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The American organist, choral conductor and lecturer, Gail Archer, obtained her Bachelor of Aarts degree in Music Education, magna cum laude from Montclair State College in New Jersey (June 1973); her Master of Arts degree in Piano from University of Hartford, Hartt College in Hartford, Connecticut (June 1977). In 1983-1984, she was Research Fellowat Yale University, Project: The 16th Century Italian Madrigal (with Claude Palisca, Craig Monson); She obtained her Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Mannes College of Music in New York City (June 1987, under Amy Kaiser); her DMA degree in Organ Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York City (under McNeil Robinson; Helen Cohn Prize; May 1995); and her Artist Diploma in Organ Performance from Boston Conservatory (under James David Christie, Jon Gillock; May 2002).
Gail Archer is an international concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor and lecturer who draws attention to composer anniversaries or musical themes with her annual recital series including Max Reger, The Muse's Voice, An American Idyll, Franz Liszt, J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn and Messiaen. She was the first American woman to play the complete works of Olivier Messiaen for the centennial of the composer's birth in 2008; Time Out New York recognized the Messiaen cycle as "Best of 2008" of classical music and opera. Her 2017 European tour took her to Germany, Italy, the British Isles, Russia, Ukraine and Poland. Highlights include St. Nicholas Church, Stuttgart, Germany, Church of San Domenico, Palermo, Sicily, Dunblane Cathedral, Dunblane, Scotland, The Methodist Central Hall, London, England, the Temple of the Renaissance, Bryansk, Russia, the Philharmonic Hall, Khmelnytsky, Ukraine and the Basilika Mariaska, Gdansk, Poland. She is the founder of Musforum, an international network for women organists to promote and affirm their work.
Gail Archer has served as Director of Barnard-Columbia Chorus (since September 1988) and Director of the Music Program (since September 1994) at Barnard College, Columbia University; and on the Organ and music history faculty at Manhattan School of Music (since September 1995). In addition, she has been Organist/Music Director at The R. C. Church of the Epiphany in New York City (July 1987-May 1997); All Saints Episcopal Church in in New York City (June 1997-January 2004); St. Mel R. C. Church in Flushing, Queens, New York (May 2004-May2005); 5/05 St. Teresa R. C. Church in Woodside, Queens, New York (May 2005-October 2006); St. Matthew & St. Timothy Episcopal Church in New York City (November 2006-August 2007); College Organist at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York (since September 2007). She also serves as director of the artist and young organ artist recitals at historic Central Synagogue, New York City.
Gail Archer's recordings span the 17th to the 21st centuries, a festive discography that highlights her musical mastery on grand Romantic instruments as well as Baroque tracker organs. Her most recent CD, "The Muse’s Voice" (MM14027) features music by women composers, Jennifer Higdon, Judith Bingham, Nadia Boulanger and Jeanne Demessieux. During the 2012-2013 season, she released her recording of masterworks and transcriptions by the great Romantic keyboard artist and composer, "Franz Liszt, Franz Liszt, A Hungarian Rhapsody". "Bach, the Transcendent Genius", celebrates the brilliant improvisations on Lutheran hymn tunes of the "Great 18" chorale preludes (MM1013). The release on Meyer-Media, is the first recording on the Paul Fritts tracker organ at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. "An American Idyll", released by Meyer Media in August, 2008 (MM08011), and recorded on the E. M. Skinner/Randall Dyer organ at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, features American organ music from 1900 to the present, including music by Joan Tower and a work commissioned by Ms. Archer, Praeludium super Pange Lingua by David Noon. Her centennial concerts in honor of Olivier Messiaen also produced "A Mystic In the Making" (MM07007), recorded on the Aeolian-Skinner organ at Columbia University, which includes two complete cycles, L'Ascension, and Les Corps Glorieux. Her solo debut CD "The Orpheus of Amsterdam: Sweelinck and his Pupils" (CACD 88043), recorded on the Fisk organ at Wellesley College, was released in 2006 by London's CALA Records. |
