H. Joseph Butler, Organist

H. Joseph Butler is Professor of Music and University Organist at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he also serves as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts.

He holds a DMA and Performer's Certificate in organ from the Eastman School of Music, an MM in organ from the New England Conservatory, and a BA magna cum laude in music from Bowdoin College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He has studied organ with Russell Saunders, Yuko Hayashi, Harald Vogel, Bernard Lagacé, and Marion R. Anderson, and harpsichord with Colin Tilney and Arthur Haas.

Dr. Butler has performed widely in the United States and England, including conventions of the AGO and the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society, and the cathedrals of Canterbury, Liverpool, Leeds, Ripon, and Chester. He recently performed recitals at Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, where he also taught a master class on the works of J. S. Bach.

An active member of the American Guild of Organists for over thirty years, Butler was winner of the New England Regional AGO Competition in 1975 and performed as a finalist in the National Organ Playing Competition in Boston the following year. He was founding dean of the Southeast Ohio Chapter AGO and holds the Associate (AAGO) Certificate.

His research focus is Baroque keyboard music, with emphasis on the French Classic tradition, J. S. Bach, and colonial American keyboard music. He has published articles and reviews in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Organ Yearbook, The American Organist, The Tracker, Choir and Organ, American Music Teacher, Bach, and Early Keyboard Journal. His book, The Peter Pelham Manuscript of 1744: An Early American Keyboard Tutor, is published by Wayne Leupold Editions.

He has recorded for Pro Organo Records and has been heard on the NPR syndicated program Pipedreams. His latest CD, the first-ever recording of the complete keyboard works of Julius Reubke, in collaboration with John Owings, pianist, is available from Pro Organo/Zarex Corporation.

Dr. Butler is represented by Windwerk Artists.

Here is an MP3 sample from the Reubke CD, copyright Zarex Corporation:

Allegro con fuoco from Reubke's Psalm 94 (2.75 MB, 1 min 30 sec)

 

TCU Students Excel in Organ Competition

Elisa Williams won first prize in the 35th Annual Wm. C. Hall Organ Competition held in San Antonio on March 4, 2006. The competition is open to all students studying organ at Texas universities; in the graduate division there were contestants from Baylor, UNT, UT, SMU, and TCU. In addition to the first prize of $1250, Williams won the $250 prize for the best hymn playing. Another TCU organist, Simon Sheung Chi Chan of Hong Kong, received Honorable Mention and $100. Chan and Williams are students of H. Joseph Butler. Judges for the competition were James David Christie (Oberlin), Pamela Decker (University of Arizona), and John Chappell Stowe (University of Wisconsin, Madison).

Texas Christian University has a long and distinguished history of training organists and church musicians; we offer the B.M in Organ Performance, B.M. in Church Music, and M.M. in Organ Performance. Financial aid of various types is available: merit scholarships, need-based awards, undergraduate church vocation scholarships, and a graduate assistantship.