{"id":3993,"date":"2018-01-31T10:56:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T15:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=3993"},"modified":"2018-01-31T10:56:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T15:56:17","slug":"leaving-a-legacy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2018\/features\/leaving-a-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving a Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Rose retires after 40 years of Chapel music, memories<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Frankye Regis<\/em>        <\/p>\n

As far back as he can remember, John Rose loved the sound of the pipe organ and knew it was the instrument he wanted to play. He recalls intently watching his church organist and listening to her play the postlude. At age 12, when his legs could finally reach the pedals, he began taking lessons from her, putting him on a path that propelled him to his status as a world-renowned organist and to his successful, four-decade career teaching generations of Trinity College students and performing at campus events and services.<\/p>\n

\"Chapel\"<\/a>
A packed Chapel enjoys Rose\u2019s concert. Photo by John Marinelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Less than two months ago, on December 31, 2017, Rose retired from Trinity. After serving as director of Chapel music for 40 years, he says, it was the right time to leave the job he loved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no question that I will miss the wonderful day-to-day activities at the Chapel,\u201d Rose says. \u201cForty years is a wonderful stretch. It\u2019s time for someone else to come in and continue the traditions and to create some new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose was a music major at Rutgers University, where he also was an organ teacher. At 20, he became organist at the Cathedral Basilica of Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, and served there for almost nine years. In 1977, Trinity hired Rose as college organist and director of Chapel music.<\/p>\n

Rose says he will especially miss his students and colleagues. \u201cWhen you work with students to create beautiful music together, it requires work and commitment. You develop a respect for each other that leads to long-term friendships,\u201d he says. \u201cThe most incredible blessing is the people with whom I work, including Chaplain Allison Read, who is amazing and wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read, college chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life, worked with Rose for 10 years, preparing and leading worship services and other occasions in the Chapel.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn is committed to the college, to our students, and to our alumni and friends,\u201d says Read. \u201cHe offered guests beautiful, sacred music, and he\u2019s simply full of grace. He maintains relationships and creates community. It\u2019s an extraordinary gift to know him and to call him my colleague and friend. As President Berger-Sweeney has said, John Rose is a true Trinity treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time at Trinity, Rose oversaw the music for major college events, including presidential inaugurations and each year\u2019s Reunion, Matriculation, Convocation, and Commencement; for weekly Chapel services; and for memorial services, weddings, and baptisms. He also curated the Trinity College Organ Series, made 16 LP or CD recordings, mentored Trinity students, directed the Trinity College Choir, and advised The Accidentals and The African Choir.<\/p>\n

In 2016, he was named the first John Rose College Organist-and-Directorship Distinguished Chair of Chapel Music, a position endowed in his honor by the estate of the late Marjorie Van Eenam Butcher, professor of mathematics, emeritus, who was Trinity\u2019s first female faculty member.<\/p>\n

Rose\u2019s retirement, however, did not mean severing ties with Trinity. He says he is devoted to continuing his support of the Chapel and to attending its events. He also will continue practicing on the beloved Austin pipe organ.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
Photo by Helder Mira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe instrument becomes a part of your personality,\u201d says Rose. \u201cIt would be difficult not to hear or see it again because music expresses things beyond words. This is an exceptionally beautiful organ. As long as I am able, I will play it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasizes, though, that he will practice only when it is convenient for his successor and prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Christopher Houlihan \u201909, a celebrated organist in his own right. For the last four years, Houlihan has been an artist-in-residence at Trinity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud and honored to have this exciting opportunity to be John\u2019s successor,\u201d says Houlihan. \u201cIt\u2019s also very humbling. Trinity College, the Chapel, and John have been pivotal elements of my life. It\u2019s surreal in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trinity was not the first place their paths crossed. Many years ago, Houlihan attended an organ recital in Springfield, Massachusetts, where Rose was performing. It was the first time Houlihan heard concert organ music, and he quickly knew that he wanted to learn to play. At age 12\u2014the same age as Rose when he had started playing\u2014Houlihan began taking lessons from Rose and continued throughout middle school, high school, and, ultimately, while a student at Trinity. After Houlihan graduated from Trinity, he went on to earn a master\u2019s in organ performance from The Juilliard School. While still a graduate student, he began his career as a concert organist, traveling around the country playing recitals that garnered rave reviews. Houlihan\u2019s travels will continue as part of his new role at the college.  <\/p>\n

\u201cJohn has been a part of this place for 40 years. For many alumni, he is a large part of their memories of the Chapel and the college,\u201d says Houlihan. \u201cHis many accomplishments, especially his work with The Chapel Singers, his performances in this building, and the relationships he has nurtured with students, alumni, faculty and staff, and the community are amazing to me. I hope I can live up to the legacy that he has established.\u201d<\/p>\n