McGrath debuts organ composition Sunday
The first public performance of a piece commissioned of Ethan McGrath by the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists will be presented Sunday, July 1, during a concert at First Baptist Church in the Golden Gateway.
McGrath says “Pastorale” is a solo organ piece that was commissioned as a going-away present for Keith Reas, former organist-choir director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, who has moved to Rochester, New York. McGrath says the work was first performed at an AGO event, but this will be the first opportunity for the public to hear it.
“It’s based on a hymn tune called ‘General Seminary’ written by David Charles Walker. It’s Keith’s favorite hymn tune, which is why I chose it,” says McGrath. “I called it ‘Pastorale’ because it’s a pastoral mood somewhat in the style of Vaughan Williams, fairly meditative.”
McGrath received a bachelor’s degree in composition from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he studied with Jonathan McNair and Roland Carter. He earned a master’s degree in choral studies, with a focus on conducting, from the University of Cambridge. He also spent a year studying German at Friedensau Adventist University.
The composer and organist has studied organ with Judy Glass at Southern Adventist University and Barry Jordan at the Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany. He has served as organist at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and First Baptist Church of Chattanooga.
He says for Sunday’s concert he has put together a program of his church music for choir and organ. He has assembled a choir to perform them from among his friends. They will be accompanied by Joshua Knight as he conducts. McGrath will also play some of his solo pieces for organ.
McGrath says he began composing music during high school. They’re primarily church music, but he has written orchestral music and chamber music.
The composer said he tries to write music that will “help break down barriers between people and has the potential to convey a depth of meaning to anyone who hears it.”
He said he particularly values folk music — simple melodies that have stood the test of time.
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