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The American organist and composer, Pamela Decker, holds the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in organ performance, with emphasis also in composition, from Stanford University. During her doctoral study she was awarded a Fulbright Grant for study of organ and composition in Lübeck, West Germany. While in Germany she worked in both areas at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and was invited to perform in many venues. The Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), or North German Radio, recorded and broadcast a recording of her performance of her work Passacaglia (for organ) at the Lübeck Cathedral.
Pamela Decker is Professor of Organ/Music Theory at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She also serves as organist at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tucson. Her career as a performer has been managed by Phyllis Stringham Concert Management; her primary publishers are Wayne Leupold Editions and C.F. Peters. She now records for Loft Recordings of Seattle.
Compositions by Pamela Decker have been performed by American, Canadian, European, Asian, and Australian artists, and have been heard in at least nineteen countries. She has had performances of her works in Moscow, Paris, Hamburg, London, and Vienna; performances in the United States have been too numerous to list. Her keyboard works have been performed at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and in many other festivals and conferences. Her Elegy and Dances for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra was premiered to enthusiastic response and critical acclaim in 2003. There are commercial recordings of her works on the Loft, Albany, Arkay, Gothic, ReZound (Loft), and Arktos labels. She has published music with Wayne Leupold Editions (affiliated with E.C. Schirmer), C.F. Peters, Augsburg Fortress, Hinshaw Music, Inc., and World Library Publications. She is the editor and author of the preface for the C.F. Peters publication of William Albright’s Flights of Fancy: Ballet for Organ.
Pamela Decker’s activities as a performer include solo recitals and ensemble appearances in churches, cathedrals, and concert halls in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Baltic region, involving such locations as Grace Cathedral and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor (MI), All Saints’ Anglican Church in Windsor (Ontario), Clapp Recital Hall at the University of Iowa, the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Hauptkirche St. Petri and Hauptkirche St. Nikolai in Hamburg (Germany), the Nigulistekirikus in Tallinn, Estonia, and others too numerous to mention. She has performed as solo recitalist in two national and two regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and has performed and/or lectured in many other conferences (including composers’ conferences) and festivals of national and international scope. She offers recitals, workshops, and master classes in a wide range of areas involving organ performance practices. As a recording artist she has released commercial recordings on the Loft, Albany, Arkay, Bainbridge, and CRI labels. Her performances and compositions have been broadcast frequently on Pipedreams (American Public Media). She has been the recipient of several prizes in both performance and composition.
In 2004 Pamela Decker was awarded the Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prize in Research/Creative Activity at the University of Arizona (Tucson). This prize is awarded to the one professor in the entire university community considered to have the most impressive body of work in research or creative activity. Dr. Decker was the first-ever winner representing an arts-related field. In 2000 Pamela Decker was awarded the College of Fine Arts Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of Arizona. She was awarded tenure and promotion in 2001 (two years early); her full professorship promotion was granted in 2005, several years ahead of the customary schedule. She maintains an active career as composer, performer, professor, and church musician. |
