The Music

Dr. Richard Wegner, LLD

The Organist: Richard Wegner, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been playing organ in churches since he was 16. He is a graduate of Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, and while there, also studied organ at Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago. His Masters Degree was earned at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. His teachers have included: Hugo Gehrke, Gerhard Schroth, Carl Halter, Paul Bunjes, Frederick Marriott, and Harold Gleason. Dr. Wegner also attended the Christiansen Choral School in Illinois and numerous Robert Shaw Choral Workshops during summers at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey. In 1989, Dr. Wegner's alma mater, Concordia, conferred upon him an honorary Doctorate.

Dr. Wegner has held three positions in his lifetime. In 1945-46 he was an instructor in organ and piano at Concordia, River Forest, Illinois. From 1946-48 he was Music Director and Teacher at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, Danbury, Connecticut. From 1948 to the present, Dr. Wegner has been Minister of Music at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, Baltimore, Maryland.

During these years he has played numerous recitals, organ dedications, and services in the East and Mid-West. Dr. Wegner has played at the Washington Cathedral and National City Christian Church in our nation's capital; Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Virginia; Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina; Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago; and Valparaiso University Chapel, Valparaiso, Indiana. He also accompanied a choral concert at Carnegie Hall, New York City.

Through the years, Immanuel's Music Ministry has produced over 15 recordings, some for radio and television broadcasts. Dr. Wegner has also been active teaching private organ students, many of whom now hold important church posts throughout the country.

Dr. Wegner, his wife, Viola, their four married children, Rick, Jay, Nancy, and Scott, and five grandchildren all reside in the Baltimore area.

Photo by Mark Smith

The Organs: Immanuel Lutheran Church has two Möller Organs: a large three-manual instrument in the Chancel (shown above), and a small two-manual organ in the West Gallery. The Chancel and Gallery organs are connected; either (or both) organs can be played from each of the two consoles.

The Chancel organ is a venerable instrument with an interesting history going back to 1924 and 1935. When the new building was dedicated in 1951, the organ was placed in the Chancel with tonal changes: re-voicing of the pipes and the addition of new ranks of pipes.

In 1963, the West Gallery organ was installed, the gift of the late Mr. Jacob Bockelman, then president of the congregation.

Since 1951, improvements and new ranks of pipes have periodically been added to the Chancel organ, with a new console in 1978, and a new Great Mixture in 1980. This Mixture was a gift from the late Dr. William A. Renzi, one of Dr. Wegner's former students.