University of Michigan Organ Department

The MPulse Organ Institute will conclude with two student recitals-one this afternoon and one tomorrow morning! All are welcome to come see a diverse program by a talented cohort of young organists.

Our second MPulse departmental recital will be tomorrow (Wednesday) at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church at 7:30 PM! Faculty and students will present music that represents a stylistic and dynamic range of the church’s Richards and Fowkes organ. As always, this is free and open to the public - we hope to see you there!

Our first full day of the MPulse Organ Institute left all of us excited for an inspiring week of study! Today included lessons, (lots of) practice, demonstrations of the Hill Auditorium organ, an improvisation presentation, and a hymn playing module, as well as a departmental recital in BAM Recital Hall, on our C.B. Fisk organ.

1 - Prof. Caroline Robinson introducing our cohort to the palette of the Aeolian-Skinner organ in Hill Auditorium with William Bolcom’s “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” !

2 - Dr. David Stultz’s improvisation presentation - this institute features a complete module on improvisation by Dr. Stultz, including individualized coaching.

3 - Carillon tour with Prof. Tiffany Ng!

We are thrilled to start the 2026 MPulse Organ Institute today! We welcome 7 students here for intensive study, and the program will run through Saturday morning. To begin, on Monday night we will hold a recital featuring the U-M Organ Department faculty and students in BAM, on our Silbermann-inspired Fisk organ. We hope to see you there-it is free and open to the public! Follow along for updates on our program this week.

On Wednesday, our last day in Germany, the studio took a trip to Naumburg to play a Hildebrandt masterwork as well as a smaller Ladegast instrument, in the Wenzelskirche and Marien-Magdalenen-Kirche, respectively. Oliver Steissberg, David Stultz, and Ben Sidoti also performed a wonderful noontime recital in the Wenzelskirche. This tour was a beautiful and rewarding experience for all of us! Thanks for following along.

1-2. Wenzelskirche
3. Chanmi Kim playing the Marien-Magdalenen-Kirche Ladegast organ
4. Noontime recital performers!
5. Department at the conclusion of the tour!
6. Caroline Robinson playing us out with BWV 572 on the Hildebrandt

As our time in Germany comes to a close, we spent a long Monday touring organs in Rötha and Störmthal! Rötha brought us Silbermann instruments in Georgenkirche and the Marienkirche. Meanwhile, the Störmthal Kreuzkirche held a one-manual 1723 Hildebrandt organ. We enjoyed the smaller organs and sparser acoustics, though the quality of these organs did not disappoint for a second.
1. Organ Department in Störmthal
2. Martin Schmeding at Rötha Marienkirche
3. Interior of Rötha Marienkirche
4. Organ audible from outside!

Monday was our Leipzig day! This was a fun day of exploring the instruments in the Thomas-kirche and Nikolai-kirche. The Thomas-kirche, notable for being the church where J.S. Bach held a cantorship, is the home to a 2000 Woehl organ, (Baroque-inspired) as well as a 1908 Sauer instrument, which we both fully enjoyed. We switched gears to the Nikolai-kirche that evening, playing a restored 1862 Ladegast/Eule organ...with a console designed by Porsche! The futuristic build paired with the lush sound offered us a different perspective on organ building and aesthetics, while also being able to bask in a beautiful historical instrument.
1. Older and modern stained glass windows of Thomas-kirche
2. Oliver Steissberg playing Lübeck on the Thomas-kirche Woehl organ
3. Nick Welch at the Woehl organ
4. Thomas-kirche
5. Ben Sidoti playing the 1908 Sauer instrument
6. Prof. Robinson playing the Sauer organ
7. J.S. Bach's grave
8. Chanmi Kim playing the Woehl organ
9. Stephen Warner playing Fela Sowande on the 1862 Ladegast/Eule organ
10. 1862 Ladegast/Eule organ specs
11. 1862 Ladegast/Eule organ specs
12. Case of the 2000 Woehl organ
13. Nikolai-kirche
14. Latimer Rogland playing the 1862 Ladegast/Eule
15. Martin Schmeding playing the 1862 Ladegast/Eule
16. Ladegast/Eule console

Friday was our last day of organ playing before a few days of break and sightseeing! We traveled to Altenburg to play the Trost organ of the Schlosskirche - Bach was known to enjoy this organ. Furthermore, Johann Ludwig Krebs (one of the now-attributed authors of Bach’s little organ preludes and fugues) served as organist at the Schlosskirche! Sunday brought us a service in Bach’s time at the Thomas-kirche in Leipzig, featuring a performance of BWV 30, the cantata for the Feast of John the Baptist. Sunday also included tours of the Museum of Musical Instruments of Leipzig University, and the Mendelssohn-haus. We finished the day with a lovely dinner with Prof. Martin Schmeding and his wife in Leipzig. Today brings us two organs in the Thomas-kirche, and one in the Nikolai-kirche!

1. Organ Department outside the Gewandhaus!
2. Prof. Keller playing the Trost organ
3. Ben Sidoti
4. Prof. Robinson
5. The organ and people from afar!

Thursday brought us two organs to visit in Dresden! We first visited the Hofkirche and played their beautiful 1755 Silbermann/Hildebrandt instrument. After recharging and exploring the city for a few hours, we visited Prof. Martin Schmeding’s previous church, the Kreuzkirche, and played their Jehmlich organ from 1962. The cohort was uniformly awestruck by the colors of the organ as well as its breathtaking acoustic.
1. The Dresden Hofkirche 1755 Silbermann/Hildebrandt
2. Jehmlich 1962
3. Prof. Robinson playing the Silberman
4. Ben Sidoti playing J.S. Bach on the Silbermann
5-6. Dresden views!
7. Jehmlich 1962 (way up!)
8. View of the Kreuzkirche from the organ balcony
9. Meghan Wysocki playing Karg-Elert on the Jehmlich organ
10. Latimer Rogland playing Nico Muhly on the Jehmlich organ
11. David Stultz improvising in the Kreuzkirche!

Yesterday we visited the Merseburg Dom and enjoyed the Ladegast organ (1853), its rich and dark Romantic tones, as well as its fantastic acoustic. Prof. Martin Schmeding from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig offered guidance on the usage and functions of the organ, introducing us to the instrument with a fantastic performance of Franz Liszt’s “Fantasie und Fuge über das Thema B-A-C-H”. Liszt was known to bring his students to this organ on weekends and spend hours examining the possibilities of sound available. Additionally, we spent some time playing the smaller but also fantastic Ladegast Op. 1, housed near the front of the church.
Today we will visit a selection of organs in Dresden, but enjoy a selection of photos and videos from our time in Merseburg!
1. The U-M Organ Department in Merseburg Dom
2. David Stultz playing the Ladegast organ
3. Prof. Schmeding playing Liszt...from the console...!
4. Prof. Keller playing the main organ
5. Pipework!
6. Latimer Rogland playing the main organ
7. Prof. Robinson playing the main organ
8. Pew decorations!
9. Folks at the front of the church...
10. ...and at the back!
11. Chanmi Kim playing the smaller Ladegast, Op. 1
12. Prof. Schmeding playing Liszt (from the front of the church)