Internationally Renowned Organist Isabelle Demers Kicks Off Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Series, Jan. 19
JANUARY 10, 2013
As Part of the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Series
Quebec native Isabelle Demers kicks off The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Recital Series on Saturday, January 19 at 3 p.m. in Verizon Hall. Revered by both critics and audiences alike for her virtuosic capabilities on the organ, Demers studied with Paul Jacobs at Julliard and is an internationally renowned talent recognized in organ competitions held in the United States, Europe and Canada. Prior to the afternoon performance, all ticket holders are welcome to attend a pre-concert lecture with Michael Barone, host of American Public Media’s PIPEDREAMS, and Isabelle Demers at 2:15 pm in Verizon Hall.
Demers’ program at Verizon Hall includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue BWV 903 (transcription by Max Reger), Felix Mendelssohn’s Scherzo, from Symphony No. 5, Op. 107, 'Reformation' (transcription by Isabelle Demers), John Bull’s Bull's Goodnight, Max Reger’s Fantasia on the chorale 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott, Op. 27, Henry Martin’s Prelude and Fugue in G-flat Major; Prelude and Fugue in A Major, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 (transcription by Isabelle Demers), and Raymond Daveluy’s Toccata, fr Sonata No. 6.
Tickets are currently on sale at kimmelcenter.org, 215-893-1999, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office located on Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, Pa. (open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., later on performance evenings). Tickets are available for $17, plus applicable service charges.
Hailed as having 'virtuosic fingers and feet' by the Chicago Tribune, Demers studied with the legendary Paul Jacobs at The Julliard School in New York City, receiving not only her Master’s and Doctoral degrees, but the Richard French Prize for the best dissertation for her analysis of Bach’s St. John Passion. Asked to perform at the 2010 national convention of the American Guild of Organists, in Washington, D.C., critics deemed her concert “one of the most outstanding events of the convention” (The American Organist), and the standing-room-only audience called her back to the stage five times.
She has been a prize-winner and finalist in several international performance competitions in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and performs widely in the United States and Canada. During the 2011-2012 season she debuted in the U.K. at Birmingham Town Hall in October 2011, as well as Davies Hall and Disney Hall in March 2012, in addition to a well-received Germany-U.K. tour during the summer of 2012.
Her debut recording on British label Acis was met with critical acclaim. On a recent broadcast of Pipedreams, presenter Michael Barone featured the Fugue from Reger’s Op. 73, describing it as, “a masterful score, here masterfully played,” and Isabelle Demers as, “definitely a talent to watch, to hear.” The RSCM’s Church Music Quarterly awarded the “exciting, expressive and successful” recording its highest recommendation for its “profound and searching” performances. Fanfare Magazine proclaimed the “superbly produced” and “clear, tightly focused recording” with its “brilliantly played program.” Currently in production is a recording of Max’s Reger seven Chorale Fantasies, funded by a grant from the Theodore Presser Foundation.
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This series is made possible through a generous donation by the Fred J. Cooper Organ Restoration Fund as recommended by Frederick R. Haas and Daniel K. Meyer.
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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