Famed organist
Jason Roberts is a man of few words, preferring to let his extraordinary
musical talent do the speaking for him. That being said, I was able to get Mr.
Roberts divulge some information to me about his recent performance at St. Joseph's
Cathedral in Hartford, CT, which was recorded by Tapeworks Inc.
Mr. Roberts got
his start playing piano as a child, which eventually led to organ lessons in
high school. He recalled hearing the organ played in church his entire life and
falling in love with the sound. The concert was sponsored by the Hartford AGO,
an organization of organists which Mr. Roberts is a member of, that organizes
conventions and concerts every year. The AGO selected Mr. Roberts to
be a featured performer this year and on Tuesday, July 2nd, he gave
a spectacular concert to the packed cathedral. When asked how he went about
selecting the material he performed, Mr. Roberts informed me that he wanted to
perform a "variety of different things," which included a wide range of "dynamics [to] showed off the space." The vastness of the cathedral proved
somewhat of a challenge when mixing the recording, when the engineers had to
deal with incorporating the natural reverb of the space, while still preserving
the clarity of the organ. Mr. Roberts said that the organizers had asked him to
improvise which he did as well.
As for future
performances, Mr. Roberts will be a featured recitalist at the East Texas Pipe
Organ Festival this November, before recording music for silent films in
January and February 2014.
By: Stephanie Vaughan
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