Colin Andrews at the University of Dubuque -- September 21.
Sunday, September 21, 3 p.m.
University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street, Dubuque IA
Presenting a sonically gorgeous recital offered as part of the 13th-annual Live at Heritage Center Performing Arts Series, the University of Dubuque hosts an afternoon with noted organist Colin Andrews on September 21, the musician performing on the John and Alice Butler Pipe Organ that was dedicated in May of 2021 and boasts an astonishing 3,033 pipes.
Since his debut at the age of 18, Andrews has been recognized as a musician of great versatility, power, and artistry. Born in Bristol, England, he initially studied with Garth Benson of St. Mary Redcliffe Church in his hometown. At 16, Andrews entered London’s Royal Academy of Music for four years of organ and piano study. He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was a student at the Conservatoire de Musique before his return to Britain for private studies.
Andrews has been the recipient of numerous awards. Most notably, he was a prizewinner at the 1980 and 1982 Dublin International Organ Competition in Ireland and the Royal Academy of Music in London bestowed an associateship upon him in 1993 in recognition of his distinguished performing career.
As a solo recitalist, Andrews has toured worldwide at many prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall in London, England; King’s College in Cambridge, England; the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France; Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan; and more. He has recorded 30 broadcasts for the BBC and has appeared in local and national television in the U.S., Russia, Poland, the U.K., Japan, and New Zealand. Additionally, he has released 14 CDs.
Andrews is one of only four organists in the world to have recorded the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen. In 2012, Andrews was named “Membre d’Honneur” of the “Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen” based at the composer’s church, Eglise de la Sainte Trinite in Paris, France, where Messiaen served for 61 years. Andrews recording of Messiaen’s L’Ascension and Messe de la Pentecote was voted into the Top 10 sacred music recordings for 2012 by Christianity Today.
As an active teacher and lecturer, Andrews has given presentations at, among other venues, the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, England. He has served as a jury member for the International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the J.P. Sweelinck Competition in Gdansk, Poland. Andrews was jury president and recitalist for the 2006 Felix Nowowiejski Organ Competition in Poznan, Poland. He also served as a national councilor and local president of the Incorporated Association of Organists in the U.K.
Among his church positions has been a 12-year tenure as organist and master of the choristers at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where Andrews led the choir from his parish on a concert tour of British cathedrals. Andrews is currently a visiting professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Indiana.
Colin Andrews performs in the fifth-annual John and Alice Butler Pipe Organ Recital Series on September 21, the event is held in the John & Alice Butler Hall of the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, and admission to the 3 p.m. recital is $14. For more information and tickets, call (563)585.7469 and visit Dbq.edu/heritagecenter.
