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Welcome!
 
​Welcome to the web site of the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Our city and its surrounding areas boast a lively pipe organ culture, to which our chapter members contribute significantly.

We invite all who love the pipe organ and its music to explore this website for opportunities to attend AGO-sponsored events as well as concerts in our churches and concert halls. All are welcome, no matter if you're an official AGO member or not. Our mission is to share the glories of the "King of Instruments" with everyone.

Perhaps you found this site because you are interested in becoming a member of the chapter. We would be delighted if you would join our ranks. To join, go to agohq.org. Click on the Membership tab, then Join the AGO, and specify the DC chapter. We also welcome you to become a dual member with us and your home chapter.

Thank you for visiting us. We hope that you will join us for one or more of our events.
Upcoming chapter events

Catered Reception, officer installation, members' recital
Friday, Sept. 25
Catered reception: 5:45 pm
Installation & Recital: 7 pm
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave. NW
Join us as we officially begin the new chapter year with a catered reception, followed by the installation of our officers and a members' recital. The reception will be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, welcome new faces, and enjoy fellowship before an evening of music. RSVPs are required. Click here.
 
Halloween Spooktacular
The DC AGO is presenting an evening of frightful and scary favorites including classical masterworks, movie music, and themes from theater on the 1985/1993 Schantz pipe organ at St. Paul’s Lutheran at 7:30 pm on Saturday, Oct. 17. The church is at 4900 Connecticut Ave. NW.
We are looking for chapter members to perform. This is a fantastic opportunity to present some well-loved Halloween classics, movie music, and other fun works.  Bios will be collected closer to the concert, as well as scheduling practice/registration time. To prevent overlap in repertoire, please provide an alternate piece you would be willing to prepare -- final program selections will be released shortly after the submission deadline.
DEADLINE TO RESPOND IS SEPT. 26
Sign up here.

Upcoming recitals

Friday, Sept. 25, 12:15 pm: Organist Sondra Goldsmith Proctor (Canton, NY) presents a program titled “J.S. Bach and His Sons,” featuring works of the great master along with compositions by Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christoph Friederich Bach, and the lesser-known P.D.Q. Bach. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW.

Sunday, Sept. 27, 4 pm: Nathan Laube plays a concert to dedicate the new organ console at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 16420 S. Westland Dr.,  Gaithersburg, MD.

Sunday, Sept. 27, 5 pm: Andrew Balio, principal trumpet with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Sarah DeLacy, organist and music director at Messiah Lutheran Church and DC AGO board member, present music by J.S. Bach. 13901 Clopper Road, Germantown, MD. 

Monday, Sept. 28, 7:30 pm:  The Northern Virginia AGO chapter presents BachWalk: ​Early Musical Journeys of Johann Sebastian Bach. Mini-recital and premiere screening of a documentary by UCLA Professor and Director of Earmark Films Erin Marin.  Featuring performances by the current organists in churches where Bach played, and by notable German-American organist Christoph Bull.  The 30-minute movie will be preceded and followed by live performances of music by Buxtehude and Bach on the new Harrison & Harrison organ at Christ Church by Northern Virginia AGO members Chris Betts and JJ Mitchell. The mini-recital and film are free and open to the public.  (A chapter dinner and installation of officers will precede the program.) Christ Church, 118 N. Washington St., Alexandria. Parking is available on adjacent streets.

Friday, Oct. 2, 12:15 pm: Organist Adam Chlebek (Washington, DC) performs works of Henri Mulet, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Maurice Duruflé, and Iain Farrington. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW.
 
Friday, Oct. 2, 7 pm: Chapter member Jay Parrotta performs his transcriptions of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in a program titled “Four Seasons, One Organist” on the Di Gennaro-Hart organ at the Church of the Redeemer, 6201 Dunrobbin Drive, Bethesda. The concert is free and will be followed by a reception. ​For a preview, click here.

Friday, Oct. 9, 12:15 pm: Kevin Paton-Cole (Gaithersburg, MD) performs a program titled “The Gift of Peace: An Organ Meditation,” featuring works of J.S. Bach, George Thalben-Ball, and Dan Locklair. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW.

Sunday, Oct. 11, 4 pm: Samuel Rowe plays a recital at St. Joseph's on Capitol Hill, 313 2nd St. NE.

Sunday, Oct. 11, 4 pm: ​Stephen Kalnoske plays a recital at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, 1400 Quincy St. NE.

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 12:10 pm: Washington Bach Consort presents Paula Maust playing Buxtehude’s Praeludium in G minor and Toccata in D minor; followed by the cantata Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW.
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