Arthur Lamirande:
CLASS OF 1954
South Hadley High SchoolClass of 1954
South hadley, MA
Peabody Institute Johns Hopkins UniversityClass of 1960
Baltimore, MD
American International CollegeClass of 1959
Springfield, MA
Holyoke Community CollegeClass of 1956
Holyoke, MA
Arthur's Story
I have been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer for the past 6 months. A side effect of the chemotherapy: neuropathy. They tell me this treatment must continue indefinitely.
Music Director and Organist, St. John's Episcopal Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey from 2006 to 2016. The parish is one of the oldest in the country, dating to 1706. The current edifice was completed in 1865. The church is notable for having two organs, one in the chancel and one in the gallery. Both organs are playable from the chancel console.
My recital on the great organ of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France on October 3, 2015 was a resounding success. I received an ovation from the capacity audience. CD recordings of that event are available at $25 each.
Contact me at 461 Fort Washington avenue, New York, NY 10033.
Director: Editorial Dept., Professional Examination Service, New York City, 1981-1992. Titular Organist, Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, New York, 1973-1982. Concert organist and recording artist.
Most recent performance at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California, January 22, 2014. Previous performances at St. Thomas Church on 5th Avenue, New York City, May 8, 2011; the Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, British Columbia, April 6, 2008; the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore, May 8, 2007; Cathedral of St. Patrick, New York City, April 29, 2007; the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Lewiston, Maine, June 24, 2006; the concert hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong, March 18, 2006; the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 28, 2005 (Feast Day of St. Wenceslas; so I performed the St. Wenceslas Fantasy by Czech composer Josef Klicka); the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford, Connecticut, May 5, 2005; the Basilica of The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC (July 18, 2004); others at l'Oratoire St. Joseph, Montreal; St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco; Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, British Columbia; St. Mark's (Episcopal) Cathedral, Seattle; Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago; Washington National (Episcopal) Cathedral, Washington DC; Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; Westminster Cathedral, London; St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo, Japan; and St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong. Interim organist (1999) at St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, Massachusetts.
World traveler. Most recent trips:Paris, France, October 2015, Boston, MA (Sept. 2011), Hong Kong (April 2010), Washington DC (November 2010 and July 2008); Vancouver, B.C and San Francisco (April and June 2008); China (Beijing and Shanghai -- December 2007), Hong Kong and Singapore (May 2007); Maine (June 2006); Milwaukee and Chicago (September 2005);
Montreal (July 2005 --- my wallet got lifted by a pickpocket!);
Japan (Tokyo and Osaka -- November 2003); Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto -- May 2002); Paris and London (January 2002); Washington DC (September 2001 and July 2004); Beijing (China) and Tokyo (Japan) -- May 2001; in 2000: two trips to the West Coast --- San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver; another trip to Chicag...Expand for more
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Principle domicile: Manhattan (New York City); Other favorite cities (North America): Montreal, Vancouver, San Francisco, Toronto, Chicago, Washington DC, Cleveland (Ohio);
in Europe: Paris (France), London (England), and Edinburgh (Scotland); in Asia: Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai.
Place least missed: South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Places most missed: Paris, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Tokyo.
Favorite liturgical service: Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; l'Oratoire St. Joseph, Montreal; National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC.; Westminster Cathedral, London.
Surname: everyone in North America named LAMIRANDE is descended from Pierre du Lignon, sieur de la Mirande, settled 1685 Quebec. Mother's surname: Beaton. Possibly descended from Cardinal Beaton, Regent of Scotland during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots.
School
What's to write about? South Hadley High School was a 4-year-long nightmare!
I read (front page of The New York Times) that South Hadley is still the bullying capital of Massachusetts. Wonder if the teachers are any better now than they were back then?
College
What's to write about?
Least popular student on campus.
Won one prestigious award at Holyoke Community College and three awards at American International College. Nobody bothered to congratulate me on either occasion.
Didn't like to study and just squeaked by. Basically just biding my time until I could get out on my own --- which didn't happen until three years after graduation from A.I.C. (Moved to New York, thank God.)
Workplace
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Springfield, MA 1959 - 1961*
Chicopee MA High School 1961 - 1962
Hawthorn Books, New York City, 1962 - 1963
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Astoria (Queens), NY 1963 - 1966 (as organist)
New York Academy of Sciences, New York City, 1966 - 1967
Grune and Stratton Medical Publishers, New York City, 1967 - 1968
H.S. Stuttman Co. (publishers), NYC 1968 - 1970
United Publishing Co., Washington DC 1970 - 1971
Science and Medicine Publishing Co., NYC 1971 - 1973
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, NYC 1973 - 1982 (as organist)
Professional Examination Service, NYC 1981 - 1995 (from 1981 to 1992: Director of the Editorial Dept.; thereafter Executive Editor);
St. Catherine of Sienna Church, NYC 1994 - 1995 (as organist);
1996 to present: officially retired, but travel extensively as a concert organist: concerts in New York (St. Patrick's Cathedral), Montreal (St. Joseph's Oratory), San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Vancouver, Washington DC (National Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception), Paris (Notre Dame Cathedral), Tokyo (St. Ignatius Church), London (Westminster Cathedral). Served in fall of 1999 as interim organist of St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, MA.
Appointed: October 15, 2006: St. John's Episcopal Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey --- said to be the largest Episcopal church in New Jersey, built 1860.
*Look at the Acknowledgments in the front of the Merriam-Webster UNABRIDGED Dictionary, 3rd Edition (1961). You'll find my name there, under Editorial Assistants.
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