The UNT Organ program boasts faculty members with credentials from some of the top organ programs in the United States and Europe. In addition to being outstanding educators, organ faculty members are equally well regarded as performers, researchers, and composers.
Jesse Eschbach, DMA
(940) 565-4094
jesse.eschbach@unt.edu
Recording: Maurice Durufle's Suite pour orgue Op. 5
Recorded live in concert at the Basilique Saint-Ouen, Rouen.
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, 1890.
Prelude
Sicilienne
Toccata
Professor Eschbach is a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Michigan where he was a student of Robert Glasgow. He completed his formal education during a five-year residency in Paris as a student of Marie-Claire Alain, specializing in early French music in her conservatory class at Rueil-Malmaison where he was awarded both a Prix d’Excellence and a Prix de Virtuosité. As one of the very last students of the legendary Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier, he studied the complete organ works of her husband, Maurice Duruflé, as well as much of the French symphonic repertoire. Since 1986, Eschbach has served on the faculty at the University of North Texas as the full-time Professor of Organ, instructing performance majors at all levels, and is Coordinator of Organ. His students have dominated the annual San Antonio competition since 1995 and have won prizes in national competitions as well.
A very active performer until 1998, Eschbach has several CDs to his credit, including a disc recorded at the Cathédrale de Perpignan entitled “Music of the Second Empire and Beyond”, released in June, 2003. Also released in 2003 was his 800+ page book, detailing the original stoplists of the majority of organs constructed by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, based extensively on the Lapresté collection. This research is still in progress, and an expanded second edition will be released in the next few years. The first edition received a very positive “feature review” in the March, 2007 issue of The American Organist. Likewise, his CD recorded on the 1857 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ in Perpignan consisting of works by Lemmens, Franck, Gigout, Fessy, Schubert, and Couturier garnered high praise in a February, 2007 review in The Diapason.
Charles Brown, DMA
CHARLES BROWN RETURNS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS AS INSTRUCTOR OF SACRED MUSIC
Dr. Jesse Eschbach announces the appointment of Dr. Charles Brown as Instructor of Sacred Music Studies at the University of North Texas, effective August 2015. In addition to his many years as one of the foremost and sought-after pedagogues in organ, Dr. Brown received the Master of Divinity degree from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, putting him in an ideal position to coordinate this program.
Brown is a former University Organist at Arizona State University and a former Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the University of North Texas from 1968-1984. In the Dallas area, he has held organist-choirmaster positions at St. John’s Episcopal Church and at First Community Church United Church of Christ. He is currently organist/choirmaster at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oak Cliff, Dallas.
Dr. Brown holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and the Master of Divinity degree from Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University. Dr. Brown has also pursued graduate studies in theater at UNT and Texas Woman’s University, and he was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Vienna, Austria, where he was a student of Anton Heiller in organ and Isolde Ahlgrimm in harpsichord. After graduating from Brite Divinity School, Dr. Brown was ordained into the ministry of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and recently served five-and-one-half years as pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Corpus Christi. He holds the FAGO and ChM certificates of the American Guild of Organists and is a past dean of the Dallas Chapter of the AGO and a past national AGO Councillor for Education. Among several current projects, Dr. Brown is exploring the meeting of music, theatre, and theology as constituting a “trifocal” view of the origins and practice of Christian worship.
Dr. Brown replaces Mark Scott who coordinated the Sacred Music curriculum for 10 years at UNT. During his tenure, this curriculum was completely restructured and is now available to graduate students as a minor (related field). Interested people may audit these classes at the discretion of the instructor.
Welcome abord, Dr. Brown!
S. Andrew Lloyd, DMA
The College of Music announces the appointment of Dr. S. Andrew Lloyd as adjunct instructor of class piano and organ literature, effective fall 2015. Dr. Lloyd will co-teach the organ literature seminar courses with Dr. Eschbach. As these courses form the foundation for doctoral qualifying examinations, it is not anticipated that course content will be altered, and the seminar formats will be maintained.
S. Andrew Lloyd is an organist and composer. He currently holds two adjunct teaching positions at the University of North Texas and Texas Women's University, where he teaches applied organ lessons, undergraduate and graduate level organ literature courses, and keyboard skills. Alongside his university teaching positions, Lloyd is also the organist at First United Methodist Church in Denton, Texas. In 2014, Lloyd received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance with a related field in composition from the University of North Texas where he studied with Jesse Eschbach, and was awarded the highly competitive Master's and Doctoral Fellowship. He completed his other collegiate degrees at the University of Kansas and Brigham Young University where he studied with James Higdon and Douglas E. Bush respectively. As an active recitalist, Andrew Lloyd has performed as a guest organist at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, and most recently as a featured recitalist in the Eccles Organ Festival at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. Andrew Lloyd placed first in two organ competitions: The William C. Hall Organ Competition (2011) at First Presbyterian in San Antonio, TX and also the Strader Organ Competition (2010) at the University of Cincinnati.
As an active composer, S. Andrew Lloyd has written extensively for organ, piano, voice, choir, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. One of his recent commissions, Christe eleison, was written for Jerry McCoy and the Schola Cantorum of Texas as part of the 2015 Fort Worth Regional AGO Convention. Andrew Lloyd studied composition with Forrest Pierce at the University of Kansas, and with Jon Nelson, Andrew May, and James Worlton while in Denton, TX. Lloyd’s music has been premiered and performed at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Bales Recital Hall at the University of Kansas, Libby Gardner Hall at the University of Utah, Arizona State University, Texas Woman's University, University of North Texas, Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, and internationally in South Africa.
In Memoriam: Mark Scott, Professor of Sacred Music
We honor the life and work of Mark Scott, who coordinated the Sacred Music curriculum for 10 years at UNT. During his tenure, this curriculum was completely restructured and is now available to graduate students as a minor (related field). The following is used with permission from St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth.
We give thanks for the life of Peter Mark Scott, Minister of Music and Organist at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth, TX. A memorial service was held at 2:00pm on November 1, 2014 at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth.
Mr. Peter Mark Scott, St. Stephen, Fort Worth's Minister of Music and Organist for almost forty years, entered the joy of God's heavenly worship Friday, October 17, 2014, at around 5:30 a.m. Mr. Scott's creativity, talent, and faithfulness shaped St. Stephen's unique style of worship. His organ music and choir direction conveyed the mystery and majesty of God. Several generations of St. Stephen children had their appreciation for music and the gospel shaped by Mr. Scott's humorous but always disciplined way with children. One of his greatest joys was teaching children and youth. Mr. Scott was a gifted church musician and choir director, but he was also a pastor to many, and the stabilizing rock of this church through the last forty years. His strong will, sharp wit, and confidence in God served a reassuring and even visionary role to parishioners in good times and bad.
"For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14: 7-8). Mr. Scott lived his life for the sake of Christ and St. Stephen, giving himself freely and joyfully to the church and its mission for decades. While we mourn his loss, we rejoice that Mark has joined his talents to that choir of saints and martyrs who worship God eternally in God's Kingdom, in that place where suffering is ended and there is only eternal joy in the Lord.
Grace and Peace,
The Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch III
Pastor
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth