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Tom Mueller presents works of Bach

BY AMY CALDER Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Tom Mueller would have started playing the organ at age 5, had his feet reached the pedalboard by then.

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As a little boy, he was intrigued by the organ and his father's record collection that included the works of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.

He was struck in particular by a recording of Leopold Stokowski's orchestral arrangements of the Bach organ works -- Johann Sebastian Bach, that is.

"In retrospect, the arrangements and playing style are extremely dated, but they really captured my imagination when I was 5 or 6," Mueller says.

Mueller, now 24, is an accomplished organist who is traveling the world performing Bach's works. This past Sunday, he returned to the place where he learned to play the organ -- St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Eustis Parkway -- to perform a benefit recital for the church's organ renovation.

"Alan Wingard, who is still the organist at St. Mark's, was my first teacher," Mueller said. "I began lessons when I was 13. I had to wait until I was tall enough to reach the pedalboard."

Mueller will play a cross-section of Bach's mature organ works, including The Schübler Chorales, the Sonata in C minor, the Chorale Partita on "Sei gegrüszet, Jesu gütig" and the Concerto in C of Vivaldi, arranged by Bach.

A Waterville native, Mueller, who now lives in Augusta, is perhaps best known for playing the guitar with The Muellers, his family's bluegrass band.

His first instrument was the violin, which he started studying when he was 5. He started playing the piano at 11.

He earned a bachelor of music degree in jazz composition from University of Maine at Augusta and a Master of Sacred Music degree in organ from University of Notre Dame.

He attended Notre Dame on a full scholarship and taught private studio lessons in the music department there. He also served as a graduate assistant at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which at the time was producing a nationally televised Mass for the Hallmark Channel.

Mueller started his organ performance series in January. He said he became interested in performing the complete Bach organ works in 2005, while he was in graduate school. When he graduated he took a year off from playing the organ to focus on the guitar and composing, but returned to practicing for the series in 2008.

"In addition to the practice time commitment, I have also had to spend a lot of time doing research on Bach, his music, and the historical context and instruments with which he was familiar," Mueller said. "Many of Bach's compositions have been transmitted only by handwritten copies made by his family and students, so there is uncertainty about some of the pieces that have traditionally been attributed to him."

He plans to do a number of concerts around the country in the fall and is working on creating a touring schedule that will not take him away from his commitments in Maine, he said. He was scheduled to perform in Ireland recently but was unable to fly because of the volcano eruption in Iceland. He is trying to reschedule that concert for the summer.

"Bach composed about 270 works for organ -- the exact number is a matter of academic debate -- and I am planning to perform them in a series of 18 concerts," he said.

Mueller is director of music at the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Camden.

Wingard, his organ teacher at St. Mark's, calls Mueller an extraordinary musician and a "true mensch."

When Mueller started working with Wingard more than a decade ago, Mueller had impressive keyboard technique and was eager to dive into the deep end of organ literature, especially the music of Bach, Wingard said.

"We worked together as partners, bouncing ideas and concepts off one another," Wingard said. "I learned every bit as much from our work together as Tom did. We're close friends."

Mueller is a musical powerhouse, he said. Wingard believes he will become one of America's premier composers of the 21st century.

"He has his own jazz quartet. His mind-blowing senior recital at UMA featured all original music. He plays impressive guitar and composes bluegrass songs for the Muellers, his family band. He's commissioned from the University of Notre Dame to compose a choral piece."

Mueller is equally appreciative of Wingard's friendship and musical influence.

"Alan is a remarkable guy -- a great composer and a first-rate musical mind," Mueller said. "He was always willing to dig into the meta-questions of the music that I was playing, a quality which I found very intellectually appealing. Sometimes we would spend entire lessons talking about music, without playing a single note."

Of St. Mark's, Mueller speaks very highly.

"The people of St. Mark's have always been very generous in granting other people access to their space, and I've practiced at the church for many years," he said. "They are preparing to do a major renovation of their organ, and I want to be able to support their efforts as much as possible."

Mary Rector, music director and director of choirs at St. Mark's, says Mueller sang in the Choir of Young Voices at the church several years ago and in 2002, traveled to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. to sing for Maine Day. It was the only church parish choir from Maine invited to sing for the celebration.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com