This month's Dean’s Column is a smorgasbord of important news items for our membership: Plans for the Chicago area memorial service for Dick Enright are evolving. The service will be Tuesday, May 9, at 7:00pm at Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E. Chestnut, Chicago). ...

Your NSAGO board met last month, and discovered that our recent attention to rebuilding our efforts in the area of chapter scholarships dovetails beautifully with the recent national AGO initiative that I wrote about last month in the Dean's Column - the Committee on...

There is definitely a cyclical feel to our work, isn’t there? The major change that takes place in most of our lives in September has little to do with the liturgical year, as it falls right in the middle of ‘ordinary time’. But it is definitely a shift. Choirs begin...

It's that time of year again!  This year, we are replacing 2 people who will be completing their 3-year terms on the board:  Lee Nelson and Royce Eckhardt.  Thanks to both Lee and Royce, who have added their ideas, energy, and humor to the board.  A third board member...

Some of you may have seen this picture; it’s made the rounds on Facebook again in recent months. While some of these things may not apply to you specifically, I think we can all agree that we could also come up with a few more of these! I know I could add a few:...

After responses from many of you correcting outdated or missing information (thank you!), we’ve just posted the new and improved chapter directory! Find it at the following link: http://northshoreago.org/for-members/member-directory/ or in the About Us/Member...

Jay Peterson and I have been using these summer months to do some ‘cleaning up’ of our member roster information. We have several databases with regard to our membership – ONCARD, our local directory, and our email blast list. As we worked through each meticulously,...

The board of the North Shore Chapter has begun planning our next season of programs. It’s always an exciting thing to have a blank slate and brainstorm about programs that will meet the needs and desires of our membership. And this year’s planning is particularly...

My dean’s message this month is actually a message from Isabelle Demers – a request I received in an email from her a few days ago on behalf of the newly formed AGO Committee on New Organists: Dear chapter deans, Greetings from Texas! I’m writing on behalf of my...

Hope you are all enjoying your summer. Not only travel, but hopefully a chance to practice more and plan some exciting things for this coming year at the organ! We just had our final board meeting last night till fall. We had a lovely time enjoying dinner together...

Some of you may notice that while we have had a Calendar tab on the homepage of our website, it’s been pretty empty up till now. Well, no longer!  We’ve finally gotten up and running with the Calendar feature.  So when you click on Calendar from now on, you will not...

We've all taken a deep breath, I'm sure, as we've finished our December madness and put away all the Advent and Christmas music for another year.  And we have a short time to breathe before a very early Lent begins this year!  Enjoy taking deep breaths this month,...

North Shore Chapter members are invited to recommend students to play on Sat., Nov. 7, at the Getting Off On the Right Foot Master Class Maggie Kemper is teaching.  The event will take place at Presbyterian Homes’ Elliott Chapel, 3131 Simpson, Evanston, IL. Young...

I don’t know about all of you, but lovely as they are, I’m getting tired of looking at the same few pictures on our website’s homepage every month. My vision when we launched this new website over a year ago now was that we would have a slide show of the MANY organs...

We had a wonderful Epiphany party last night!  (Read more in the Recent Event Review.)  Also take particular note of the Other News section this month - there's a lot of important information there about various items. My husband, the preacher, has always been...

In a few short days, we begin our 2016-17 program season with a long-anticipated and exciting program by Vincent DuBois, from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. This program is part of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ernest Skinner,...

Here we are at the beginning of what is, for most of us, a little lighter schedule for a few months. It’s always nice to have this bit of down-time, but it’s also nice that fall is also always exciting to look forward to fall and the resuming of rehearsals, special...

Frequently as organists, we find ourselves being made to feel as if we’re dinosaurs in the musical arena. This article will make you feel good about the future of our instrument.  Statements such as: “The organ is probably in the best place it’s ever been”, “As an...

As we all face collectively hundreds of rehearsals, services and concerts in the coming week, I ask you all to consider adding one quick thing to your to-do list.  Invite a non-AGO friend or a non-active AGO friend to come with you to the Epiphany party on January 3. ...

The following is the Mission Statement found on the national website of the American Guild of Organists: The mission of the American Guild of Organists is to enrich lives through organ and choral music. To achieve this, we: Encourage excellence in the performance of...

Monday evening, the North Shore AGO chapter held its annual banquet, signaling the end of this program season. We’ve had a great year of educational and enjoyable programs, and fun and fellowship together. We participated in a “Name that Tune” game together; we were...