music for St. James’ Episcopal School in Los Angeles. Later this month, he will begin a new appointment as Music Teacher at St. Paul the Apostle School.

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PROGRAM

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Fanfare – John Cook (1918-1984)
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Cantilena, Op. 71, No. 1 – Arthur Foote (1853-1937)
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Sonata IV in B-flat, Op. 65 – Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Allegro con brio
Andante religioso
Allegretto
Allegro maestoso e vivace
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From “Sacred Sounds” – George Shearing (1919-2011)
There Is a Happy Land
I Love Thee, My Lord
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Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 541 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
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Trois Pièces: No. 1, Improvisation – Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
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Trois Paraphrases Grégoriennes, Op. 5 – Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
No. 3, Hymne d’actions de grâces “Te Deum”

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