Award-winning organist to perform at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa

The music director of St. James Cathedral in Chicago will perform a free organ recital Sunday at First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa.

Stephen Buzard's recital will begin at 3 p.m. at the church, 900 Greensboro Ave., and he will play the church's Létourneau organ, which was built in Quebec and features 4,014 handmade pipes.

Buzard will be playing well-known hymns along with works by French composers Marcel Dupré, César Franck and Maurice Duruflé.

The recital will also feature Leo Sowerby’s “Pageant”, a complex piece designed to demonstrate the organist’s pedal technique. Cameras and a screen will be set up in the church so audience members will experience Buzard’s program visually and aurally.

Buzard earned his undergraduate degree at Westminster Choir College, where he was winner of the 2009 Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance.  He then spent a year in England as senior organ scholar of Wells Cathedral, before earning a master of music degree at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

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At Chicago's St. James Cathedral in Chicago, Buzard leads the music staff as principal musician, organist and conductor of the Cathedral Choir. He previously served as acting organist and director of music at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City.

For more information, email First Presbyterian's music director Marjorie Johnston at mjohnston@fpctusc.org or organist Jason Pedeaux at jpedeaux@fpctusc.org.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Stephen Buzard to perform at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa