Thomas Sheehan
Organ recital for the American Institute of Organ Builders Convention; free admission
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 3:00 pm
This recital is offered to the public in conjunction with the American Institute of Organ Builders Convention. The program places the Rosales/Parsons pipe organ before an audience of organ builders, musicians, and listeners who know exactly how much craft, engineering, voicing, and imagination live inside a great instrument. Completed in 2023, the St. James instrument is a collaboration between Rosales Organ Builders of Los Angeles and Parsons Organ Builders of Canandaigua, New York. Its six divisions, 79 ranks, 102 stops, and 4,551 pipes support sounds ranging from intimate solo colors to the breadth and weight of a full symphonic ensemble. In Sheehan's hands, the program becomes an encounter among performer, room, and instrument, revealing how touch, timing, registration, and acoustic work together to give the organ its extraordinary expressive range. The program is designed to welcome both experienced listeners and people encountering this repertoire for the first time. The resonant interior of St. James becomes an active part of the experience, enriching sustained sound and bringing quieter details into focus. Audience members are invited to notice changing textures, expressive use of silence, and the relationship between individual lines and the larger whole. Together these elements create an occasion that is immediate, thoughtful, and shared.
About the Artist
Thomas Sheehan is Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal. He came to Montreal from Washington National Cathedral, where he served as Cathedral Organist and Interim Director of Music and played for major national services, including the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter. Before that, he served on the music staff of the Memorial Church, Harvard University, Saint Mark's Church, Philadelphia, and Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Westminster Choir College, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University.