Free Organ Concert with Richard Hills
Sunday, April 7, 2024
On Apr. 7, 2024 at 4pm, Arts@Peace will be presenting the English organist Richard Hills. Walt Strony, Peace Lutheran Church Organist and Artistic Director for Arts@Peace, first heard Hills play when he was a teenager in the 1990s winning an organ competition. Since then, Hills has attended Exeter College, Oxford, and had the very high honor of becoming the organ scholar at Westminster Abbey.
Today Hills has a successful freelance solo career with continuo, choir-training and teaching work. He is also is the Organist of St Mary’s, Bourne Street, a central London church noted for its Anglo-Catholic Liturgy and fine musical tradition. His ability in playing a variety of musical styles has served him well and awarded him the Organist of the Year with the American Theatre Organ Society in 2010.
Hill has appeared many times as a soloist on British international TV and Radio in programs as diverse as BBC Radio 3’s ‘Choral Evensong’ and BBC Radio 2’s ‘Friday Night is Music Night’. He made his solo debut at the BBC Proms, which is the world’s biggest and longest-running classical music festival, in 2013. He returned again to the Proms as a soloist in 2015, and appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony and John Wilson Orchestras during the 2019 Proms season. 2019 also saw a solo recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall, alongside concerts in the USA, Europe and Sweden.
Thanks to Strony’s worldwide connections, Arts@Peace has been able to bring some of the world’s most talented organists to Grass Valley. For his concert at Peace, Hills will present a variety of music in his program. Spoiler Alert! He plays a killer “Tiger Rag” in the style of jazz pianist Art Tatum!
Doors will open at 3:30pm and masks are suggested. Admission is free, but donations to Arts@Peace are gratefully accepted to bring more wonderful music and events to the community.
Peace Lutheran Church is located at the top of the hill outside Historic Downtown Grass Valley at 828 W. Main Street with ample onsite parking. For more information call 530-273-9631.
From Walt Strony:
I first heard Richard play when he was a teenager in the 90s, when he won an organ competition. Since then, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, and became the organ scholar at Westminster Abbey (a very high honor). Today he has a successful freelance solo career with continuo, choir-training and teaching work and is the Organist of St Mary’s, Bourne Street, a central-London church noted for its Anglo-Catholic Liturgy and fine musical tradition.
His ability of playing in a variety of musical styles has served him well and awarded him the Organist of the Year award with the American Theatre Organ Society in 2010. He has appeared many times as a soloist on British international TV and radio, in programs as diverse as BBC Radio 3’s ‘Choral Evensong’ and BBC Radio 2’s ‘Friday Night is Music Night’, and he made his solo debut at the BBC Proms in 2013. He returned again to the Proms as a soloist in 2015, and appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony and John Wilson Orchestras during the 2019 Proms season. 2019 also saw a solo recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall, alongside concerts in the USA, Europe and Sweden.
I’m very proud that we have been able to bring some of the world’s most talented organists to Grass Valley. Oh, and by the way — he will present a variety of music on his program. He plays a killer “Tiger Rag” in the style of jazz pianist Art Tatum!
We thank our very generous donor Carol Zerbo for helping bring Richard to us.
– Walt Strony