Alexander McCurdy

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Alexander McCurdy, Jr. (18 August 1905 Eureka, California – 1 June 1983 Philadelphia) was an organist and educator.[1][2]

He studied with Lynnwood Farnam and in 1931 became one of the earliest graduates[3] from the newly established Curtis Institute of Music. In 1926 he made his professional debut at New York's Town Hall, and thereafter toured as a recitalist, often appearing in duo recitals with his wife, harpist Flora Greenwood. Their son Alexander "Sandy" McCurdy III would become a prominent Episcopal minister and psychoanalyst.

Dr. McCurdy headed the organ department at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute from 1935 to 1972 and also at Princeton's Westminster Choir College (now part of Rider University) from 1940 to 1965, teaching hundreds of organ students over the years. He became organist and choirmaster at Philadelphia's Second Presbyterian Church in 1927, where he greatly enlarged the organ; after a 1949 merger, this was the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, from which he retired in 1972.[4]

His many notable students included Walter Baker,[5] Richard Purvis, Gordon Young, David Craighead, Robert Carwithen,[6] Hedley Yost,[7] John Weaver, Joan Hult Lippincott, William Whitehead,[8] Cherry Rhodes,[9] John Binsfeld,[10] Keith Chapman, John Tuttle, Michael Stairs,[11] Gordon Turk, and Charles Callahan.[12]

McCurdy's students generally manifested a sublime lyricism in playing, and more than a few shared his affinity for the Symphonic school of pipe-organ design, helping preserve several important Symphonic organs in Philadelphia, particularly the Wanamaker Organ, the E.M. Skinner organ at Girard College Chapel, and the Curtis Organ at Irvine Auditorium (University of Pennsylvania).

On May 13, 2005, Westminster celebrated McCurdy’s centennial year with a day of concerts at the Princeton University Chapel and Westminster’s Bristol Chapel, including performances by Weaver and Lippincott.[13][14] For many years, Westminster held the "Alexander McCurdy Competition in Organ Performance" among its students.

McCurdy donated his music collection to the Bagaduce Music Lending Library.[15]

Selected works

  • "Keeping up Mendelssohn", Dr. Alexander McCurdy, The Etude, February 1948
  • "Notable Organs of America", Dr. Alexander McCurdy, The Etude, June 1947

References

  1. ↑ The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Don Michael Randel. Harvard University Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3, p.530-1
  2. ↑ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Centennial Edition, Nicolas Slonimsky, editor emeritus. Schirmer, 2001
  3. ↑ http://www.curtis.edu/alumni/about-alumni/full-alumni-listing
  4. ↑ Donald Kocher, The Mother of Us All: First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, 1698-1998 (Philadelphia, 1998)
  5. ↑ http://www.voice-talk.net/2010/08/walter-baker-american-romantic-organ.html
  6. ↑ http://PJonesMusic.us/html/biography.html
  7. ↑ http://SpringfieldAGO.org/Chiff-Chats/Nov%202002.pdf
  8. ↑ http://MichaelsMusicService.com/CDs/SowerbySymphony/
  9. ↑ http://music.usc.edu/cherry-rhodes/
  10. ↑ http://www.StThomasMoreSRQ.org/home/bulletin/doc_view/169-epiphany-january-6-2013
  11. ↑ http://DTRmusic.com/stairs_michael.html
  12. ↑ http://VermontOrganAcademy.com/pages/facStaf.html
  13. ↑ American Originals, State of the Arts, New Jersey Public Television, May 21, 2005
  14. ↑ "Alexander McCurdy as Legendary Teacher", The Weaver’s Tale, Pipedreams, April 23, 2007
  15. ↑ http://BagaduceMusic.org/index.php?sectionID=256&pageID=259
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