From the Morristown United Methodist Church:
Organist Jackson Borges will present an organ concert on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, at 7:30 pm, to bid a fond farewell to June Van Thoen, who is retiring after 29 years as music director at the Morristown United Methodist Church.
This free concert will include music by Copland, Vaughan Williams, Bach, Vierne, Franck, Durufle, Locklair and Bossi and conclude with Mr. Borges’ own improvisation, on the church’s three-manual, 53-rank Austin pipe organ.
The church is at 50 S. Park Place, on the Green. Call 973-538-2132 or see the church website for more.
Jackson Borges is organist and director of music for The Episcopal Parish of All Saints’ Church & St. George’s Chapel in Rehoboth Beach and Harbeson, Del.
Prior to his appointment in 2014, Jackson held positions with the Morristown United Methodist Church, The Princeton Girl Choir, and The American Boychoir, all in New Jersey.
At All Saints’ & St. George’s, Jackson directs, plans, oversees, and executes all choral and instrumental music, ranging from the medieval to the contemporary, for services and special events at both locations.
He also is artistic director and administrator of the “Concerts by the Sea” and annual “Summer Organ Recital” series, both of which present the finest musicians in the immediate area and abroad in programs ranging from Broadway to sacred, to instrumental and choral.
In addition to his church music ministry, Jackson is a frequent recitalist, both at home and abroad. He has been heard in important venues such as Grace and St. Mary’s Cathedrals (San Francisco), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (San Diego), Fourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago), Grace Church (Episcopal) and Central Synagogue (New York City), the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart and Princeton University (New Jersey), Trinity Church (Boston), Longwood Gardens (Pennsylvania), and Khandallah Presbyterian Church (Wellington, New Zealand).
Jackson’s orchestral debut came in 2005 as organ soloist for Joseph Jongen’s monumental “Symphonie Concertante” with the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony. He also has appeared in Europe as duet partner and vocalist with American concert organist Stephen Tharp, and has premiered new organ works by American composers Carolyn Hamlin and Daniel E. Gawthrop.
Jackson Borges is an active member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), and has served on the executive boards of the Palomar and San Diego (CA) chapters, and presently serves as sub dean of the Delaware chapter. He has taught at Pipe Organ Encounters (POE) and given workshops for the AGO on both coasts, and has performed at regional and national conventions of both the AGO and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
As a vocalist, Jackson has performed in many important venues, such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, under conductors Pierre Boulez, Mariss Janssons, Ton Koopman, and Kurt Mazur.
In the realm of musical and dramatic theatre, Jackson has appeared as pianist, music director, performer, and educator, both in academic and community settings.
Jackson Borges holds the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from San Diego State University, and the Master of Music degree in organ performance from Westminster Choir College. He has won top scholarship and competition awards from the American Guild of Organists, the Spreckels Organ Society, and the Pacific Council of Organ Clubs.
Jackson’s major teachers have included Robert Plimpton, Alan Morrison, and the late Tom Hazleton, with additional instruction in improvisation from Bruce Neswick and Stephen Tharp, and has participated in masterclasses and individual coaching sessions with Todd Wilson and Pierre Pincemaille.
