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American Public Media's Pipedreams Presents "Bach Birthday Bash" Organ Concerts on March 21

Local celebration of Bach's 324th birthday includes Classical Minnesota Public Radio live broadcast of first concert

March 3, 2009

(St. Paul, Minn.) March 3, 2009—Pipedreams,® the only nationally distributed weekly radio program exploring the art of the pipe organ, today announced the "Bach Birthday Bash," a sequence of local concerts on Saturday, March 21, 2009, featuring keyboard music by or about Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach in celebration of his 324th birthday.

The "Bach Birthday Bash" is presented cooperatively by Pipedreams, the Twin Cities chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the Bach Society of Minnesota, and the National Lutheran Choir as part of the American Guild of Organists' "International Year of the Organ."

"Bach Birthday Bash" Concerts:

What: Mixed repertoire (organ, chamber ensemble, singers)
When: Saturday, March 21, 9-10 a.m. (live on Classical Minnesota Public Radio)
Where: St. Mary's Chapel of the St. Paul Seminary, 2160 Summit Avenue, St. Paul
Tickets: FREE

This program will include Bach scores for solo organ, chamber ensemble, and voices. Members of the Bach Society of Minnesota and the National Lutheran Choir will participate, along with St. Paul Seminary Organist David P. Jenkins. Pipedreams producer Michael Barone hosts the live broadcast on Classical Minnesota Public Radio, including KSJN 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities.

What: Solo organ music
When: Saturday, March 21, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Where: University of St. Thomas Chapel, Cleveland Avenue North at Ashland Avenue, St. Paul
Tickets: FREE

James Callahan, Professor Emeritus and Timothy D. Buendorf, Chapel Organist, both at the University of St. Thomas, perform a variety of Bach's original compositions on Gabriel Kney's neo-classic 3-manual, 40-stop pipe organ at the University of St. Thomas.

What: Solo organ music and transcriptions
When: Saturday, March 21, 1-2 p.m.
Where: Church of St. John the Evangelist, 60 Kent Street, St. Paul
Tickets: FREE

Local soloist Sharon Kleckner and James Frazier, director of Music at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, perform several of Bach's original compositions, his transcriptions of instrumental concertos by other composers, an arrangement of a Bach cantata movement by composer Maurice Duruflé, and a 19th century piece by Franz Liszt inspired by Bach.

What: Solo organ and piano works
When: Saturday, March 21, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Where: Unity Unitarian Church, 732 Holly Avenue, St. Paul
Tickets: FREE

Pianist Richard Tostenson and Kraig Windschitl, organist at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, perform several original Bach scores and a modern piece by George Rochberg inspired by Bach.

What: Solo organ music
When: Saturday, March 21, 4-5p.m.
Where: House of Hope Presbyterian Church, 797 Summit Avenue, St. Paul
Tickets: FREE

Charles Echols, former interim organist at House of Hope Presbyterian Church, and Aaron David Miller, Music Director at House of Hope, perform several original Bach works, transcriptions of Bach’s music by composers Johann Kirnberger and Arthur Jennings, and a piece by composer Porter Heaps inspired by Bach.

This final afternoon concert also features the upper-Midwest premiere of a recently-discovered "new" score by Bach, a chorale-fantasia on the hymn Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt. Previously, only five measures of this fantasia were known, but thanks to musicologists at the Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany, the work in its entirety was rediscovered just last year, creating an international sensation. According to one of the Martin Luther University researchers, "the composition considerably enriches our knowledge of Bach's early oeuvre; the music world has gained a magnificent composition."

The "Bach Birthday Bash" concludes with a complete performance of Bach's Passion According to Saint Matthew, featuring the National Lutheran Choir and Orchestra in concert at St. Olaf Catholic Church, 215 S. 8th Street, downtown Minneapolis. The performance begins at 7 p.m. and admission is charged. Visit http://nlca.com/st-matthew-passion for ticket information.


Press Contacts:
Brad Robideau
American Public Media
651-290-1113
brobideau@americanpublicmedia.org

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