Betty V. Nickerson Memorial Organ Recital

Mr. Martorella will be joined by Lucinda Ladd, flute and Jennifer Harris Collins, trumpet in music of J. S. Bach, François Couperin, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Alfred V. Fedak, Florence Price, Flor Peeters, Frederick Chopin, César Franck, Samuel Barber, Nick Glennie-Smith, and Samuel Augustus Ward. We will celebrate the life of Betty V. Nickerson, 1928-2022, organist and choir director emeritus of the Peace Dale Congregational Church and past Dean of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Betty Virginia Nickerson was born in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated from Classical High School. She began organ studies at age 13 studying with Ethel Bird, taking her first position at the Methodist Tabernacle Church in Providence. She married Robert A. Nickerson, her husband of 65 years, in 1950. They made their home in South Kingstown later moving to Narragansett where Betty served as organist, handbell and choir director of the Peace Dale Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, for 39 years, retiring in 1989 but continuing as a substitute in over 30 churches throughout the cities and towns of Rhode Island, including a year at the Peace Dale Church as an interim, bringing her service there to 40 years. Betty passed away on April 12, 2022, in Olympia, Washington, but not before serving on the Stewardship Ministry and the Caring Friends Ministry of The United Churches of Olympia. She became a member of the Olympia Symphony Guild, serving as chair of the scholarship committee for high school seniors for five years. Betty was a member of The American Guild of Organists and served as Secretary, Sub-Dean and Dean of the Rhode Island Chapter, as well as Rhode Island State Chairperson. She earned the Choir Master's Certificate in 1973.

Category: Arts | Performing Arts | Music

Artists: Stephen Martorella, Jennifer Harris Collins, Lucinda Ladd