John L. Edwards Organ Scholar...
Created in September 2005, the John L. Edwards Scholarship is an opportunity for a student who is studying organ to learn a traditional Anglican musical repertoire under the tutelage of the Director of Music at St. John’s,
Dr. Huw R. Lewis, FRCO. The scholarship is named after John Leigh Edwards, who served as organist at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Detroit from 1905 until 1947. Financial support for the scholarship has been provided as a gift from the estate of the children of Mr. Edwards, Eleanor and William Edwards. Eleanor passed away in 1999, and William in 2003. Both grew up with St. John’s as their church, and, although William moved to North Carolina after college, working as a chemist at DuPont, Eleanor continued to attend St. John’s through her adult life, moving in with her brother after her retirement from the
J. L. Hudson Company.
The
current scholar is Richard Lee Newman, who was born September 5, 1983, and is a native of Copperhill, Tennessee.
In May 2006, Richard graduated from
Hope College in Holland, Michigan with a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance. His organ professor was Dr. Huw Lewis. Richard received many awards and scholarships upon entering Hope, including the Distinguished Artist Award and the Freshman Music Prize. He was the first recipient of the Gertrude Beckman Organ Scholarship of Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church in Holland. Richard was also the organist for
Second Reformed Church of Zeeland, MI. While at Second Reformed Church, he initiated the church’s first Solemn Evensong, according to the liturgy of the
1662 Book of Common Prayer.
In May 2005, Richard was a choir member and organist for the Hope College Chapel Choir European Tour. He played organs throughout France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In December 2006, he was organist for Hope College Christmas Vespers. Previously, he studied organ with
Robert Delcamp of the
University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and harpsichord with
Edward Parmentier at the
University of Michigan School of Music, where he is continuing his organ studies with
Dr. James Kibbie while in pursuit of a master’s degree in Church Music.
Richard’s interests include making ecclesiastical incense, reading books on mysticism, promoting new music for the organ, and studying the life and works of
Olivier Messiaen.
We welcome Richard, who began his scholarship in June 2007. As part of his apprenticeship with Dr. Lewis, Richard appears regularly at services as organist.
Susan De Kam
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2005 – 2007
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Richard Newman
|
2007 –
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