Kola Owolabi, Syracuse University organist and assistant professor of music in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), will present organ recitals on Tuesday, Sept. 6, and Wednesday, Sept. 7, on the historic Holtkamp organ in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College. Both concerts will be held at 8 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the Irving Garage; patrons should mention that they are attending the recital.
The program for both evenings will feature works by Bach, Karg-Elert, Paulus, Widor, Franck and Dupré.
Owolabi teaches courses in organ, improvisation, continuo playing and music theory; plays for weekly chapel services and special events; and coordinates the Esther Drake and John Vincent Malmgren Concert Series at Hendricks Chapel. He is also the sub dean for the Syracuse chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is responsible for planning chapter events.
A native of Toronto, Owolabi has held positions as assistant organist at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto and at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal. He is a published composer and has received commissions from the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. In 2002, he was awarded second prize and the audience prize at the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance.
As a recitalist, he has performed across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Jamaica, appearing at such venues as St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City; Methuen Memorial Music Hall in Massachusetts; Cornell University in Ithaca; and the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
Setnor Auditorium’s organ was rebuilt in 1950 by Walter Holtkamp and consists of 3,823 pipes, many of which are from the original organ built by Frank Roosevelt in 1889 and rebuilt by the Estey Organ Co. in 1924. The organ was awarded a Historic Organ Citation by the Organ Historical Society in 1989.
For more information, contact Owolabi at 315-443-5043. For Setnor Auditorium concert status updates, contact the Setnor School at 315-443-2191.
