Kraig Scott didn’t set out to become an organist. But he did have an intense interest in music. “Many people don’t realize that there has been more music composed for pipe organ than for any other instrument—a repertoire spanning almost 700 years,” says Scott, a music professor at Walla Walla College since 1986.
Scott’s interest in learning and sharing organ music has taken him on study tours to Sweden, Holland, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, as well as on concert tours to the west coast, Canada, Salt Lake City, New Jersey, Germany, and Holland.
Last summer he co-founded a new arts organization in Walla Walla with Robert Bode, a Whitman College music professor. “The goal of Walla Walla Baroque is to allow people to hear the beauty of Baroque music on original period instruments.”
In October Scott performed in the annual All-Bach recital at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle. He based the recital on Bach’s chorale variations, entitled O God Thou Faithful God. Scott says, “By incorporating in the program the words of various hymns set by Bach, I wanted to allow him to preach us a sermon about how faithful God is, even at those times when it seems God isn’t near.” Scott’s concept attracted the interest of Seattle’s classical music station, KING 98.1 FM, which aired an interview with him the day before the concert.
Scott has just finished a new CD entitled “SDG,” an acronym for “Soli Deo Gloria.” These three letters, or the entire Latin phrase meaning “To God alone be glory,” appear on many manuscripts by J. S. Bach, the composer of the music featured on the recording.
The CD, 68 minutes of music recorded on the College Church’s Casavant organ, is available through the Department of Music at Walla Walla College, (509) 527-2561, or by contacting Kraig Scott at scotkr@wwc.edu.
Kraig Scott is a professor of music at Walla Walla College.
