JONAS NORDWAL AT SAN
GABRIEL
The next LATOS concert is scheduled for Sunday
afternoon February 5 at 2:30 PM. The location is
the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 South
Mission Drive in San Gabriel The organist is Jonas
Nordwall.
Jonas Nordwall is an internationally renowned
virtuoso organist equally skilled in both traditional
classical and modern/popular schools of musical
performance. He has performed in North America,
Japan, Europe, and China and has made eight
concert tours to Australia. In 1999, he was an
adjudicator and guest recitalist for the Swiss
International Organ Competition in Geneva,
Switzerland.
Nordwall has performed numerous programs
on the world-famous Spreckels outdoor pipe
organ in San Diego's Balboa Park for their
International Artist Series. He has more than 30
highly acclaimed recordings on a variety of
labels. His recordings are frequently heard on
the syndicated radio show, "Pipedreams."
Notable national television appearances include
the "Today Show" and "Good Morning
Australia."
Jonas Nordwall
A Portland, Oregon native, Nordwall's first
musical studies began at age 4 on the
accordion. His studies expanded to piano and
organ at age 10 with Portland teacher Goldie
Pos. In 1970 Nordwall graduated with a
Bachelor of Music degree from the University
of Portland. His piano, organ and orchestration
studies were with Arthur Hitchcock, a former
staff pianist and organist for 20th Century Fox
Studios. Nordwall's additional classical organ
studies were with Richard Ellsasser, Canada's
Frederick Geoghegan and Richard Purvis (of
San Francisco's Grace Cathedral).
Appointed in 1971, Nordwall is the organist for
Portland's First United Methodist Church and
assumed the Director of Music position in
1990. There he oversees one of the finest music
ministries in the U.S. He has played for United
Methodist Church General Conferences, other
international church gatherings, the American
Choral Directors Association conventions, and
regional conventions for the American Guild of
Organists.
As organist for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra,
Nordwall was a soloist for several concerts and
recorded with the orchestra conducted by James
DePriest on the Delos label. Other solo orchestral
appearances include the Vancouver, B.C.
Symphony Orchestra, Portland Festival and
Chamber Orchestras, Vancouver, Wash. Symphony
Orchestra, the Peter Britt and Cascade Music
Festivals. Most recently he was the featured soloist
with the Silicon Valley Symphony (former San
Jose Symphony).
Beginning in the mid '60s, Nordwall was one of
few organists professionally playing theatre pipe
organs. He was the organist for Howard Vollum
Estate (co- founder of Tektronix) and later was the
Senior Staff Organist for the Organ Grinder Corporation, performing in both Portland and
Denver, Colo. on custom designed Wurlitzer
theatre pipe organs in lavish restaurant settings.
Since 1966 he has been a featured artist for many
ATOS national and regional conventions. The
societies' "Organist of the Year" Award was
presented to Nordwall in 1987. He is the principle
coordinator for the ATOS Youth and Adult
Educational theatre organ Summer Camp
Programs.
In addition to his performing career, Nordwall has
been a major influence in the latter 20th century
design and manufacturing of both pipe and
electronic organs. He was with the Rodgers Organ
Company for more than 30 years and presently an
artist for the Allen Organ Company. |
