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Independence, MO —
Since the news broke several weeks ago that Community of Christ Principal Organist Jan Kraybill has taken on a new role at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, she’s been asked one question repeatedly.
“I’ve been asked a lot if I am leaving Community of Christ,” Kraybill said, laughing. “I definitely am not.”
Kraybill can add another distinction to her already impressive resume as the organ conservator for the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ at the 10-month-old Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Kansas City. The organ, a dramatic 102-rank instrument built by Casavant Freres and completed earlier this year, is the centerpiece of Helzberg Hall inside the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in September 2011.
The conservator is the lead caretaker of the organ. In her role, Kraybill will work closely with Kauffman Center staff and Casavant to facilitate the use of the instrument in performances and to ensure proper preservation and maintenance of it.
As a consultant, Kraybill will add the organ conservator responsibilities to her full-time job at Community of Christ. She referred to the Community of Christ Temple’s 1993 Casavant as the “older sister of the Kauffman organ,” and the organ conservator role involves doing much of what she already does in caring for the Temple’s organ.
“It’s a huge machine, and you can liken it to a car or a house that you need to stay on top of little maintenance needs so they don’t become big maintenance needs,” Kraybill said. “It’s pretty similar to what I do here (at the Community of Christ).”
The Kauffman Center’s Casavant Organ is nearly the same size as the Community of Christ Temple’s 1993 organ. The newer organ was inaugurated in March in two sold-out performances by internationally acclaimed organist James David Christie.
As a pianist and as an organist, Kraybill has performed across the United States and around the world. Two years ago, she earned the American Guild of Organists’ fellow certification, which is the highest certification available for organists.
In Independence, Kraybill has served as the principal organist for Community of Christ since 1998. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education with a piano emphasis and a master’s degree in piano performance at Kansas State University. She earned a doctorate in organ performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
Since the news broke several weeks ago that Community of Christ Principal Organist Jan Kraybill has taken on a new role at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, she’s been asked one question repeatedly.
“I’ve been asked a lot if I am leaving Community of Christ,” Kraybill said, laughing. “I definitely am not.”
Kraybill can add another distinction to her already impressive resume as the organ conservator for the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ at the 10-month-old Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Kansas City. The organ, a dramatic 102-rank instrument built by Casavant Freres and completed earlier this year, is the centerpiece of Helzberg Hall inside the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in September 2011.
The conservator is the lead caretaker of the organ. In her role, Kraybill will work closely with Kauffman Center staff and Casavant to facilitate the use of the instrument in performances and to ensure proper preservation and maintenance of it.
As a consultant, Kraybill will add the organ conservator responsibilities to her full-time job at Community of Christ. She referred to the Community of Christ Temple’s 1993 Casavant as the “older sister of the Kauffman organ,” and the organ conservator role involves doing much of what she already does in caring for the Temple’s organ.
“It’s a huge machine, and you can liken it to a car or a house that you need to stay on top of little maintenance needs so they don’t become big maintenance needs,” Kraybill said. “It’s pretty similar to what I do here (at the Community of Christ).”
The Kauffman Center’s Casavant Organ is nearly the same size as the Community of Christ Temple’s 1993 organ. The newer organ was inaugurated in March in two sold-out performances by internationally acclaimed organist James David Christie.
As a pianist and as an organist, Kraybill has performed across the United States and around the world. Two years ago, she earned the American Guild of Organists’ fellow certification, which is the highest certification available for organists.
In Independence, Kraybill has served as the principal organist for Community of Christ since 1998. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education with a piano emphasis and a master’s degree in piano performance at Kansas State University. She earned a doctorate in organ performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
Although her work is based out of Independence, Kraybill’s career as a professional musician takes her around the United States and the world. Last week, she attended the American Guild of Organists Conference in Nashville, Tenn., and for the next several weeks, she’ll travel to different parts of Canada and Massachusetts for the Hymn Society Conference, a presentation on behalf of the new Community of Christ Hymnal in 2013, as well as participating in and leading workshops.
“I’ve been able to perform in some of the best venues in the world, and now we have one of those venues in downtown Kansas City,” Kraybill said. “The Community of Christ Auditorium and Temple also are wonderful performance spaces, and I’ve been blessed to be a part of them for nearly 14 years. I am just so honored and so thrilled to have been named the organ conservator.”
