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Organist returns home for performance
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Jerry Taylor returns to the Klamath Basin to perform at the First Presbyterian Church Saturday night, after honing his skills as an organist on the international level. |
January 26, 2007
Jerry Taylor could have been a farmer growing potatoes, grain and alfalfa on his family's Malin area property, and he probably would have enjoyed it.
“I would have stayed on the farm. That's what everybody did,” says Taylor. “It's a wonderful profession - it's a very valuable profession, providing food for the nation. We all eat. There's still nothing like eating a home-grown Tulelake potato.”
But Taylor, the son of Ival and Mary Taylor, had another goal, one he fixated on as a young boy after attending a wedding at the First Presbyterian Church in Klamath Falls: Playing pipe organs.
“I was 3 years old when I went to a wedding and fell in love with the sound of the pipe organ,” he wistfully recalls. “I can remember Mrs. (Eileen) Herringshaw playing. That sound has been with me forever.”
That was more than 50 years ago.
Saturday night, the 54-year-old Taylor will be back at the First Presbyterian Church fulfilling a dream.
Over the years he's become an internationally recognized organist who has played “all the big organs” in the U.S. and several in Europe. But he hasn't performed in Klamath Falls since he was a teenager.
“Most of my family has never heard me play so this will be a fun opportunity,” he says.
“It was one of my dreams to come back home and play.”
His performance will be at 7:30 p.m. at the church as part of the Ross Ragland Theater's classical series.
The audience will include his parents, his brother Roger and his family, an aunt from Medford, and one of his early teachers, Winifred Oehlerich.
Eileen Herringshaw will be there, too, but not in the audience. Now in her 80s, she will perform a piano-organ duet with Taylor.
Herringshaw is among a trio of teachers who Taylor says changed his life.
The other influence was Cleo Lowry, a Malin teacher who taught him many lessons, including how to be comfortable on stage.
Love for music
Among the many lessons from Oehlerich, his sixth- through eighth-grade music teacher in Tulelake, was how to take a bow.
Taylor bows while he says to himself, “I'm thankful they've come to hear me play.”
Taylor's musical instruction began in the second-grade, when he was shuttled to Klamath Falls for weekly classes with Herringshaw for $2.50 a lesson, a “ridiculously expensive” cost for his family.
“They realized I was totally in love with music and had gifts for it and let me know,” he says of his parents' sacrifices.
Musical education
Their biggest sacrifice was a decision to send him to the Auburn Academy, a music school near Seattle.
“It was stepping way out for my folks. I was 14. I loved being a music student. There was no way we could afford to buy an organ to practice on and they couldn't bring me to Klamath Falls every day.”
After graduating from the academy, he earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Walla Walla College in Washington, then took a teaching job in Virginia.
While there, he earned a master's degree and started work on his doctorate at Indiana University, which he describes as the nation's most prestigious music school.
“The learning in that kind of environment is incredible,” he says, recalling workshops and classes with legends like conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and opera singers Beverly Sills and Pavarotti. “It was an unreal world.”
Back in Virginia, Taylor built an organ - “That taught me a whole lot about how my instrument works.”
In 1986, Taylor and his family - his former wife and two sons - moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he still serves as director of music for the Kettering Adventist Church and music assistant at the Westminster Presbyterian Church and performs with its 90-member choir.
Doing things differently
Over the years Taylor has played at the Mormon Tabernacle Church in Utah, the Crystal Cathedral in California and churches in New York City, “but I've never been home.”
Saturday's performance, he promises, won't be just another show.
“I do not like organ recitals. They're boring,” he confesses. “That's why I'm choosing to do things differently.”
Since arriving in Klamath Falls Monday, he's rehearsed with a brass group led by Charlie Moresi, with pianist Ron Ochs on a piano/organ composition and, of course, with Herringshaw.
The evening selections will include some Bach, but he says the brass group segment “is going to be powerfully fun.”
Taylor admits the performance will be an emotional experience.
“This will be the thanks to my folks, the appreciation for what they did, that I've been asked to play this concert,” he says.
“I hate practicing because it's just me and the organ. Performing is very people oriented. Performing is one of those golden moments when the universe is beautiful.”
- Lee Juillerat
Jerry Taylor could have been a farmer growing potatoes, grain and alfalfa on his family's Malin area property, and he probably would have enjoyed it.
“I would have stayed on the farm. That's what everybody did,” says Taylor. “It's a wonderful profession - it's a very valuable profession, providing food for the nation. We all eat. There's still nothing like eating a home-grown Tulelake potato.”
But Taylor, the son of Ival and Mary Taylor, had another goal, one he fixated on as a young boy after attending a wedding at the First Presbyterian Church in Klamath Falls: Playing pipe organs.
“I was 3 years old when I went to a wedding and fell in love with the sound of the pipe organ,” he wistfully recalls. “I can remember Mrs. (Eileen) Herringshaw playing. That sound has been with me forever.”
That was more than 50 years ago.
Saturday night, the 54-year-old Taylor will be back at the First Presbyterian Church fulfilling a dream.
Over the years he's become an internationally recognized organist who has played “all the big organs” in the U.S. and several in Europe. But he hasn't performed in Klamath Falls since he was a teenager.
“Most of my family has never heard me play so this will be a fun opportunity,” he says.
“It was one of my dreams to come back home and play.”
His performance will be at 7:30 p.m. at the church as part of the Ross Ragland Theater's classical series.
The audience will include his parents, his brother Roger and his family, an aunt from Medford, and one of his early teachers, Winifred Oehlerich.
Eileen Herringshaw will be there, too, but not in the audience. Now in her 80s, she will perform a piano-organ duet with Taylor.
Herringshaw is among a trio of teachers who Taylor says changed his life.
The other influence was Cleo Lowry, a Malin teacher who taught him many lessons, including how to be comfortable on stage.
Love for music
Among the many lessons from Oehlerich, his sixth- through eighth-grade music teacher in Tulelake, was how to take a bow.
Taylor bows while he says to himself, “I'm thankful they've come to hear me play.”
Taylor's musical instruction began in the second-grade, when he was shuttled to Klamath Falls for weekly classes with Herringshaw for $2.50 a lesson, a “ridiculously expensive” cost for his family.
“They realized I was totally in love with music and had gifts for it and let me know,” he says of his parents' sacrifices.
Musical education
Their biggest sacrifice was a decision to send him to the Auburn Academy, a music school near Seattle.
“It was stepping way out for my folks. I was 14. I loved being a music student. There was no way we could afford to buy an organ to practice on and they couldn't bring me to Klamath Falls every day.”
After graduating from the academy, he earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Walla Walla College in Washington, then took a teaching job in Virginia.
While there, he earned a master's degree and started work on his doctorate at Indiana University, which he describes as the nation's most prestigious music school.
“The learning in that kind of environment is incredible,” he says, recalling workshops and classes with legends like conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and opera singers Beverly Sills and Pavarotti. “It was an unreal world.”
Back in Virginia, Taylor built an organ - “That taught me a whole lot about how my instrument works.”
In 1986, Taylor and his family - his former wife and two sons - moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he still serves as director of music for the Kettering Adventist Church and music assistant at the Westminster Presbyterian Church and performs with its 90-member choir.
Doing things differently
Over the years Taylor has played at the Mormon Tabernacle Church in Utah, the Crystal Cathedral in California and churches in New York City, “but I've never been home.”
Saturday's performance, he promises, won't be just another show.
“I do not like organ recitals. They're boring,” he confesses. “That's why I'm choosing to do things differently.”
Since arriving in Klamath Falls Monday, he's rehearsed with a brass group led by Charlie Moresi, with pianist Ron Ochs on a piano/organ composition and, of course, with Herringshaw.
The evening selections will include some Bach, but he says the brass group segment “is going to be powerfully fun.”
Taylor admits the performance will be an emotional experience.
“This will be the thanks to my folks, the appreciation for what they did, that I've been asked to play this concert,” he says.
“I hate practicing because it's just me and the organ. Performing is very people oriented. Performing is one of those golden moments when the universe is beautiful.”
- Lee Juillerat
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phillip wrote on Feb 1, 2009 1:43 AM:
" I'm looking for 100+ acreas of land with anual running water, stream, etc, with tree's, as forested as posible, am going to build a cabin for me to retire, thank you. "
Stephanie Patterson Southwell wrote on Oct 4, 2008 6:19 PM:
" I came across this article and find it very interesting. My grandad was the "Southwell" in Southwell & Stilwell :) My dad and uncles were raised in Klamath Falls until they moved to the Portland area. "
Margaret wrote on Apr 29, 2008 11:19 AM:
" It appears the two negative reader comments are associated with the wrong article, as they do not seem to relate. It's unfortunate they are appearing after reading such a nice article about this concert. "
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skii v. wrote on Jun 26, 2009 12:51 AM: