SCOTT MONTGOMERY

"Scott Montgomery's star has been rising steadily since becoming the first person to win the two major awards offered by the American Guild of Organists' National Your Artists Competition in 2006.  This follow-up to last year's well-received debut on Pro Organo marks the first recording of the nine-year-old, 3-manual, 44 stop, 3,040-pipe Mander organ in St Peter's Church, St Louis.  An attractively wide-ranging programme embraces Sweelinck and Byrd, Mendelssohn and Vierne, the overlooked 18th century British composer composer William Woland, Frank Bridge and Sasha Johnson Manning.  Montgomery makes much of the agile, brightly articulated instrument to stake a strong claim for both organ and organist." - Michael Quinn