| Virgil Keel Fox • 1912-1980 |
| May 3, 1912 |
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He is born in Princeton, Illinois. |
| 1926 |
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He makes his concert debut at Withrow High School in Cincinnati before an audience of 2,500. |
| 1926-1929 |
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He studies in Chicago with Wilhelm Middelschulte, who was then Organist of the Chicago Symphony. |
| 1929 |
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He is selected unanimously by the National Federation of Music Clubs as winner of its Biennial Contest in Boston—the first organist to win this honor. |
| 1930 |
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He graduates Salutatorian from Princeton Township High School. |
| 1931 |
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He becomes the first organist to win a full scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he studies with Louis Robert. During the school year, he plays five recitals from memory and performs with the school’s symphony orchestra. |
| May 1932 |
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He receives the “Artist Diploma”—Peabody’s highest award. He has the distinction of being the fourteenth organist, and the first one-year student ever, to receive the award. He is also the first student ever to receive the “Church Organist’s Certificate” |
| Fall 1932 |
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He goes to Paris for a year to study with Marcel Dupré at St. Sulpice (where he also took lessons from Joseph Bonnet, for which he got into trouble with Dupré). |
| Apr 26, 1933 |
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He makes his European debut at London’s Kingway Hall before an audience of 1,100. |
| Fall 1933 |
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He makes his New York debut at the Wanamaker Store’s 200-rank organ, and joins the management of Bernard LaBerge, a major organ impresario. |
| Jan 1934 |
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He makes his first American concert tour. The Episcopal church on Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin declines to book him for a fee of $50! |
| May 1, 1934 |
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He is appointed Organist of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (where he plays a four-manual E.M. Skinner with an Echo division) in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Richard Weagly is appointed choir director. |
| 1935 |
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He is appointed Organist at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, which also has a four-manual E.M. Skinner organ. Richard Weagly follows as choir director. |
| May 8, 1936 |
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He becomes the first organist to play a paid-admission concert at Carnegie Hall, New York. He is presented by his first concert management, Bernard R. LaBerge Mgt., Inc. |
| May, 1936 |
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He is appointed head of the organ department at the Peabody Conservatory. |
| Aug/Sep 1938 |
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He plays in Great Britain at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge; Lincoln Minster; Durham Cathedral; and in Germany at the Thomaskirche, Leipzig (Bach’s church—where he becomes the first American organist ever to perform publicly there); Marienkirche, Lübeck |
| Summer 1939 |
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He plays “Come, Sweet Death” at the AGO National Convention in the Wanamaker store, Philadelphia. |
| 1941 |
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His arrangement of “Come, Sweet Death” is published by H.W. Gray. |
| 1942 |
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He enlists in the Army Air Force and takes a leave of absence from Brown Memorial Church and the Peabody Conservatory. He enters as a Private and is promoted to Staff Sergeant. While stationed at Bolling Field, he plays three recitals and five services we |
| Apr 29, 1945 |
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Staff Sergeant Fox plays a recital at Cadet Chapel, West Point, New York, on a 206-rank organ. |
| 1946 |
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After having played more than 600 concerts while on duty, he is discharged from the Army Air Force. |
| 1946 |
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He accepts the position of Organist of the Riverside Church, New York, with Richard Weagly as choir director. |
| Feb 1946 |
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He plays 44 major works (in three concerts) from memory at the Library of Congress under the auspices of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. |
| 1948 |
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The Riverside Church acquires a new five-manual Æolian-Skinner console for the Hook and Hastings organ. |
| Jul 1949 |
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He meets Albert Schweitzer in New York. |
| Sep 1950 |
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He plays in England at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Canterbury; and in Paris at the Salle Pleyel. |
| 1952 |
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He is voted “America’s Most Popular Organist” by 17,000 subscribers of Choral and Organ Guide. |
| Aug 1952 |
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He plays in England at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Canterbury. |
| 1953 |
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He is chosen by the State Department to represent the United States at the First International Conference on Sacred Music, in Bern, Switzerland. |
| Jul 1, 1954 |
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He plays for the first time with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler conducting, at Boston Symphony Hall. |
| Mar 25, 1955 |
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He gives a solo dedicatory recital on the new organ at the Riverside Church. |
| Mar 30, 1955 |
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He gives an orchestral dedicatory recital at the Riverside Church with the New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulis conducting. The program includes Bach’s Concerto in D Minor and Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante. |
| Dec 1955 |
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He plays for the AGO Midwinter Conclave at the Wanamaker Store, Philadelphia. |
| Jun 1956 |
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He plays the Guild Service for the AGO National Convention at Riverside Church: American première of Ralph Vaughn-William’s Dona Nobis Pacem with the Riverside Choir, Richard Weagly conductor; American première of Maurice Duruflé’s Suite (Opus 5). He play |
| 1957 |
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He shares with Frederick Swann the title and duties of Organist of The Riverside Church, New York. |
| Sep/Oct 1959 |
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He plays in Europe at the American Church in Paris, St. Matthäuskirche (Munich), St. George’s Hall (Liverpool), Colston Hall (Bristol), the Royal Air Force Church of St. Clement Danes, and Birmingham Town Hall. |
| May/Jun 1960 |
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He and Frederick Swann dedicate the Austin organ in Christ Chapel, Riverside Church, New York. |
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He records six albums for Capital Records. |
| Jun 1960 |
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He plays the Jongen Symphonie Concertante for organ and orchestra with the Detroit Symphony at Ford Auditorium during the AGO National Convention. |
| Jun 1961 |
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He records Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante with George Prêtre and the Paris Opera Orchestra at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. |
| Sep 1961 |
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He plays in England at St. Mary Abbots, Kensington, and at Birmingham Town Hall. |
| 1961-1962 |
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He is presented in several all-Bach concerts at Riverside, organized at his request by E. Paul Fitz Gerald. He decides that playing all-Bach recitals should be a main theme of his career from this point on. |
| Jun 1962 |
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He hires Richard Torrence as his secretary and personal representative. |
| Jun 1962 |
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He plays at Richard Simonton’s home for a private concert during the National Convention of the AGO in Los Angeles, California. |
| Dec 15, 1962 |
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With Catherine Crozier and E. Power Biggs, he dedicates the new Æolian-Skinner organ in Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York. |
| Jan 7, 1963 |
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He performs the first solo organ recital at Philharmonic Hall (and later that month makes the first recording on the new organ for Command Records). |
| Apr 1963 |
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He informs Roberta Bailey that, effective in June, Richard Torrence will be his concert manager. |
| Jun 1963 |
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He becomes (and often insists on being called) “Dr. Fox” after being awarded an honorary degree from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He claims that the honorific helps him get better service from hotels and airlines. |
| Fall 1963 |
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He records an all-Bach album for Command (his first was for RCA Victor in the 1950’s, also at Riverside). |
| Sep/Oct 1963 |
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He plays in England at Bolton Parish Church and Birmingham Town Hall. |
| 1964 |
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He records on the Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia in the spring; records the organ at Royal Albert Hall in London for Readers Digest Records in the fall; and records “The Christmas Album” for Command at St. Paul the Apostle, New York. |
| 1964 |
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He receives the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. |
| Jun 1964 |
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He plays a morning concert at the Wanamaker Store during the AGO National Convention in Philadelphia, and celebrates the release of his Wanamaker Command album. |
| Sep 1964 |
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He begins his “sabbatical” from the Riverside Church. |
| 1965 |
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He makes two final records for Command, both at Boston Symphony Hall. |
| Jun 1965 |
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He resigns from the Riverside Church. |
| Jun 1966 |
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He plays at “The Temple,” Atlanta, Georgia, for the AGO National Convention. |
| Spring 1967 |
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He plays his first recital on the Rodgers Touring Organ (“Black Beauty”) in St. Petersburg, Florida. |
| Apr 23, 1967 |
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He plays a Philharmonic Hall recital (Mendelssohn, Duruflé). |
| Dec 24, 1967 |
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He performs on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” |
| 1968 |
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He hires Alix Williamson to publicize his career at the urging of Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger. Williamson requires that he perform a four-concert series in New York that she can publicize. |
| 1969 |
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He records an album of hymns on the Rodgers Touring Organ for Kapp Records (“Songs of Inspiration”). |
| Oct 21, 1969 |
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He performs “The Bach Gamut” on the first of the Fanfare for Organ series at Philharmonic Hall. |
| Nov 25, 1969 |
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He performs “The Gallic Greats” on the second of the series. |
| Jan 18, 1970 |
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He performs “La Belle Époch” on the third of the series. |
| Feb 24, 1970 |
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He performs “The Contemporary Concerto” on the fourth of the series with the Symphony of the New World (Joseph Jongen Symphonie Concertante, Jan Hanus Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Tympani) and the Francis Poulenc “Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Tymp |
| Dec 1, 1970 |
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He performs the first “Heavy Organ” concert with Joe’s Lights at the Fillmore East, New York, recorded by Decca Records, a Division of MCA Inc. |
| Dec 14, 1970 |
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He performs the second Heavy Organ concert at the Fillmore East. |
| Apr 27, 1971 |
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He dedicates the four-manual Saville #100 (172 equivalent ranks; the largest electronic organ at that time) in the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, Illinois with chamber orchestra, Victor Allessandro conducting. |
| 1971-1974 |
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His four Heavy Organ “live” recordings are listed among Billboard Magazine’s best-selling classical albums during most of this period. |
| Summer 1971 |
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He begins his first national Heavy Organ tour with Pablo Lights, playing in Washington, D.C. at Constitution Hall, and as far West as the University of Wisconsin in Madison. |
| Oct 14, 1971 |
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He plays his first West Coast performance of Heavy Organ with Pablo’s Lights at Winterland, San Francisco. Decca records the concert. |
| Summer 1972 |
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He tours Heavy Organ with concerts at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Washington, D.C. and at Temple University Music Festival, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
| Oct 14, 1972 |
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He plays his final Heavy Organ concert with Pablo Lights in Beckman Auditorium at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. |
| Oct 17, 1972 |
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He plays his first Heavy Organ concert with Revelation Lights at San Diego College. |
| Nov 9, 1972 |
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He appears on the “Mike Douglas Show” to promote an album of wedding music for Decca Records. |
| Dec 20, 1972 |
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He plays Heavy Organ in Carnegie Hall, recorded by RCA. |
| May 2, 1973 |
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He appears again on the “Mike Douglas Show.” |
| Jun 15, 1973 |
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He plays “Tea for Two” with Liberace on the “Mike Douglas Show.” |
| Summer 1973 |
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He tours Heavy Organ with concerts at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Washington, D.C. and at the Meadowbrook Festival near Detroit, Michigan. According to Wolf Trap Farm Park (seating capacity 6,000), the two largest “draws” in the facility’s history are Heavy Or |
| Oct 5, 1973 |
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He plays for the first time (as a “Founding Artist”) at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Martin Feinstein, head of Kennedy Center, calls two weeks before to schedule an after-concert party for Virgil, expressing surprise that the concert is already sold |
| Dec 1973 |
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He records a second Heavy Organ concert in Carnegie Hall, also released by RCA. Audience sings “Adeste Fideles.” |
| Jan 7, 1974 |
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Heavy Organ receives a positive review in Time Magazine. |
| May 3, 1974 |
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He plays with the Boston Pops, Arthur Fiedler conducting. The concert is later televised on PBS. Friends wish him “Happy Birthday” from the audience. |
| Oct 1, 1974 |
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He dedicates the new five-manual Rodgers organ (the largest electronic organ ever built at that time) in Carnegie Hall, New York. The concert is recorded by RCA but never released (the organ sounded awful). Time Magazine gives a positive review to Virgil |
| Jan 14, 1975 |
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He plays for Albert Schweitzer’s 100th Anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Westenberg. The all-Bach concert also features pianist Eugene Istomin, a spoken message by Marta Casals (who later be |
| Feb 1975 |
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He plays a 20-minute showcase of Heavy Organ at the National Entertainment Conference (a rock’n’roll booking conference for the university market) in Kansas City. He plays the only encore in the history of the NEC showcases (strictly verboten!), the “Perp |
| Jun 1975 |
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He acquires the rights to operate the Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The medieval castle has a four-manual, 135-rank pipe organ on which he had previously made 78-RPM recordings. |
| Sep 17, 1975 |
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He plays the world première of the five-manual Rodgers touring organ (the “Royal V”) at the Concord Pavilion near San Francisco. |
| Sep 1976 |
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Organ Arts, Ltd. presents “The Bach Gamut” in two concerts at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco as part of “A Triumphant Blaze of Sound and Light” (advertised as a “Festival of Organ Virtuosos and Illumination”). |
| Sep 1976 |
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Dr. Armstrong detects a cancerous lump on his prostate gland. He cancels November and December concerts. His prostate gland is surgically removed. |
| Apr 1, 1977 |
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He dedicates the new Fratelli Ruffatti organ at Garden Grove Community Church in Garden Grove, California. |
| Apr 1977 |
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He plays “The Bach Gamut” in two concerts at St. Ignatius Loyola, New York, which includes his playing his first public concert on a harpsichord (as well as the organ) for non-organ Bach pieces required to comprise the complete musical scale. |
| May 1977 |
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He celebrates his official gala jubilee (his 50th consecutive season on the concert stage) in a sold-out recital at Kennedy Center (a single-concert “Bach Gamut”). |
| Jun 1977 |
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He plays a solo recital (“The Bach Gamut” with organ and harpsichord) in NHK Hall in Tokyo, and performs the Jongen Symphonie Concertante with the NHK Symphony on NHK Television. |
| Aug 28,1977 |
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He makes two direct-to-disk recordings (and the first American commercial digital recording ever) at the Garden Grove Community Church for Crystal Clear Records. |
| Oct 1, 1977 |
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He inaugurates his own four-manual Allen touring organ in Hackensack, New Jersey. |
| Nov 1977 |
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His management (Richard Torrence and Robert Fry) appoint Marilyn Brennan to form The Virgil Fox Society and to publish the first issue of the Society’s Clarion. He receives a Certificate of Honor from Delta Omicron, the International Music Fraternity. |
| Jan 17, 1978 |
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He plays a full concert program on a two-manual, 22-rank Holtkamp baroque organ with no expression boxes at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The program defiantly includes Reubke’s Romantic “Sonata on the 94th Psalm.” |
| Jun 1978 |
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He announces his change of managers from Torrence Associates to Kolmar-Luth, effective for the 1979-80 season. |
| Mar 1979 |
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He appears on the cover of Keyboard Magazine. |
| May 6, 1979 |
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He performs and records his last concert at the Riverside Church (the Bainbridge recording of the concert is called “Soli Deo Gloria”). He receives a Certificate of Merit from Glassboro State College, New Jersey. |
| Jun 1979 |
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He begins his last full season, touring under the management of Kolmar-Luth. |
| Jul 12, 1980 |
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He performs his last solo recital in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. |
| Sep 26, 1980 |
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He performs for the last time with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as the soloist in the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony and the Poulenc Organ Concerto. |
| Oct 25, 1980 |
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He dies of cancer in Palm Beach, Florida. |
| Oct 28, 1980 |
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Many friends attend his funeral at his home (Casa Lagomar) in Palm Beach, Florida. |
| Nov 9, 1980 |
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Hundreds attend his funeral at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. |
| 1981-1999 |
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His birthday and the anniversary of his death are observed every year by the Virgil Fox Society and other organizations throughout the United States. The Society places flowers on his official grave in Princeton, Illinois four times a year. |
| Oct 8, 2000 |
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The Virgil Fox Society presents a 20th anniversary memorial concert at the Riverside Church, raising money for scholarships, and making possible the publication of this book. |
