Organist Gail Archer to perform at Mt. Lebanon church
Pick a city on a map of the United States or Europe and there’s a decent chance that Gail Archer has played there.
The veteran organist’s 2019 tour of Europe took her to Britain, Italy, Spain, Russia, Malta, Ukraine and Poland, and to such venues as the 500 year-old St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the St. Mary’s Church in Krakow, Poland, which is two centuries older than St. Giles. Archer’s most recent jaunt to Europe took her to venues in Lithuania, Germany and Switzerland.
Making these journeys not only gives Archer the opportunity to play some of the oldest and finest organs on the planet, but also to gain a better understanding of the kinds of instruments composers like Bach, Handel and Liszt used when they crafted their masterworks.
“You need to know what kinds of instruments were available to composers in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries,” Archer explained on the phone recently. “You need to know something about these instruments, and traveling as I have, one gets to play on the original instruments.”
She added, “To play on those historic instruments abroad is a real privilege, because you get to hear the sounds of the period.”
Aside from playing in storied cathedrals in Europe, Archer has a busy concert schedule domestically, and will be playing at St. Bernard Church on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16. It’s part of a three-concert swing through Pennsylvania that will also take her to Scranton and Philadelphia.
Archer’s love of classical and choral music stretches back to a childhood, when she sang in church choirs and played piano. She remembered, “When my legs were long enough to go over to the organ, I did so, when I was 13 or 14, and continued to play and study and teach.”
Having completed a degree in music education from Montclair State University in New Jersey, she taught in public schools and, eventually, at colleges and universities. She now directs the music program at Barnard College in New York and is the director of the Barnard-Columbia Chorus and Chamber Choir.
”It’s a program I built myself,” Archer said. “The program is lively. It started 15 years ago with three students and I’ve never had fewer than 12 students. It’s a very strong program and it continues to be strong.”
Listening to and absorbing classical music might not be high on the priority list for a lot of young people, but, according to Archer, “I think we need as educators to expose young people to as much classical music as we can. I’m in a position where I can do that well. I’m in a position where I can open up hearts and minds to the extraordinary tradition that is very much alive today.”
Archer’s concert at St. Michael the Archangel Parish will include works from the repertoire as well as compositions from Polish and Ukrainian composers. Admission is free. For additional information, go online to smamusic.org.