Dr. James Jordan
James Jordan has performed as an organ accompanist and soloist throughout the United States and Eastern and Western Europe. Cited as performing both “authoritatively and sensitively” by the Boston Globe, and as a “superb performer” by American Record Guide, Dr. Jordan earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, studying with Robert Anderson. As a student of David Craighead, he received his Master’s Degree, Doctorate, and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He has published in the American Choral Review and was a contributing author to American Sacred Choral Music—An Overview and Handbook (Paraclete Press, 2001).
Dr. Jordan has done extensive work in Gregorian Chant as a member of the Gloriæ Dei Cantores Schola, studying under Dr. Mary Berry. He has also been featured on numerous Gloriæ Dei Cantores recordings as well as solo organ recordings, including Olivier Messiaen: The Mystical Colors of Christ with David Chalmers and SharonRose Pfeiffer.
Dr. SharonRose Pfeiffer
SharonRose Pfeiffer has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including organ solos, recitals, and radio broadcasts in New York City, at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, Wheaton College in Illinois, and throughout France. The winner of a Fulbright scholarship, Dr. Pfeiffer spent a year in Toulouse, coaching with the late composer and organist Xavier Darasse, and researching organ restorations in southern France. During that year, she won first prize in the prestigious Concours Internationale des Arts Renaissances. On a concert tour of southern France, one reviewer described her playing as “exuberant . . . profoundly sensitive”: La Dépêche.
A native of Ridgefield, New Jersey, Dr. Pfeiffer began her career as a church musician at the age of 13. She served as organist/choirmaster for several major churches, implementing and developing extensive choir programs. Currently, she is an Artist-in-Residence for Gloriæ Dei Artes Foundation, and Director of the Children’s Choirs program for the Church of the Transfiguration.
Dr. Pfeiffer received her Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, summa cum laude. She earned her Master’s Degree and Doctorate in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she was teaching assistant to David Craighead in organ and to Arthur Haas in harpsichord. During her time in Rochester, she was also Instructor of Organ and Harpsichord at Nazareth College, and Music Consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester.
Dr. Pfeiffer is featured on the organ recording Olivier Messiaen: The Mystical Colors of Christ and on her first solo recording,Illuminations, featuring the surround-sound E.M. Skinner organ at the Church of the Transfiguration.
About the Organ
The organ at the Church of the Transfiguration is a restoration and expansion of pipes and components from eighteen different E.M. Skinner organs build in the early twentieth century. Suspended over the side aisles in mahogany chambers are pipes of wood and metal ranging from six inches to thirsty-two feet in length. Build by Nelson Bardon & Associates of Boston, it is a museum-quality restoration that will include over 12,000 pipes when complete. The organ’s unique location allows its sounds to be specifically directed so as to fill the entire space, giving a “surround-sound” effect, unique among organs throughout the world.
