Referred to in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette as “one of the hot tickets in the country right now,” organist Nathan Laube will be performing classical music at the University Church this Sunday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. in the Rev. James Boyce, O. Carm., Memorial Recital.

“He is definitely one of the leading concert players in the world,” Robert Minotti, director of liturgical music, said of the 27-year-old Laube, who has been described in the mainstream press as a musical genius.

Sunday’s concert will include pieces by Marcel Dupré, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Julius Reubke’s “Sonata for Organ in C Minor,” the last of which will be played without sheet music.

“The Reubke piece is a monumental composition that requires virtuoso abilities, which he has—and he will play from memory,” said Minotti. “That’s quite an accomplishment with only a day or two to practice on the instrument.”

While it’s common for pianists to play from memory, Minotti said, the keyboard that a pianist encounters at the concert hall is the same as the one he or she practices on at home. However, not so for organists.

“The organ is a machine that’s also an instrument,” said Minotti. “In addition to knowing the music, a performer must be able to find a particular button in an instant. There are similarities among organs but there are also lots of differences. Each is unique to the building they are in.”

Minotti said that, in addition to highlighting Laube’s dexterity, the Reubke piece also utilizes the different textures of the University organ, allowing listeners to hear sounds that emulate different parts of an orchestra.

Initially driven to become an architect, Laube eventually followed his love of music, enrolling in the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He received a DAAD fellowship in Germany and a Fulbright grant in the United States. He has served as artist-in-residence at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris and as an organ scholar at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Video by Trevor Dodd

Father Boyce began his career at Fordham as an assistant professor of music in 1985 after earning his doctorate in musicology from New York University (NYU). He rose to associate professor, and  became chair of the department in 2006. Recently he was named full professor.

A native of Canada, Father Boyce was ordained a Carmelite priest on June 4, 1977 at St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Cresskill, New Jersey. He was in residence at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Tenafly, N.J.

Father Boyce’s area of expertise was the study of Medieval Latin liturgy and the Carmelite liturgical tradition, from historical, legislative and spiritual perspectives. Most recently, Father Boyce published Carmelite Liturgy and Spiritual Identity: The Choir Books of Kraków (Brepols, 2008), a 500-page book, featured recently in Inside Fordham, on Carmelite choir books that he discovered in a small Kraków convent.

In addition to his doctorate degree, Father Boyce held a bachelor of arts in French and bachelor of music in piano from McGill University; a master’s degree in musicology from NYU; a master’s in theology from Washington Theological Union and a master’s of music in piano from Catholic University of America.

“Fordham has lost a multitude in Father Boyce,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University. “Not just a scholar of music, he was an accomplished musician himself, a generous mentor and teacher of music, and a genial colleague. The University, the church and the world of musical scholarship are all poorer today. He will be missed greatly by the Fordham family and by his Carmelite brethren.”

Michael E. Latham, Ph.D., interim dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, recalled Father Boyce not just as a scholar who attained a national and international reputation, but as the kind of person who taught extra class sections to support the work of his junior colleagues.

“A dedicated, compassionate teacher, he was a leader in his department,”  Latham said. “He was, in all respects a wonderful, caring devoted colleague.”

The Wake and Mass of Christian Burial will take place at:

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
10 County Road
Tenafly, N.J.  07670
(201) 568-0545

Wake:

Thursday, February 25
7 to 9 p.m.

Friday, February 26
2 to 4 p.m.
7 to 9 p.m.

Mass of Christian Burial:

Saturday, February 27
10 a.m.        

Father Boyce is survived by his brother Raymond, his sister Diane Forestell (Roy), his cousin Joan Foster, nephews Michael and Lucas Forestell, stepmother Betty Boyce, stepsisters Stephanie Dunne (and family), Patricia Kearns and Victoria Kearns, cousins and his Carmelite family.