Brilliant Baroque: Hugh Allen Wilson, Centenary Birthday Concert
NEWS CONTACT:
Jennifer Brink, Executive Director
Phone: (518) 793-1348
E-mail: exdir@gfso.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 12, 2025
Glens Falls Symphony presents Brilliant Baroque: Hugh Allen Wilson Centenary Concert
Celebrate the 100th Birthday, legacy, and life of Hugh Allen Wilson (1925-2010), emeritus Music Director and Organist of First Presbyterian church, and emeritus Conductor of the Glens Falls Symphony.
Dr. Wilson will be remembered and celebrated in a special concert, featuring organ solo pieces performed by K. Bryan Kirk, composed by Buxtehude, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and more, with orchestral works by Barber, Couperin, Hindemith, Handel, and more!
This concert will feature members of the Glens Falls Symphony, conducted by Glens Falls Symphony Music Director Charles Peltz. Guest soloist Bryan Kirk serves as Organist and Music Director of First Presbyterian Church
“Brilliant Baroque” Hugh Allen Wilson Centenary Concert and Related Events: Sunday, November 9 at 4 pm: “Brilliant Baroque, “First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls. TICKETS: Adult: $35 Student Ticket: $12. Location: 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801. This performance has general admission seating.
Tickets:
“Brilliant Baroque” tickets: Adult: $35 Student Ticket: $12.
Visit www.theglensfallssymphony.org or call (518) 793-1348 to purchase tickets.
For more information, contact Jennifer Brink at (518) 793-1348 or exdir@gfso.org
Glens Falls Symphony Office (518) 793-1348
Located upstairs in the LARAC Gallery building: 7 Lapham Place in Glens Falls
2025-26 Season Ticket 4-Packs that include this concert as a bonus, Sunday, November 23, 2025: “Brilliant Baroque!” Tier 1-$160.00 Tier 2- $140.00 Tier 3 $110.00. 4-Pack Family Season Ticket for a family of four with two adults and two youth under age 18: $240.00. Concert dates: 11.9.2025, 12.7.2025, 3.15.2026 and 5.3.2026 + 11.23.25.
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This program is sponsored by:
-Noel Granger & Peter Aust
-Amy Bartlett & Bob Regan
-Sandra Hutchinson & Mark Frost
-Gary Loughrey
-Gerald Potter & Carolyn Kellogg
-Robert Sears & Heather Fair-Sears
About Hugh Allen Wilson:
Hugh Allen Wilson, professor of music emeritus and an internationally known organist, harpsichordist, and conductor, taught at Union College from 1962 to 1996. He began as a part-time associate professor of music and organist-in-residence, and later became a full professor, director of the Union College Choir and the Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs, and Chairman of the Department of Arts.
On June 28, 1977, he conducted the Men’s Glee Club in a performance at the White House for Jimmy Carter’s first State Dinner, honoring Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez. Earlier that year, the group had toured Venezuela to much acclaim. He also brought the Union College Choir on a tour to Greece and Crete in 1989. He received the Faculty Meritorious Service Award from the Alumni Council in 1974. Throughout his career, he gave more than 1,000 public performances as organist, harpsichordist, and conductor.
Besides his work at Union, he was music director emeritus of the First Presbyterian Church in Glens Falls, conductor emeritus of the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, and past president of the Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum in Bolton Landing. He was the founder and co-conductor of the Bolton Festival of Music in 1948, founder and first dean of the Adirondack chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and co-founder of the Adirondack Studio of Song in 1951 (which later became the Lake George Opera Festival). He was a member of the Kraeuter Trio, the Festival Orchestra, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Paschler-Wilson duo, and concertized with violinist/composer George Green. He performed as harpsichord soloist and continuo player with several principal chamber orchestras, including the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with Karl Munchinger, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, and the Soviet Emigre Orchestra.
Other performances included the dedicatory recital of the Loening Organ at St. Thomas Church in New York City in 1971, and a recording for the Ford Foundation of 17th and 18th century music on the Loening Organ that same year; the inaugural Connoisseur Concerts series at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1972; Honneger’s King David Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in New York with narrator John Houseman in 1975, and at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in 1983; the debut of an organ concerto written for him by Union Professor Edgar Curtis in 1966; a series of concerts with members of the National Symphony Orchestra and flautist David Barg in 1982; and the Mozart Requiem and Coronation Mass with the Glens Falls Symphony in 1990.
Born on Feb. 17, 1925, he was the only son of Clarence Edway Wilson and Anna Allen Wilson. His mother was an accomplished pianist; Wilson said he grew up thinking everyone’s mother played all the Brandenburg concertos from memory. Through her, he became involved in the musical community of Bolton Landing and Lake George. His first professional position was as choir director-organist for the St. James’ Episcopal church in Lake George when he was just 14.
He attended Yale College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude in 1946. At Yale, he studied organ with H. Frank Boyzan, theory with Paul Hindemith and musicology with Leo Schrade. He attended Yale Graduate School, where he studied musicology from 1947 to 1949. He also studied organ with Marcel Dupre in France and harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in the Netherlands.
About Glens Falls Symphony:
The Glens Falls Symphony, begun as a community amateur orchestra in 1977, now moves into its fifth decade of music-making as a professional orchestra. Since Maestro Charles Peltz arrived in 2000, the fully professional Glens Falls Symphony has performed a dynamic repertoire, regularly including musical premieres and world-renowned guest artists.
The orchestra continues to expand its musical and educational offerings to include Children’s Concerts for up to 3,000 students in the 7-county region in Warren and Washington counties, plus in the southeastern Adirondacks. The orchestra served over 14,000 people in 2025, and the 41st season welcomed some of the largest concert audiences in its history. The musicians offer master classes, as well as family concerts, summer pops programs, and more. Cited as “one of the great orchestras of our country” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner, the orchestra comprises professional musicians who come from all over the Northeast, and beyond to perform.
About K. Bryan Kirk:
K. Bryan Kirk has served as Music Director and Organist here since January 2005. A graduate of New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Bryan leads an extensive graded music program, presents a variety of concerts, and is very active in the musical community, serving as President of the Glens Falls Symphony from 2008-2010. He performs frequently in other venues and teaches piano and organ, in addition to composing works for our church and other choral groups.
Click here to purchase tickets to “Brilliant Baroque!”
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