Simple Gifts Presents Organ Walk 8 at Glenview Area Churches on Sunday, May 19
Walk, bike, or drive to hear three of the North Shore's finest instruments and organists! Our neighborhood organ walk features Christopher Urban (First Presbyterian of Arlington Heights), Dr. Kirstin Synnestvedt (New Church), Gary Wendt (Glenview Community Church) and Richard Spantikow (St. David's Episcopal Church). We will begin at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2328 Central Road in Glenview, at 3:00pm and conclude by 5:00pm at St. David's Episcopal Church, 2410 Glenview Road.
Dr. Kirstin Synnestvedt holds degrees in music from Juilliard Syracuse University, the University of Iowa and studied at Tanglewood. Dr. Synnestvedt teaches piano, organ and voice privately on Chicago's North Shore. She holds membership in numerous musical organizations including Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honorary, the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Music Teachers National Association.
Organist Gary Wendt is the Minister for Music and Organist at Glenview Community Church. He directs the Joyful Ringers Handbell Choir and the Pilgrim Wind Ensemble at GCC and is the Artistic Director of the church's Simple Gifts Concert Series. He has studied organ with numerous private instructors including Jerome Butera and Margaret McElwain Kemper. Throughout his career he has had the honor of accompanying choirs in places such as the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and Notre Dame de Paris, and currently performs recitals and concerts throughout the Chicagoland area, including Orchestra Hall in June, 2013. When he is not on the organ bench you can find him teaching music at Hubbard Woods Elementary in Winnetka.
Rich Spantikow is the Minister of Music at St. David's Episcopal Church in Glenview where he directs the Parish, Jr., and Handbell choirs, selects all the music for worship, and plays the Buzard Opus 27. His 30-year plus career as a church musician has allowed him to serve congregations from Streamwood, Elgin, Evanston, West Dundee, Western Springs and Arlington Heights. Rich was previously a member of and served on the board of the Northwest Suburban Chapter of the AGO. He was also on the workshop committee for the 2006 Chicago AGO National Convention.
Christopher Urban has served as Associate Director of Music and organist at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights since 2001. He is originally from Pittsburgh and a graduate of Indiana University. He studied organ with Dr. Marilyn Keiser and William C. Evans. When he's not at the console, he is the Sr. Director of Marketing at Kraft Heinz where he leads the Lunchables, P3 and Claussen pickles businesses.
A freewill offering will be taken to support the Northfield Township Food Pantry.
Visit www.gccmusic.org or call 847-724-2210 for further details.