UNE musician and academic acclaimed for Vienna recital

November 14, 2007

The University of New England's Dr Terrence Hays has given his second organ recital in St Peter's Church, Vienna – the church where Mozart's children were baptised.

Dr Hays's performance, on Sunday 11 November, was part of an international recital series that has featured organists from across Europe and from the United States.

He was invited back to St Peter's after giving his first performance there last year. A large audience filled the church – the second oldest in Vienna – for Sunday evening's concert.

"St Peter's, while it is the most lavishly decorated baroque church in Vienna, has one of the best examples of a Johann Kauffmann grand romantic organ," Dr Hays said. "My program, with works by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Mendelssohn and Gigout linking the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras, was chosen to demonstrate the tonal capacity of the grand organ."

The Director of St Peter's Church, Father Christian Spalek, said Dr Hays's "virtuosity, dramatic use of registration, and attention to the musical line" had combined to "make the Kauffmann organ sing" and to "thrill and inspire" the audience. "We look forward to his return in 2008," Father Spalek said.

Dr Hays is a Senior Lecturer in Music Education at UNE. In addition to music performance and education, his areas of expertise include community arts development and administration. A Churchill Fellow (2005-2006), he is the Artistic Coordinator of the Australasian Piano Summer School (Armidale, January 2008) and Artistic Director of the Australian National Seniors' Creative Arts Festival (Sydney, July 2008).

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Dr Terrence Hays at the Kauffmann organ in St Peter's Church, Vienna.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at November 14, 2007 04:08 PM