Organ Recital by Gerard Gillen

27.5.2017 (Sat) 5pm Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall Free admission with ticket

Gerard Gillen has been Titular Organist of Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral since 1976 and was Professor and Head of Music at Maynooth University, Ireland, from 1985 to 2007. A First Class Honours graduate of University College, Dublin, Oxford University, and the Royal Conservatoire of Music, Antwerp (where he gained the Prix d'Excellence, the highest award for instrumental performance), Professor Gillen has an international reputation as an organ recitalist and has given over 1,000 recitals throughout Europe, the Middle East, America and Australia, performing at such prestigious venues as the Royal Festival Hall, London, King’s College, Cambridge, St Thomas, New York, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, St Thomas’, Leipzig, St Bavo, Haarlem, Notre Dame and La Madeleine, Paris, cathedrals and major recital venues in Antwerp, Bratislava, Brussels, Bruges, Copenhagen, Freiburg, Ghent, Hamburg, Jerusalem, Kosice, Lübeck, Luxembourg, Malaga, Oslo, Madrid, Pittsburgh, Potsdam, Rome, San Francisco, Tallinn, Turin, Warsaw, Zaragosa etc. He has also been a member of international competition juries in Oxford, Ann Arbor, London, Graz and Dublin.

Gillen was founder of the Dublin International Organ & Choral Festival (now ‘Pipeworks’) of which he was artistic director from 1990-2000. In 1984 he was conferred with a Knighthood of St. Gregory (KCSG) by the Vatican. Other honours include the John Betts Fellow at the Universtiy of Oxford (1992), and in December 1996 he was nominated the classical winner in Ireland's National Entertainment Awards, the first and only organist to be so honoured. In 2006 he was made a Chevalier des Ars et des Lettres by the French Government for his contribution to French Music, and in 2007 he was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa by the Pontifical University of Maynooth for his services to Church Music, and in 2010 he was awarded the Belgian Government honour of ‘Officer of the Crown’ and the Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst, 1e Klasse (Cross of Honour for Science and Arts) by the Government of Austria. He was also elected to Fellowship of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (FRIAM).

His CD of the organ music of César Franck and Flor Peeters on the English LCS HiRes label was one of Norman Lebrecht’s special Christmas recommendations for 2009.

Recent engagements saw him participate in Bratislava Cathedral’s annual summer organ festival, and in Westminster Cathedral (London) Grand Organ Festival, in addition to recitals in Poland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, France and Germany.

Programme

D. Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Toccata in F Major, BuxWV 157

J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Chorale Prelude Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654

J. S. Bach
Variations on Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig, BWV 768

E. Gigout (1844-1925)
Scherzo in E Major

C. V. Stanford (1852-1924)
Postlude in D minor, Op. 105, No. 6

Free tickets are available at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Enquiries Counter (9am-9pm daily) from 5 May onwards. Each patron may get a maximum of 4 tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. Audiences aged 6 and above are welcome. Programme lasts around 40 minutes without intermission.

The presenter reserves the right to substitute artists and change programme without prior notice should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.
The content of this programme does not represent the views of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Enquiries: 2734 2009 / 2734 2819