Biographical Information on Trudy Faber
Trudy Faber is Professor Emerita of music at Wittenberg University and organist at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Springfield OH. She served as chair of the Department of Music from 1995-2004. In the spring of 1998 she was the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award from Wittenberg University. Her students, which have included many Master of Sacred Music as well as undergraduate organ students, hold full and part-time music positions not only throughout the United States but also in The Netherlands; at Doshisha University, Japan; Germany; Sweden; and Cyprus, Turkey. One of her senior organ performance majors was the winner of the Ruth and Paul Manz National organ playing award in 2004. She also directs the Wittenberg Handbell Choir, which performs at Wittenberg for concerts and special services, and presents concerts for churches and events in the area.
As a recitalist, Trudy has performed in 31 states throughout the USA and in 9 countries as an organist and/or harpsichordist. One of her most recent major performances was as guest artist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra on November 6, 2010, playing an organ concerto by G. F. Handel. On January 23, 2011, she was the headliner for a newly established Early Music Recital Series at Wittenberg, performing organ and harpsichord selections. In August of 2010 she played an organ recital at Central United Methodist church in Monroe, NC, which was also supported by the Charlotte, NC, Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. In October 2009 Trudy presented an organ and harpsichord recital at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, PA, as part of their annual concert series.
Prof. Faber’s special interest in the organ music of the Baroque began when she received a Fulbright Scholarship upon graduation from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. She was extremely fortunate in being immediately accepted as a student of Gustav Leonhardt (within a few years the waiting time to study with him was from 3-5 years). Leonhardt was one of the first internationally recognized performer/ scholars to put forth solid evidence that Baroque music was not being performed correctly by modern performers. Given the Back-to-Bach Movement that began in the 19th-Century, the editions of Bach’s music published by Romantic-era editors substantially altered many stylistic aspects of Baroque music, such as phrasing, articulation, ornaments, and rhythmic interpretation. Following her year of studying organ, harpsichord, and continuo-playing with Leonhardt in Amsterdam, Trudy’s interest in understanding Baroque style has continued unabated. Now a specialist in Baroque music, she has presented papers, recitals, and workshops on various aspects of dance elements in the music of Bach for colleges, various chapters of the AGO, and national and international events. In January 2010 she gave her lecture/recital presentation on Bach and the Dance for the Toledo Chapter of the AGO. Other such presentations have taken her around the country, including Texas A & M University, Binghamton and Ithaca, NY, various AGO chapters, for the Region I Convention of ALCM (Association of Lutheran Church Musicians) in Columbus, OH, and for the 1994 National Convention of ALCM in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Highlights of earlier recitals include the following. Twice she has performed at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, as well as at Coventry and Guildford Cathedrals, England, St. John’s Cathedral, Albuquerque, NM, and Washington Cathedral, Washington D.C. In 2004, she was the guest artist, playing harpsichord, for a performance with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra of all six Bach Brandenburg Concerti. During May and June of 2009 she received a major grant from Wittenberg University to do research on organs and aspects of worship in Sweden and Latvia. She also presented recitals in each country. In 2007 she went on her fourth European recital tour, performing on the famous historic Silbermann organ in Rötha, and at the Castle Church (where Luther nailed his 95 theses) in Wittenberg, Germany. She also presented two recitals in Berlin and gave her third performance at the historic St. Nicolas Church, Leipzig (Bach’s church). During July of 2006 she concretized from coast to coast, when she was chosen to perform the annual recital on an historic organ in Deer Isle, Maine and to play two recitals for the annual Mt. Angel Abbey Bach Festival, Oregon. She was one of four selected to perform on the 1997 Distinguished Organists Recital Series at the Cadet Chapel, West Point, New York, playing their 326 rank organ (third largest in the world). In July of 1998 she gave recitals in the South and the West, including the historic Round Church in Charleston, SC, and the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs.
After graduation from Calvin College followed by the Fulbright year of study with Gustav Leonhardt at the Amsterdam Conservatory, The Netherlands,she continued with graduate work in musicology at the University of Toronto, also studyingharpsichord with Greta Kraus at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and completed her MA in Music on a full scholarship at Smith College, Northampton MA. She has done additional graduate work at Stanford University and the New England Conservatory and has studied organ with Anton Heiller and harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert at the Summer International Organ Concours in Haarlem, The Netherlands.