Organ Stops with Ryan Baxter

Beach United Church February 27, 2024 No Comments

Beach United Church is excited to present organist Ryan Baxter for our final Organ Stops concert of our season on Saturday, March 16th at 4:30pm.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Program:

Organ Sonata No. 6 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn

Trio Sonata No. 6 in G major, BWV 530 by Johann Sebastian Bach

12 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 156 by Josef Rheinberger

Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain, Op. 7 by Maurice Duruflé

Ryan Baxter is a student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music, studying solo piano performance with Professor Stéphan Sylvestre. This year he holds an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, which supports his continued work on contemporary Australian four-hands piano music, including sonatas by Carl Vine and Stuart Greenbaum. He received a Bachelor of Music from Brock University (2019), an Ontario Graduate Certificate in Music Composition from Humber College (2020), and a Master of Music from the University of Manitoba (2022). Outside of university study, Ryan holds LCRM, ARCT, and LTCL diplomas in piano, ARCT, ARCCO, CRCCO, and LTCL diplomas in organ, and an ARCT in piano pedagogy. 

Beyond academic life, Ryan is Music Director and Organist at Rowntree Memorial United Church in London, Ontario, and is currently on the board of directors at the United Church Foundation. Previously he was organist, and later music director, at Trillium United Church in St. Catharines (2016-2021). He has worked as a marker/grader, choral and instrumental accompanist, in-classroom tutor for mathematics and English, MOOC (massive open online course) facilitator, private piano and theory instructor, and in various other education-related positions. When Ryan is not practicing, writing, or working, he can be found walking outside, gardening, gaming on his PC, cooking, baking, and applying to more programs. He is happy to be part of Beach United Church’s musical programming this year! 

–

Beach United‘s warm, inviting hall serves as the perfect backdrop for this concert – the concert is pay-what-you-can, and proceeds support our year-round community programs.

Jazz & Reflection with Jim Clayton & Friends

Beach United Church February 12, 2024 No Comments

Join pianist/vocalist Jim Clayton, bassist Peter Telford and drummer Adam Warner for an afternoon of jazz at Beach United Church on Saturday, March 2nd at 4:30pm.

You may reserve your seats at this link.

–

About Jim Clayton 

DownBeat Magazine called Jim’s music “warm, happy, and soulful,” and Jersey Jazz called him “hip and swinging.” He’s has been heard internationally on TV and radio and in movies. A two-time winner of Group Of The Year (Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards), Jim’s performed on four continents and has an online following of nearly 30,000 fans. His latest album, Look Out, is his vocal debut, and features drummer Herlin Riley (Wynton Marsalis; Harry Connick, Jr.) and bassist Amina Scott (DeeDee Bridgewater; Christian Scott).

–

Proceeds go towards supporting our musicians and making our concerts accessible, while also supporting Beach United’s year-round community programs.

60s Music Night

Beach United Church January 9, 2024 2 Comments

Join us for 60s Music Night at Beach United Church with headliners Fraser/Daley (Alec Fraser and Mike Daley) and openers Skylark (Diana Gibbs and Jack Alvo) with special guests Paul Reddick and Ed Crabtree. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here.

WHEN:
Friday, March 1, 2024
7pm-10pm
Doors open at 6:30pm
Purchase Tickets Here

  • Cash Bar
  • Snacks & Dessert Table
  • Raffles & Door Prizes 
  • Dancing 
  • Incredible live music
  • and so much more!

Funds raised will go towards Beach United’s year-round Community Programs. Get your dancing shoes on – we can’t wait to see you there!

Sponsored by The Barbara Best Group

60s Music Night at Beach United

Christmas Organ Concert with Manuel Piazza

Beach United Church November 8, 2023 No Comments

Join us on Saturday, December 16th at 4:30pm for a special Advent and Christmas-themed organ concert, featuring a diverse selection of organ favourites to get you in the holiday mood. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, and proceeds go towards Beach United’s year-round community programs. 

RSVP here for our Christmas Organ Concert with Manuel Piazza.

–

About Manuel Piazza

Manuel Piazza is the Assistant Director of Music at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, where he accompanies the High Mass and Evensong choirs and leads the parish’s new children’s choral program, The St. Thomas’s Choristers. Manuel completed his undergraduate studies in Organ Performance at the University of Toronto, studying repertoire with John Tuttle and conducting with Ivars Taurins. 

As an undergraduate in Toronto, he served as choir director and organist at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church, organ scholar at Trinity College (University of Toronto), organ scholar at St. James’ Anglican Cathedral, and one of the five organists of St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. 

He was also an organist for the Yale Schola Cantorum, conducted by David Hill. After graduation, he was Interim Assistant Director of Music at Trinity Church in the City of Boston, working with Colin Lynch. Manuel’s playing has been praised for its “seamless registration changes … imaginative stop selections, smoothly shifting tone colours … abundant energy, (and) rhythmic control” in Organ Canada. Other awards include the Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarship (RCCO), the Mary Baker Scholarship in Organ Accompanying (Yale Institute of Sacred Music), the Julia R. Sherman Memorial Prize for excellence in organ playing (Yale School of Music), the Aidan Kavanagh Prize for Academic Achievement (Yale Institute of Sacred Music), and the Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Prize.