Christa Rakich - A Tribute to Yuko Hayashi (2020)

This is the first recording of Richards, Fowkes opus 16. It is located in Goodson Chapel at the Duke University Divinity School. The chapel space presents a warm acoustical environment, allowing the organ to project a solid but unforced sound. The new organ is a gem among the extraordinary collection of organs at Duke. “Yuko Hayashi (1929-2018) taught me how to reach graciously into the hearts of listeners. She taught me how touch could shape a phrase, how variety in attack and release could make the organ “speak,” how to manage wind, how to make a room seem larger and more reverberant.” (Christa Rakich) Christa Rakich is Visiting Professor of Organ at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied for two years with Anton Heiller in Vienna. She has served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory, Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut. A prize winner in numerous international organ competitions, Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach.