A homecoming for William Maddox • ,; cT By Jennifer Bell THE INTELLIGENCER The organist and musical director of Canada's largest Baptist church should feel comfortable tonight when he sits at the organ at Bridge Street United Church -- he'll be coming home. Since 1996, William Maddox -- who was born in Picton -- has filled Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in Toronto with music, considered the finest in church music repertoire. His recital tonight is the first in this year's Bridge Street Musical Arts Concert Series, and is slated for 8 p.m. Concert-goers will hear Maddox perform selections by Widor, Bach, Franck, Dupre, Wagner, Rheinberger and Jongen, which presents a chal- lenge for him as organist, says Mad- dox. "The majority of this music is not familiar to the audience, so my role is to interpret it so that they hear the full image the first time," he explained. A performance graduate of Queen's University and Trinity Col- lege of Music in London, Maddox has served churches in Picton, Belleville and Kingston, and suc- ceeded his teacher Catherine M. Palmer at Yorkminster Park in 1996 as only the fourth organist and music director. At Bridge Street Church for 16 years, Maddox has also served as instructor of organ at Queen's Uni- versity School of Music, where his students were the recipients of numerous university and national scholarships and awards. He was elected a fellow of the Guild of Musi- cians and Singers of the United Kingdom in January 2000 and the first Canadian Fellow of the Cam- bridge Society of Musicians earlier „„«,. INTELLIGENCER PHOTO BY JENNIFER BELL William Maddox returns home to Belleville tonight for the first concert in Bridge Street Church's Musical Arts Series. this year. He's performed throughout the Canada and the northern U.S., including appearances at Roy Thom- son Hall in Toronto and Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. His recordings and live con- certs have been featured on the CBC and American Public Radio, and he's led workshops for the National Con- vention of the Royal Canadian Col- lege of Organists. In 2002, he'll accompany the Cantabile Choirs of Kingston at the Cork International Choral Festival in Ireland. Being organist and music director at a church that holds 1,800 "is more a way of life than a job," Mad- dox says. "It's full time, and because you always work Sundays and holi- days, your weekends are different from everyone else's." Playing for church services, funerals and special events, Maddox -- who's played on some of the largest organs in the world -- said the music for tonight's concert was chosen specifically for Bridge Street's organ. "It's what's known as a romantic instrument, and you have to take into account not only the organ, but the size of the room, the materials in the church and of course the height of the ceiling. Knowing what will sound best makes it a more enjoyable experience." Tickets for tonight's concert are $10 and are available at the door. P