How it all started
Many years ago, a dear colleague had decided age had gotten the better of her keyboard skills and it was time to give up much of her organ music. It was offered to me and, among this very nice collection, was the Organ Concerto in G Minor by Francis Poulenc. It looked in perfect condition. I knew the piece well and was excited to have it. However, much like it did with my friend, the score remained untouched, tucked away in my library. I would look at it periodically but, because of the very slim chances I would have to perform it, never felt the inspiration to study it.
Having had a great deal of experience with the notation software, Sibelius, I began to experiment with transcribing some simpler scores for organ and orchestra with the intention of playing the organ part along with an audio version of the orchestra. Soon after, I tackled the more complex Poulenc Organ Concerto score. It was a challenging project but, after a first listening, I was excited and even inspired by what I heard. The score that had remained untouched for so many years was finally going to be learned and played! I transcribed more scores, improved the technology, even introducing editing features for the end-user. It was then that-
Organ Symphony Assistant was born.
