A few days ago, I received an email from my friend and former organist duet partner, Jieun Kim Newland.

Hi Kathy, 

A good friend of mine, Russell Weismann is visiting Honolulu. He and I studied together at ISM (Institute of Sacred Music). He is a fabulous organist and is teaching at Georgetown University. Russ is also working on a book about Beckerath Organ and is well acquainted with Hans (Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh). I was wondering if you could spare a bit of your time and give him a history about the Beckerath at LCH. 

After a text exchange earlier today, I finally met Russell and invited him to come to my apartment to talk about all things Beckerath. He asked whether I met Rudolf von Beckerath in person, and yes, I met him at a special introductory social event sponsored by the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists. I remembered Herr von Beckerath’s elegant way of speaking English … and recall that he had a slight French accent! Years ago, I think I took this picture of him.

Russell and I had a wonderful visit. He also has visited Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh in Germany and given the grand tour of Beckerath organs in Hamburg! After he left, I checked out Russell’s website, and here’s what I found about his organ playing:

As an organist, Russell has performed recitals across the United States, as well as in Europe, Central America, Asia, and Africa. He was awarded the First Place prize in the 2004 American Guild of Organists Regional Young Organists Competition and was twice accepted to participate in the London Summer Organ Course. Russell was also a featured performer at the 2004 American Guild of Organists Convention in Los Angeles, the 2010 Organ Historical Society Convention in Pittsburgh, the 2013 Conference of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in Washington, DC, and the 2014 American Guild of Organists Convention in Boston, MA (as a finalist in the Schoenstein Organ Competition). Russell has been featured on American Public Media’s Pipedreams radio program, and was among a select few number of organists chosen to play a dedicatory recital on the Rubenstein organ at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during its inaugural year. In 2020, Russell was the featured American organist during the annual Lebanese Organ Week in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2021, Russell released two recordings: Wonderful Splendor, a solo organ recording produced by Raven, and Heroic Expressions, a trumpet and organ album with William Gerlach, Principal Trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra. 

His complete bio can be found here. What I found out was that he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the work of organbuilder Rudolf von Beckerath and additional research will culminate in a book “Rudolf von Beckerath: Master Organ Builder,” which will be published by the Organ Historical Society Press.

Russell just saw Jieun a few days ago in Austin, Texas, where they both served on an American Guild of Organists Committee on Educational Programming.