Ascension and Saint Agnes Parish
Welcomes J. Owen Burdick
as Organist and Choirmaster

O WEN BURDICK, named interim organist and choirmaster at Ascension and Saint Agnes, is an internationally active composer, conductor, and clinician. From 1990 to 2008, Dr. Burdick served as Organist and Director of Music at historic Trinity Church on Broadway at Wall Street in the city of New York. The late Michael Hammond, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, described Burdick as "an extraordinary artist…a unique individual who is able to combine musical excellence and historically informed tradition with the pursuit of cutting-edge innovation."

A graduate of State University of New York at Purchase and the Juilliard School (where his principal teachers included Albert Fuller, Anthony Newman, and Igor Kipnis), Burdick received his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California in Los Angeles and holds the Associate and Choirmaster Certificates from the American Guild of Organists. He was recently made a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music and has studied as a conducting fellow with Helmuth Rilling and at IRCAM with Pierre Boulez. Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978, Burdick has toured internationally as a harpsichord soloist and with the Musical Offering Baroque Ensemble, with whom he accompanied Maurice André, Arleen Auger, and Henryk Szeryng. Burdick has recorded for the NAXOS, Hänssler Classic, Nonesuch, Summit, Gothic, and Centaur labels and is represented by Slaymaker Special Projects.

Burdick conducting

Soon to be released on the Naxos label are recordings by Burdick and the Trinity choir of the complete Masses of Joseph Haydn, together with the Haydn Stabat Mater. The monumental project (8 CDs) was begun in early 2001 and has seen completion in 2009, the 200th anniversary year of Haydn's death.

In reviews of recent performances, four different critics from The New York Times have given Dr. Burdick acclaim: of The Trinity Choir’s 2005 performance of Handel’s Messiah, Bernard Holland wrote; “My deepest respect goes to Dr. Burdick, both for the carefully prepared agreements on phrasing and dynamics and for the utter sincerity with which they were realized by all involved.” “All the Messiah outings to come…will have to work hard to match this one.” Of the 2006 Messiah performance, Steve Smith wrote; “Dr. Burdick’s tempos were unfailingly well judged…he demonstrated the kind of insight that distinguishes a truly fine Handel performance…” Of the 2007 Italian Baroque concert, Allan Kozinn wrote; “Mr. Burdick’s beautifully blended chamber choir gave carefully shaped, moving accounts…” Of the 2007 performance of Pärt’s Passio, Stephen Holden wrote; “…voices so pure they suggest a seraphic chorus beyond the human sphere.

We welcome Dr. Burdick to the parish and to Washington, DC.

Ascension and Saint Agnes Parish Welcomes J. Owen Burdick as Organist and Choirmaster

Ascension and Saint Agnes Parish
Welcomes J. Owen Burdick
as Organist and Choirmaster