St.
Francis of Assisi Parish
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church is located at
2250 E. Stadium Blvd (between Packard & Washtenaw)
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
St.
Francis of Assisi Parish
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church is located at
2250 E. Stadium Blvd (between Packard & Washtenaw)
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Resurrection Choir
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August 4: Michael StefanekOne of America’s rising young organists, Michael Stefanek has performed solo recitals around the United States at places including the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Detroit, MI), Trinity Cathedral (Cleveland, OH), Union Congregational Church (Green Bay, WI), St. Paul Lutheran (Amherst, OH), Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Davenport, IA), Hill Auditorium (Ann Arbor, MI), and Park Church Congregational, U.C.C. (Grand Rapids, MI). In October of 2009 Michael will be opening the 2009-2010 recital series at St. Norbert Abbey (De Pere, WI).
Michael enjoys appearing in collaborative recitals as well. He was one of the first organists to be featured on the opening of the noon organ recital series at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health in 2008. He has also performed works for trumpet and organ with highly accomplished trumpeter, Benjamin Albright.
A native of Green Bay, WI, Michael holds the Master of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Michigan and the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio. His teachers have included James Kibbie and David Boe, respectively. While at Oberlin he also studied organ improvisation with James David Christie and harpsichord with Lisa Goode Crawford. In the spring of 2001 Michael won second prize at the chapter level of the American Guild of Organists Regional Competition for Young Organists held in Cleveland, OH.
Michael currently serves as Director of Music and Organist at Redford Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Redford, MI, where he conducts the chancel choir, handbell choir, and contemporary praise ensemble. In September he will become a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at the University of Michigan where he studies with James Kibbie.
Michael is signed with Concert Artist Cooperative. He’s a member of the American Guild of Organists and is serving on the board of the Ann Arbor Chapter. In his spare time, Michael enjoys bike riding, amusement parks, playing with his dog, attending concerts, hanging out with friends, and visiting with family.
James Kibbie is Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan. He also maintains a full schedule of concert, recording, and festival engagements throughout North America and Europe, including appearances at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, Royal Festival Hall in London, Dvorak Hall in Prague, and Lincoln Center in New York. During his month-long concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1991, Pravda hailed him as “a marvelous organist, a brilliant interpreter.”
James Kibbie is widely regarded as an authority on the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is currently engaged in a three-year project to record the complete organ works of Bach on historic 18th-century German organs. Thanks to generous support from Dr. Barbara Furin Sloat in honor of J. Barry Sloat, the University of Michigan is offering these recordings to the public as free internet downloads at www.blockmrecords.org/bach. Dr. Kibbie’s program at St. Francis on August 11th will feature works he will record later this year on the 1723 Trost organ in Waltershausen, Germany.
August 18: Dr. Norah Duncan IV
Norah Duncan IV is Associate Chair and Associate Professor of Music at Wayne State University. He is also the Area Coordinator for Organ Performance. Additionally, he directs the WSU Concert Chorale and coordinates many of the choral concerts presented by the Department of Music.
Duncan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Detroit, a Master of Music degree from Wayne State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
Norah Duncan IV is a multi-faceted musician. As an organist, he has performed extensively in both the United States and Europe. Recently, he presented organ recitals throughout Michigan, in Germany in Australia. This summer, he has played recitals in Cleveland, Ohio, Poznan and Warsaw, Poland, and Recklinghausen, Germany. As a liturgical musician, he was music director and principal organist for the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament for over 26 years. Among his greatest achievements during those years was as director of music for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Detroit in 1987. With the Benedictine Monastery in Solesmes, France, Norah established the Gregorian Institute of Detroit for the study of Gregorian chant. Additionally, Duncan has presented papers on liturgical music at international congresses, clinics and workshops in Rome, Dublin, and for the Diocese of Enugu and the Archdiocese of Abuja, in Nigeria.
As a choral director, Norah has presented major concerts under the Cathedral Cultural Series with the Archdiocesan Chorus, and has collaborated in concerts with many Detroit area choral ensembles. Duncan has prepared choruses for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra and the Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra. In both 2004 and 2005, he directed the Michigan Youth Choral Ensemble in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Norah Duncan is the recipient of the Award for Excellence for Musical Direction from the American College Theater Festival, Washington, DC, the Sr. Thea Bowman Award of the Archdiocese of Detroit, the Spirit of Detroit Award, and the Mother Teresa Duchemin Award for exemplary community service. In 2006, he became the first recipient of the "Changing Lives Through Music" Award presented to him by the president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, Dr. Duncan received the Wayne State University Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award for his contributions to academic excellence and scholarship.
Joseph Balistreri, a native of Rochester, Michigan, began piano study at age 7. His principal piano and organ teacher was Pierre Toucheque, a student of Flor Peeters and Marcel Dupré. At age 16, Joe was appointed director of music at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Detroit, a position he still holds. Joe won the University of Michigan Undergraduate Organ Scholarship Competition, receiving a 4-year full tuition scholarship to the school. Joe recently graduated the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in organ performance and church music under Professor James Kibbie. In his senior year, Joe completed a translation project and recording assistantship in Germany with Professor Kibbie. He plans to continue his schooling in organ. In his spare time, Joe enjoys cycling, surveying mid-century architecture and composing.
