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John and Marianne Weaver |
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This tribute consists of memories of John as a teacher and a very special person
by students of John's: Alan Morrison, Paul Jacobs, Dr. Andrew Henderson,
and James Wetzel who also moderated the discussion.
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| On Sunday, April 30, 2017, a celebratory concert was held at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in honor of the 80th Birthday of John Weaver. The concert included organ performances by former students of John's, singing of compositions of John's by the Saint Andrew Music Society, and congregational singing of hymns by John Weaver with texts by The Rev. Fred Anderson, former pastor at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. Participating organists were Andrew Henderson (Director of Music, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church), Paul Jacobs (Chair of the Organ Department of the Juilliard School), and David Enlow (Organ Faculty member, Juilliard). Directing the St. Andrew Society was Mary Wannamaker Huff, Associate Director of Music at Madison Avenue Church. Also on April 30, we celebrated the Birthday of John's wife, flutist Marianne Weaver Pictured are: Back Row: Andrew Henderson, Paul Jacobs, David Enlow. Front Row: Mary Wannamaker Huff, John Weaver, Marianne Weaver. [Photo by Joseph Routon] --- --- * --- --- |
Some music of John and Marianne WeaverClick here for a management biography of John and click here for John and Marianne management biography |
Some organ videos, recordings, and other information Dr. John Weaver served as Organist and Director of Music at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1970-2005. He also headed the Organ Department of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1972-2003 and chaired the Juilliard School's Organ Department from 1987-2004. John's wife Marianne Weaver, flute teacher and performer, has played with many orchestral groups including the Holy Trinity Bach Orchestra in NYC, the American Wind Symphony, the Canterbury Chorale Orchestra, Musica Sacra and several light opera groups. She regularly plays in concert with John including performing a number of pieces for flute and organ that John has written over the years. Prior to coming to Madison Avenue Church, John was organist and Director of Music at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on 65th Street and Central Park West from 1959 - 1970. While there, John and his wife, Marianne, started the famous Bach Cantata Series in 1968 - performing over 20 Bach cantatas each year in the context of evening Vesper services on the appropriate Sundays for those specific cantatas. Still running today, this is the oldest continuing series of its kind in the western hemisphere. For more information, see: the Cantata website at Holy Trinity. Here are some video recordings of John and Marianne Weaver at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church located at Madison Avenue at 73rd Street in New York City. The video engineer for these recordings was Mr. Ronald Field, and they were recorded in the period from 2001 until about 2003. John Weaver plays Charles Ives "Variations on America". John & Marianne Weaver – Pastorale for Flute and Organ (written by John - 2001). John plays César Franck - Finale in B-flat Major, Opus 21. John plays his composition “Carillon”. John plays Four of the Five Chorale Preludes of Johannes Brahms. John plays Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - J. S. Bach. John & Marianne Weaver - Andante Misterioso by José Carlos Amaral Vieira. John plays Henri Mulet - Toccata from Byzantine Sketches. John plays Louis Vierne - Scherzo from Symphony 2. John plays J. S. Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C-minor. We also show several links to recordings of his pieces played by other organists. The “Sine Nomine” and his “Toccata for Organ” are two of John's most popular pieces. I wish I had videos of his doing them (there are other videos on the web of these two works pieces and one audio recording of John's playing one of them): John Weaver’s “Prelude on Sine Nomine” combining two tunes for the hymn text “For all the Saints” (Vaughan Williams tune - Sine Nomine - and the tune called Sarum by Joseph Barnby) with “When the Saints Come Marching In” is played in video by John’s student Felix Hell. Also, click for an audio recording of John Weaver playing of this piece from the Pipedreams program referenced below (University Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA, 1995). John Weaver’s “Toccata for Organ” played by the outstanding organist Diane Bish. Another recording of the same piece is from the Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, performed by Tabernacle organist Clay Christiansen. Organist Alan Morrison performs John Weaver's Passacaglia on a Theme by Dunstable. Alan Morrison was John's former student at Curtis and now is Weaver's successor as Head of the Organ Department of the Curtis Institute. John Weaver's Fantasia for Organ was played by organist, Tom Sheehan, as part of the prelude on Sunday, February 14, 2021. The piece begins at approximately minute 9:20 at the link given. As part of John Weaver's very active career as a recitalist, he was featured in concert on the famous Kotzchmar Memorial Organ in the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, in their summer series, for 50 consecutive summers [1956 - 2005]. He also performed numerous concerts there in other seasons of the year. In 2012, John shared a celebratory concert with organist, Frederick Swann, for the 100th anniversary of this organ. Click here for a recording of John performing the Bach "Fugue in D-Major" at the Kotzschmar in 1975. Click here to see an article in the August, 2000, edition of O-Gauge Railroading featuring John Weaver's Office Trains at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, NYC. A video record of John's proudly showing the Train display from his church office is available at this link -- CLICK HERE. Click here for a Public Radio interview with John from 2007 on the popular program "PipeDreams" with interviewer Michael Barone. In this program we hear John speaking of his life in music and also hear his playing of many organ pieces, including many of his own compositions. |