Santa Barbara Music Club Opening Concert Saturday October 22, 2022

The Santa Barbara Music Club opens its 2022-2023 season of beautiful classical music on Saturday, October 22, 3 PM, at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu. Award-winning organist and composer Tom Mueller will perform a concert including beloved masterworks as well as captivating newer works: Johann Sebastian Bach’s splendid Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532, David Conte’s imaginative Pastorale, Percy Whitlock’s radiant Scherzetto, and Cesar Franck’s magnificent Chorale No. 1 in E major. Also featured will be Mueller’s own Sonata (2020), comprising a Chorale, 5 Variations, Song, and Toccata.. Admission is free.
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Tom Mueller, organist, is an award-winning church musician who is Associate Professor of Church Music and University Organist at Concordia University in Irvine, CA, where he directs academic programs in keyboard, composition, and jazz. An active recitalist, clinician, and adjudicator, he also serves as Associate Organist at St. James’ Church in Los Angeles, where he accompanies the acclaimed Chair of St. James’.

He was awarded First Place in the Schoenstein Competition in Hymn-Playing, and was honored by The Diapason as a member of the inaugural “20 under 30” list of influential figures in the world of organ and church music.

Dr. Mueller maintains an active concert schedule, and has performed at universities and churches across the United States. In 2010, he performed the complete organ works of J. S. Bach in a series of seventeen concerts in his native state of Maine. He has received numerous commissions for new choral and liturgical works, and performances of his compositions have been broadcast on national radio and television. His recording credits include Scott Perkin’s A New England Requiem and O Beauty Ever Ancient Ever New by the Choir of St. James’, both of which were released on the Gothic label. He is also an accomplished guitarist, and toured the country as a member of “The Muellers,” a nationally recognized family bluegrass band. Their fourth album, The Muellers, was released in 2009.

His research interests include the early organ and keyboard works of J. S. Bach, the performance practice of organ continuo playing in the classical-era concerted sacred music of Germany and Austria, and the American reception of the nineteenth-century opera star Jenny Lind. He has presented workshops, masterclasses, and lectures for numerous organizations, including several chapters of the American Guild of Organists, and has served as a faculty member for the Guild’s Pipe Organ Encounter (POE) program for young organists. He currently serves on the national Committee for Continuing Professional Education (CCPE) of the AGO, as a regional president for Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and chairs the organ study grant program of the Orange County chapter of the AGO.

Mueller earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Higgs. He also holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (M.S.M. in organ), and the University of Maine at Augusta (B.M. in jazz composition and piano), where he graduated summa cum laude. He resides in Orange County with his wife and two daughters.

FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR AUDIENCE AND PERFORMERS
In accordance with public health guidelines, all patrons, including children, must show proof of being fully vaccinated or supply a professionally administered negative COVID 19 test result, taken within 1 day for antigen tests and 2 days for PCR tests. Results of self administered at home tests are not accepted.
All patrons 18 years and older must present identification that matches their vaccination or test record.
IDENTIFICATION ACCEPTED: Driver’s License or State ID, school photo ID, or passport. Other photo ID may be considered on a case by-case basis.
PROOF OF VACCINATION: CDC vaccination card, photo or copy of card, or California digital verification from www.MyVaccineRecord.cdph.Ca.gov. Out of state guests must present similarly verified records.
Masks are required, and must cover both nose and mouth. Bandanas, neck gaiters, masks with exhalation valves and shield like face coverings are not allowed.
Social distancing is required.
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Santa Barbara Music Club concerts display a wonderful diversity of historical musical periods and compositional styles, including beloved masterworks and exciting new and seldom-heard repertoire. Of the series, the Santa Barbara Independent exclaimed: “A beautiful day, a beautiful room, beautiful music … who could ask for more?” and Gerald Carpenter in Noozhawk.com declared, “Every Santa Barbara Music Club concert that I have ever attended has been a sensory joy as well as a consciousness expansion.”
A valued cultural resource in the community since 1969, the Music Club’s mission is threefold:
(1) Presentation of an annual series of concerts, free to the public.
(2) Aiding and encouraging musical education by the disbursement of scholarships to talented local music students.
(3) Presentation of community outreach activities, including bringing great music to residents of area retirement homes.
For information on this or other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, visit SBMusicClub.org