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Piping Hot! festival to feature four internationally renowned organists in the Twin Cities with master of ceremonies Michael Barone
Piping Hot! is a festival of pipe organ music presented by Pipedreams from American Public Media and five local organizations
October 16, 2007
November 3-11 is Piping Hot!, a Twin Cities festival of the pipe organ consisting of free concerts, master classes and conversational workshops and featuring an international gathering of exceptional recitalists. All events are free and open to the public. More information is available at www.pipedreams.org/festival.
Piping Hot! festival activities:
Performer: Paul Jacobs of The Juilliard School, New York City
Master class: Saturday, November 3, 9:30 a.m. to noon
Concert: Sunday, November 4, 7 p.m.
Organ: 2005 Glatter-Götz/Rosales (50 ranks of pipes)
Location: Augustana Lutheran Church, 1400 South Robert Street, West St. Paul
Performer: Hans Fagius, Swedish organist of the Royal Danish Conservatory, Copenhagen
Master class: Monday, November 5, 7-9:30 p.m.
Concert: Tuesday, November 6, 8:15 p.m.
Organ: 1987 Gabriel Kney (56 ranks)
Location: Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Avenue, St. Paul (chapel on Cleveland Avenue at Ashland)
Performer: Stephen Tharp, New York-based international recitalist and recording artist
Master class: Saturday, November 10, 9:30 a.m. to noon
Concert: Friday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.
Organ: 2003 Lyle Blackinton (67 ranks)
Location: Benson Great Hall, Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive, Arden Hills
Performer: Jean-Baptiste Robin, Poitiers Cathedral and Versailles Conservatory, France
Master class: Saturday, November 10, 1:30-4 p.m.
Concert: Sunday, November 11, 4 p.m.
Organ: 1979 C.B. Fisk (97 ranks)
Location: House of Hope Presbyterian Church, 797 Summit Avenue, St. Paul
Piping Hot! is a partnership between Augustana Lutheran Church, Bethel University, House of Hope Presbyterian Church, the University of St. Thomas, the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and American Public Media's Pipedreams, hosted by Michael Barone. The festival features four concerts by an international array of soloists—Paul Jacobs, Hans Fagius, Stephen Tharp and Jean-Baptiste Robin—and public-interface events where the artists will talk about their careers, offer tips to local students and share insights about the organ world.
"This is a unique gathering of four widely acclaimed organists, boasting a bounty of musical activity," said Barone. "These four artists offer and deliver a virtuosic product that is as good as has ever been in the history of organ playing."
The Piping Hot! organ festival is part of the 25th anniversary celebration of American Public Media's Pipedreams. Pipedreams host Michael Barone will be master of ceremonies for all events and will chat on stage with the performers, query the organ builders and demystify some of the "arcana of organdom."
Much like horse racing, where the combination of steed and jockey affects the outcome of a race, organ performances are a critical pairing of a talented organist with a unique instrument. "The best pipe organs are not just bought and plunked somewhere; they're specifically designed to work in the spaces in which they live," Barone noted. "Whether a room is big or small, whether it is resonant or a little dry, the organ builder must maximize the expressivity of his instrument for those environments."
Workshop/master classes are co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (TCAGO). More information is available at www.pipedreams.org/festival or by calling 651-290-1087. All events are free and open to the public.
About the artists
Hans Fagius (born in Norrköping, Sweden) has for many years been one of the foremost and most active organ recitalists in Sweden. He received his basic education with Bengt Berg and at the Stockholm College of Music with Professor Alf Linder and continued his studies in Paris with the famous organist and composer Maurice Duruflé. Fagius is organ professor at Royal Danish Academy of Music, having once taught at the Colleges of Music in Stockholm and Gothenburg. He was elected a member of The Royal Swedish Music Academy in 1998. Besides the many recitals he regularly plays in Europe, he has toured the U.S., Canada, Australia, Korea and Japan. His repertoire spans music of all epochs.
Paul Jacobs has reinvigorated the American organ scene with his once-in-a-generation gifts as a performer. He is widely applauded for his prodigious technique, charismatic stage presence, and "an unbridled joy of music-making" (Baltimore Sun). Possessing a vast repertoire spanning from the 16th century through contemporary times, Mr. Jacobs has performed throughout North America as well as in South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Jacobs is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University. In 2003, he was invited to join the faculty of The Juilliard School and the following year was named chairman of the organ department, one of the youngest faculty appointments in Juilliard's history. He has, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, "risen to the top of his field with unusual speed."
Parisian organist-composer Jean-Baptiste Robin became titular organist of Poitiers Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint-Pierre) and its famous Clicquot instrument at the age of 23 following a competition for the post. He is also professor of organ at the Conservatoire National de Région de Versailles. As a performer (who plays from memory), Robin has appeared at notable venues throughout Europe and the U.S. As a composer, he has written more than 15 works ranging from solo pieces for piano or organ to music for full symphony orchestra. He was awarded prizes in composition from the Institut de France and the Foundation Lagarére and has won the Prix François de Roubaix, the Grand Prix de la ville de Bordeaux and the international competition in Nice. He has recently been commissioned by Olivier Latry for works to be premiered at Notre-Dame de Paris.
Stephen Tharp, hailed as "the organist for the connoisseur" (Organ magazine, Germany), "the thinking person's performer" (Het Orgel), "every bit the equal of any organist" (The American Organist magazine), and "the consummate creative artist" (Michael Barone, Pipedreams), is recognized as one of the great concert organists of our time. Having played 30 solo intercontinental tours and more than 800 concerts in North America, Stephen Tharp has built one of the broadest and most well-respected international careers in the world, receiving critical acclaim around the globe. He is regarded as the most traveled concert organist of his generation and will be included in the 2008 edition of Who's Who in America for his outstanding achievements in music.
About Pipedreams
On January 3, 1982, the first installment of a 14-program series titled Pipedreams was broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio and distributed free to the public radio system. MPR music director Michael Barone was both producer and host, and those programs featured numerous concert performances recorded during a national convention of the American Guild of Organists held in the Twin Cities during the summer of 1980. Pipedreams evolved from The Organ Program, which Barone had produced since 1970 for MPR's regional network. The AGO convention materials proved to be "good enough for prime time" and subsequently recorded performances from the 1982 AGO convention in Washington, D.C., brought about a re-launch of Pipedreams in October 1983 and the program has continued in national syndication since then. After 25 years, Pipedreams remains the only nationally distributed weekly radio program exploring the art of the pipe organ.
Building upon a curiosity that began in his teens, Michael Barone has been involved with the pipe organ for nearly 50 years. As host and senior executive producer of Pipedreams, he is recognized internationally for his contributions to the world of organ music. Michael's talent and commitment have been recognized with numerous awards, including the American Guild of Organists President's Award in 1996, the Distinguished Service Award of the Organ Historical Society in 1997 and the 2001 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. In November 2002 he was selected for induction to the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc., Nationwide and PSA data. Arbitron data are estimates only. Spring 2006/Fall 2006 average
Press Contacts:
Jennifer Haugh
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1369
jhaugh@mpr.org
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