YOU ARE INVITED!
The 39th Season of the Second Sunday Evensong/Organ Recital Series at St. Mark’s, Berkeley concludes on Sunday, June 8, 2025. A congregational Evensong will be offered at 4:00pm followed by a program performed by Michal Szostak at approximately 4:40pm.
Dr hab. Michał Szostak, Associate Professor – obtained a doctorate in musical arts, specialising in organ performance and improvisation at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He also studied at the Pontificio Istituto Ambrosiano di Musica Sacra in Milan and The Royal College of Organists in London. He participated in varied master classes in organ performance (with Ullrich Böhme, Andrew Dewar, Pieter van Dijk, François Espinasse, Bernhard Gfrerer, François-Henri Houbart, Oliver Penin, Louis Robilliard, Daniel Roth, Jean-Claude Zehnder and others), organ improvisation (with Frédéric Blanc, Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Thierry Escaich, Gaétan Jarry, Samuel Liégeon, Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard, Wolfgang Seifen, Sietze de Vries and others) and liturgical music (Roman Catholic and Anglican). He recorded on CDs and has been publishing in renowned British, Canadian, and American periodicals. As a musician-instrumentalist, he conducts lively international concert activities, performing several dozen recitals annually in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. For twenty years, he served as Director of Music and Principal Organist in Warsaw and the Basilica in Licheń Stary, where he played the largest Polish pipe organ (157 stops, 6 manuals). He also completed master’s and doctoral studies and earned a habilitated doctorate in management. As an Associate Professor, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and head of the Institute for Management Research at Civitas University in Warsaw, he conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface between management, aesthetics and art, as well as teaching activities in varied European universities. More at: www.michalszostak.org
The program will include:
Prelude, Fugue and Ciaccona in C Major, BuxWV 137 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herr Gott, BuxWV 199 Buxtehude
Italian Concerto: Allegro-Andante-Presto, improvisation J.S.Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia G-dur (Pièce d’Orgue), BWV 572 Bach
Schmücke dich o liebe Seele, BWV 654 Bach
Variations on a well-known theme, improvisation
A festive reception will follow the program.
Parking is available in the parish lot at 2315 Ellsworth.
Tax-deductible contributions, at the following levels, are most welcome to help support the series. Thank you for your support.
To support the series, visit: https://app.aplos.com/aws/give/St_Marks_Choir_Association
$1-74 Supporter
$75-124 Friend
$125-249 Sponsor
$250-499 Patron
$500-999 Sustainer
$1000+ Benefactor
The first organ recital of the 40th season will be offered on Sunday, September 14. The roster for the 2025-2026 series will be announced on June 8.
For further information, contact George Emblom at GAEmblom@aol.com.
Recitalists for the Thirty-Ninth Season, Fall 2024-Spring 2025
September 8: Tom Mueller
October 13: Mina Marie Jelinek
November 10: Jonathan Dimmock
December 8: Wyatt Smith
January 12: Michael Unger
February 9: Charles Francis
March 9: Bruce Newsick
April 13: No organ recital (Palm Sunday)
May 11: Jared Johnson, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
June 8: Michal Szostak, Warsaw, Poland