First Night

Bryan Ashley

• Fugue in E-flat (“St Anne”) BWV 552/2
  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

• Adagio for Strings (arr. William Strickland)
  Samuel Barber (1910–1981)

• Toccata (from Symphony No. 5)
  Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937)

Louise Mundinger

• Rejoice (from Visions from Scripture)
  Emma Lou Diemer (1927–2024)
  "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.” (Psalm 96:11-12)

• Pastorale,  Op. 28, No. 3
  Horatio Parker (1863–1919)

• Fête, Op. 51 (1949)
  Jean Langlais (1907–1991)

Jeremy Bruns

• Noël No. 10 (Grand Jeu et Duo)
  Louis-Claude Daquin (1694–1772)

• Miroir
  Ad Wammes (b. 1953)

• Carillon-Sortie
  Henri Mulet (1878–1967)

Bryan Ashley, Organist at The First Church of Christ, Scientist

Bryan Ashley, a native from New Jersey, earned a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree in organ performance from Maryville College and Wichita State University, respectively. He obtained a Prix d’Excellence from the Conservatoire National de Région in Rueil-Malmaison, France, studying under Marie-Claire Alain, and a Solisten Diplom from Freiburg Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, studying under Zsigmond Szathmáry and Xavier Darasse.

His career as a concert organist was definitively launched in 1988 when he won the First International Organ Competition, Musashino-Tokyo, Japan. Throughout his career, he has been active as a recitalist, church musician, and teacher, including four years as an organ instructor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. During his 16 years in Japan, he concertized extensively throughout the country, performing in major concert halls, universities and churches. He has appeared with several well-known Japanese orchestras and has been featured on national radio and television. He has also given recitals in France, Germany, the United States, and South Korea, including venues such as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Somang Church in Seoul, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and Methuen Memorial Music Hall, Trinity Church and Old West Church in the Boston area.

He has been serving as Organist of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston since 2009 and has recorded two CDs on The Mother Church organ entitled Glorious and Majestic.

Louise Mundinger, Music Director at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Boston

Louise Mundinger is the Music Director at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul where she conducts the Choral Scholars and convenes a weekly meeting of musicians from the Diocese of Massachusetts. She has recently launched a series of concerts called “Embrace Ambiance” to showcase the acoustics at the Cathedral.

Louise Mundinger was a recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe award for musicians, which allowed her to study organ performance with Zsigmond Szathmáry in Freiburg, Germany and perform concerts. She was a prize winner in the San Anselmo Organ Improvisation Competition and has been commissioned to write new music by, among others, the American Guild of Organists, The American Composers Forum (the Faith Partners program), and the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her articles have appeared in The American Organist and Musforum. In 2008, she was awarded the Talbot Baker Teaching Award at Milton Academy.

She has performed organ recitals in France and Germany, and facilitated a biannual music exchange between Milton Academy and L’Ecole de Musique de Persan (France) for twenty years, in part supported by the Florence Gould Foundation.

Jeremy Bruns, Director of Music & Organist at The Parish of the Epiphany

Jeremy S. Bruns has been heard on the nationally syndicated radio show Pipedreams, BBC Radio, and the Pro Organo label.  He has been featured at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston SC and has performed numerous recitals with engagements including St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, Canterbury Cathedral, Washington National Cathedral, St. James’ Cathedral in Toronto, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Methuen Memorial Music Hall, St. Paul Cathedral and Heinz Memorial Chapel in Pittsburgh, Adolphus Busch Hall, and the Fasor Reformed Church in Budapest, Hungary.

As a church musician, Bruns has held positions in Boston MA, Pittsburgh PA, and other locations, including three years as Associate Organist of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where he worked daily with the late John Scott and the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys.  He has also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches TX.  He studied with David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester NY, earning the M.Mus. and the Performer’s Certificate. Mr. Bruns is a past Dean of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and currently chairs the chapter’s Young Organist Initiative.  He serves as the Director of Music and Organist at Parish of the Epiphany (Episcopal) in Winchester MA.