Organist to be honored
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Farrell Goehring, organist and director of music at Bethesda Episcopal Church, will be honored Sunday, Oct. 7, marking his 25 years of musical leadership at the parish.
The event begins with an allBach organ recital at 2:30 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by Choral Evensong. The service will feature new works composed by Goehring and sung by the Schola Cantorum, the parish’s distinguished choir.
“Bethesda has been blessed these years with Farrell’s faithfulness leading our music program, his virtuosity at the organ, and his willingness to take on so many details that allow us to innovate while maintaining our great traditions. It is rare that these qualities are embodied in one individual,” said The Very Reverend Marshall J. Vang, Interim Rector.
“I have been fortunate to have served at Bethesda, under
two Rectors, Dean Vang and the late Rev. Thomas T. Parke. Their dedication to the musical traditions of the church, as well as their eagerness to innovate and welcome new directions, has given me so much freedom as an artist,” said Goehring. “And the response from our worshippers has affirmed the importance of music in the congregation’s spiritual development, which is all the satisfaction I could want.”
The Evensong service will include four compositions by Goehring: two psalm settings, the Preces and Responses, and an introit, “How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place.” The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for that day are by the late T. Tertius Noble, the internationally known church musician and composer, who played the dedicatory recital of a new organ at Bethesda in 1921. On Oct. 7, Goehring’s organ solos before and at the end of the service will frame the liturgy that afternoon. A reception will follow the service.
“Farrell’s weekly preparation for services at Bethesda are only the beginning of his importance to Bethesda,” said Dean Vang. “He has also regularly produced, organized and accompanied public concerts by the Skidmore College Orchestra, the Saratoga Springs High School Choraliers, and, last winter, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s from New York City, among many other ensembles.”
“These events, bringing literally thousands of people to our spiritual home, have made music at Bethesda one of the parish’s principal outreach ministries to the community, thanks to Farrell,” said Dean Vang.
Goehring came to Bethesda in 1993 from St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church, New York City. He had maintained a busy concert schedule, including performances at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. He also performed recital tours in Italy, Mexico and Southeast Asia, including St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore. His 25 years make him the second longest serving organist to Albert Platt (1915 1956), since the first of 22 organists, Dr. L. B. Putnam, began in 1853.
He was self-taught from an early age, and completed his formal music education at Bethel College, Minneapolis and then Westminster Choir College, Princeton. At Bethesda, Goehring revived and enhanced every facet of the parish’s music program. In 2009, he oversaw the design, purchase and installation of a second organ in the back gallery, dedicated to the parents of David Hyde Pierce and his siblings.
The mission of music at Bethesda, led by Goehring, has brought many newcomers to the parish, and singers to participation in the choir. His weekly organ voluntaries have introduced new composers and recent compositions, alongside pieces from the classical repertoire.