Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the king of instruments and Mary Ann Winden certainly agrees. She loved the organ so much, in fact, that she became an organist. Among her many music related jobs in San Antonio, she spent 28 years as the choral and organ director at Christ Lutheran Church, and also worked for years at the Roosevelt High School as music teacher and choir director.

Now in her 80s and a recent widow, Winden has elicited the cooperation of The Chapel of the Incarnate Word to launch a new musical program, the CARITAS Concerts, designed to promote and share organ and choral music with her fellow San Antonians. She fondly remembers the Sunday afternoon organ recitals of her youth, and is trying to recreate that experience today, free to the public. So, it was with that goal in mind that she approached Sister Mary Henry, a member of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word Congregation, about hosting the concerts in the gorgeous chapel which is part of the congregation’s Mother House. She also made a special donation to the chapel to make her dream come true.

Built in 1907, the Chapel – which is really a fairly large church – was renovated in 2017 and a massive new Schoenstein pipe organ was installed at that time. The inaugural concert of CARITAS was originally scheduled for last August, said Sister Mary Henry, but had to be postponed due to the delta version of COVID-19, which was spreading last summer. Now scheduled for Jan. 30 at 3 p.m., the concert is also a memorial celebration of the life of Mary Ann’s husband, Arthur “Art” Winden, also a musician and choral director who died in 2020.

For the occasion, Mary Ann Winden commissioned a new piece from composer Craig Phillips, an in-demand composer of organ music and American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer. Winden herself will start the program with “When in Our Music God is Glorified,” also a Phillips’ composition. Other works, which will be interspersed with readings include: “Barcarolle” from Six Morceaux by Rachmaninoff; “Magnificat in B Minor” and “Nunc Dimittis” by Charles Stanford; Ubi Caritas by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, and “Chorale in A Minor” by Cesar Franck. The commissioned work, “As God’s Chosen One” by Phillips will be performed by organist David Heller, who will also play throughout the program.

The makeshift choir will consist of friends and students of Art and Mary Ann Winden, who are coming from all over the U.S. to take part in the service. Established San Antonio pianists Anya Grokhovski and Elena Portnaya will play Rachmaninoff’s piano composition. Other local musicians who are serving as members of the advisory board for CARITAS are Marguerite McCormick, Lena Gokelman, William Gokelman, Rick Bjella and Sister Mary Henry.

In 2018 the Windens also created a scholarship administered through the Texas Choral Society.

Upcoming concerts in the CARITAS Series are: San Antonio Chamber Choir with the University of the Incarnate World Cardinal Singers on Feb. 26-27, and organist Adam Pajan on May 15.

“Through the establishment of this series of concerts, Mary Ann Winden has made a significant commitment to the musical performance art of this city,” said Sister Mary Henry in a statement. “By selecting the Chapel of the Incarnate Word as the venue for these concerts, she acknowledges the premiere place of the Schoenstein organ among the many fine instruments on San Antonio. At the same time, she recognizes the stunning and sacred setting in which the organ resides and the Chapel’s long tradition of presenting concerts.”

To us, the founder of CARITAS said simply this: “I wanted to have a venue that showcases the organ where people could go for free.”