Ahreum Han

Concert Organist Ahreum Han to Perform in Next Recital Celebrating 25th Anniversary of Gabriel Kney Pipe Organ

Concert organist Ahreum Han will perform a solo recital on the Gabriel Kney pipe organ at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3, in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, located on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.

The program, free and open to the public, is the next in a series of five recitals and concerts marking the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Kney organ. The Sunday afternoon recitals are co-sponsored by St. Thomas’ Music Department and Campus Ministry. A reception will follow.

Han, a native of Seoul, Korea, has performed throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. David Jenkins, organ instructor at St. Thomas and liturgical music director at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, described her as an imaginative and powerful performer.

Han will perform works by Carl Maria von Weber, J.S. Bach, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Thomas Heywood, Camille Saint-Saens, Louis Vierne, Guy Bovet and Max Reger.

Han’s family immigrated to Atlanta when she was 16. She earned a bachelor’s in organ from Westminster Choir College, a diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master’s from Yale School of Music. She is principal organist and artist-in-residence at First Presbyterian Church in Davenport, Iowa, and teaches organ at Iowa State University.

Han was a featured soloist last year at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Nashville.

St. Thomas’ chapel organ was installed in 1987 thanks to a donation from alumnus Robert Asmuth. Built by Gabriel Kney of London, Ontario, the organ is a three-manual instrument with 41 stops of 56 ranks, with a total of 2,787 pipes. It is used for worship, teaching and concerts. Its dedicatory recital was played by Swedish organist Hans Fagius on Sept. 20, 1987.

Since then, the university’s Organ Artist Recital Series has become one of the premier pipe-organ concert series in the Twin Cities.

The list of recitalists includes international artists Ulrich Böhme, Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet, László Fassang, Jean Gillou, Martin Haselböck, Nicholas Kynaston, Olivier Latry, Peter Planyovsky and Dong-il Shin. American artists in the series have included Diane Bish, James David Christie, Robert Glasgow, Gerre Hancock, David Hurd and Joan Lippincott.

These concert performances have been featured on the “Pipedreams” radio program from American Public Media, and the instrument has been showcased at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists.

Remaining programs in the 25th anniversary series include:

  • 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17 – French organist Michel Bouvard, professor of organ at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Music in Paris, will perform a solo recital.
  • 3 p.m. Sunday April 28 – St. Thomas organists will present a concert with the university’s Liturgical Choir, directed by Aaron Brown.

The Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas is located on the eastern side of the university’s campus, near the intersection of Cleveland and Laurel avenues.

More information about the Gabriel Kney instrument can be seen here. For more information about the series, call (651) 962-5050.