Essex Community Concerts: Carol Williams & Adam Blaine

Carol Williams, organ
Adam Blaine, pipes
Thursday, July 4, 2013 | 7:30pm
At the Essex Community Church
$10 per person, children admitted free.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Essex Community Church, just across the street from the Essex-Charlotte ferry dock. Evening concerts are usually an hour and a half, including a brief intermission. Each concert is followed by a reception with refreshments and an opportunity to interact informally with the performer(s). Admission is $10 for adults while children are welcome free of charge. Hope to see you there!

About Carol Williams

Carol Williams began formal training with five years at the Royal Academy of Music where she specialized in organ performing as a student of David Sanger and obtained the Academy’s prestigious Recital Diploma together with an LRAM (organ) and an LRAM (piano). She was awarded all the major prizes for organ performing and, during her studies, she became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and a Fellow of Trinity College London plus an Associate of the Royal College of Music.

Moving to the USA, Carol undertook postgraduate study at Yale University under the direction of Professor Thomas Murray where she was appointed University Chapel Organist and was awarded an Artist Diploma together with the Charles Ives prize for outstanding achievement. She then became the Associate Organist at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Long Island’s Garden City and undertook Doctoral study under Professor McNeil Robinson at the Manhattan School of Music where she received the Helen Cohn award for her D.M.A. degree.

Carol’s performances have taken her all over the world. Some popular venues include: St. Sulpice and Notre Dame, Paris; Westminster Abbey; St. Paul’s Cathedral; King’s College, Cambridge; Queen’s College, Oxford; Blenheim Palace; Woolsey Hall, Yale University; Memorial Chapel, Harvard University; St. Patrick’s, New York; Washington National Cathedral; Riverside Church, New York. She has also given numerous concerts in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Monaco, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, China and Russia. En route, Carol has been elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of her contribution to music.

In October of 2001 Dr. Carol Williams was the first woman in the world to be appointed as Civic Organist. She has been the San Diego Civic Organist and Artistic Director of the Spreckels Organ Society in San Diego, California since 2001.

About Adam Blaine

Adam Blaine graduated from Peru High School in Peru, NY with an advanced designation Regents diploma with honors in the top 10% of his class.

He has played piano for 14 years and has taken lessons from Carol Bachand, Jennifer Moore, Rose Chancler, and Siu Yan Luk. He has played trumpet for 10 years and has taken lessons from Herm Matlock. He has played bagpipes for 9 years and has received instruction from Bruce Gandy, Alex Gandy, James MacHattie, Kylie MacHattie, Ken Eller, Jim McGillvary, Rob Crabtree, Jack Lee, and Ian K MacDonald.

Adam has also been singing causally for the past 5 years, and more focused this past year with his musical director tenure, and joining of a co-ed RIT Acapella Group, Proof of Purchase.

Currently, Adam is a Sophomore at the Rochester Institute of Technology pursuing a degree in Software Engineering. He hopes to obtain three minors: Music Performance, Music Technology, and American Sign Language.

Read through the full list of this season’s Essex Community Concerts.