Andrew Kotylo, Concert Organist:
Welcome to my website. Thank you for visiting!
This past March I received the opportunity to perform at Princeton University Chapel as part of their weekly series of mid-day recitals every Thursday during the academic year at 12:30pm. This was a tremendously enjoyable experience for me in every respect. A big organ (1928 Skinner rebuilt by Mander), a big majestic room (a neo-Gothic masterpiece of Ralph Adams Cram), a big acoustic (the happy result of sealant having been applied to the original sound absorbing tile), and set on a gorgeous university campus which was showing the first signs of spring. Eric Plutz, the University organist and a prince of a guy, was a most warm and genial host. So what was not to love about it all???
Being in Princeton also brought back warm and fuzzy memories of being at "summer organ camp" at Westminster Choir College, its own idyllic, compact campus located only blocks away from the University. For a week each of five summers while in high school, I met other kids who shared my interest in the organ and first realized I was not alone in that respect! It was at WCC that I first became legitimately excited about my instrument and felt the conviction to make it a career. I remember the highlight of several of those weeks being a trip to Princeton Chapel to experience the organ--having just been rebuilt in its renovated acoustical ambiance. Now, almost twenty years later, I felt things come "full circle" between these remembrances and the present day in a most satisfying way!
This recital was broadcast live on WWFM, Trenton's classical music network, and the recordings that you can find by clicking on MUSIC at the top of this page are courtesy of the station and sound engineer, John Baker.
