Festival of Spirituals

Olivet Nazarene University invites you to experience the majesty of the 125-rank Ruffatti Pipe Organ during the Ovid Young Memorial Organ Recital Series in the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel.

Monday, April 10, 2017 — “Festival of Spirituals” featuring Dr. M. Jane Holstein ’80, piano/organ, and Elizabeth Harrison, Soprano.  Dr. Holstein is the music editor at Hope Publishing Company in Carol Stream, IL.  She studied organ with Dr. Nelson at Olivet, and also at The University of Kansas and Northwestern University. “Leading worship from an organ bench is one of life’s superb joys,” she says. “It’s second only to looking into the eyes of my choir members and seeing truth and believability!”

(Dr. Holstein – pictured left at her Rodgers/Skinner Console)

This recital series honors the memory and musical career of Dr. Ovid Young ’62, who passed away in 2014. An Olivet alumnus, he is remembered by many as a beloved performer, teacher, mentor and colleague. A pianist, organist, composer and conductor, Dr. Young had to his credit more than 7,000 performances in major concert halls, churches and colleges around the world.

Olivet’s Ruffatti pipe organ — custom built and installed by Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffatti (Ruffatti Brothers, Family of Artisans) of Padua, Italy, and Marshall & Ogletree of Boston — features a four-manual console and a concave pedal board with 32 notes. It has 125 ranks: 75 ranks of wind-blown pipes and a digital component of 50 additional ranks.