Church Music Conference features organ concert by Nigel Potts Jan. 25

Guest clinician Donald McCullough.

The Furman University Department of Music will host its 2018 Church Music Conference on campus Thursday and Friday, Jan. 25 and 26, with guest clinicians Donald McCullough and Nola Reed Knouse. The conference also features an organ concert Thursday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. in Daniel Memorial Chapel by organist Nigel Potts with soprano Sarah Rose Taylor.

Hosted by Furman music faculty members Charles Tompkins and Hugh Ferguson Floyd, the 2018 Church Music Conference runs Thursday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. through 4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. Registration for the conference is $75 on or before Jan. 6, and $95 after that date as space remains. Registration for full-time students is $40. Fees include two days of conference sessions, the Thursday evening organ recital, a conference music packet and a Friday luncheon.

Tickets for the Nigel Potts and Sarah Rose Taylor recital, part of Furman’s Sound Quality Concert Series/Hartness Organ Series, are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students/youth. Church Music Conference attendees receive free admission to this recital.

Guest clinician Nola Reed Knouse.

For the Church Music Conference, clinician Donald McCullough, noted choral conductor, composer and church musician, will present sessions on vocal/choral and rehearsal techniques. Clinician Nola Reed Knouse, president of The Moravian Music Foundation, will lecture on the Moravian sacred music tradition. Both clinicians will lead choral reading sessions.

Nigel Potts, organist and master of the choristers at Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) in Charleston, S.C., will perform a recital on Furman’s C.B. Fisk organ. Potts’ wife and acclaimed soprano Sarah Rose Taylor will join the program for a performance of Edward Elgar’s song cycle “Sea Pictures.”

Founded in 1971, the Furman University Church Music Conference is made possible through an endowment from the Thomson Foundation as a memorial to Waddy Randolph Thomson and Pauline Blackwell Thomson. Each year, distinguished musicians of national prominence present sessions on subjects related to the study and practice of church music.

Nigel Potts will perform a concert on the Hartness Organ.

More information about the Furman Church Music Conference may be found at this link. Or contact the Furman Music Department at 864-294-2086, or email the department at FurmanMusic@furman.edu.