Summer Organ Concerts on the Kimmel Center’s Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Begin July 9
JULY 2, 2009
Alan Morrison
Cool off with the deep, expressive timbre of the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall this summer as part of the Kimmel Center’s weekly Summer Organ Series on Thursday evenings from July 9 to August 6, 2009 (except for July 23).
The line-up of internationally acclaimed organists in the Summer Organ Series includes 25-year-old phenomenon Chelsea Chen (Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 7pm); "grand master" (American Organist) Alan Morrison (Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7pm); Philadelphia native Ann Elise Smoot (Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7pm) and "spirited and virtuosic organist" (Washington Post) Eric Plutz (Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7pm).
SUMMER ORGAN SERIES
Chelsea Chen
Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
"Stunning" and possessing "lovely lyrical grandeur" (Los Angeles Times), 25-year-old Chelsea Chen
has electrified audiences throughout the United States and Asia. A
Juilliard graduate and former Fulbright scholar, Chen has broadened the
classical organ repertoire with her own Asian-inspired compositions.
The 2009 year has been exceptional for Chen, who recently received the
prestigious Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize; and earned the Artist
Diploma from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Thomas
Murray. Chen will serve as Artist-in-Residence at Emmanuel Presbyterian
Church in Manhattan in the fall of 2009.
As an organ soloist, she has appeared with the Juilliard Percussion Orchestra in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and with the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra in Colorado. She premiered to great success her own "Taiwanese Suite" (2003) and "Taiwan Tableaux" (2007) at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego, and has championed works by many other young composers, including Teddy Niedermaier, Ola Gjeilo, and Jordan Kuspa. In collaboration with harpist Arielle, their organ and harp ensemble, Duo Mango, has premiered works by Paul Desenne, Yui Kitamura and Roderick Gorby.
Chen recorded her debut CD/DVD, Live at Heinz Chapel, on the Heinz Chapel organ at the 2005 Convention of the American Institute of Organbuilders in Pittsburgh, Pa. Additionally, Chen has performed at the AGO Region IX Conclave in Las Vegas and the AGO National Convention in Chicago in 2006. Her performances have been featured on CNN.com, "Pipedreams" from American Public Media, Hawaii Public Radio, and Taiwan's Good News Radio.
"[Chen] rattles the seats with the mightiest of them. But not all organists have her delicacy as well, her ability to paint a line with a poetic brush stroke before—or after—she lets rip." —Los Angeles Times
Chelsea Chen Program:
- HENRI MULET: Carillon Sortie
- MAURICE DURUFLÉ: Scherzo, Op. 2
- JORDAN KUSPA: Tyrant Lizard King (2009)
- ROBERT SCHUMANN: Six Pieces in Canonic Form, Op. 56
- No. 4 in A-flat major, Innig
- No. 5 in B minor, Nicht zu schnell
- No. 6 in B major, Adagio
- OLA GJEILO: Sinfonietta (2002)
- CHELSEA CHEN: Taiwanese Suite (2003)
- Hills in the Springtime
- Moonlight Blue
- Mountain of Youth
- CLAUDE DEBUSSY (arr. Leon Roques): Girl with the Flaxen Hair
- Arabesque No. 2
- LOUIS VIERNE: Final from Symphony No. 6, Op. 59
Alan Morrison
Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
One of America's premier concert organists, Philadelphia-based Alan Morrison
was chosen by his peers to perform at four national conventions of the
American Guild of Organists. He currently serves as head of the Organ
Department at The Curtis Institute of Music, as well as college
organist at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., and adjunct assistant
professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. A
top contender at numerous organ competitions, Morrison was awarded the
first prize in both the Mader and Poister National Organ Competitions,
and the silver medal at the Calgary International Organ Festival.
A champion of 20th and 21st century American composers, Morrison has premiered new works by William Bolcom, Dan Locklair, Eric Sessler, Brent Weaver, Emily Maxson Porter, Jon Spong and Luis Prado, as well as the American premier of Dances for Organ and Orchestra by British composer Bob Chilcott. His latest CD from Spivey Hall, American Voyage (2007), features exclusively American composers. His most recent premiere was of a new organ concerto by Eric Sessler in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, which will be released in the summer of 2010.
"...Alan Morrison knows something about igniting audience passions. Without hesitation and throughout, Morrison's playing is consummate and dazzling..." —Fanfare
Alan Morrison Program:
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Toccata in F Major, BWV 540
MAURICE DURUFLE: Scherzo, opus 2
CESAR FRANCK: Fantasy in A Major (from Trois Pieces)
JEANNE DEMESSIEUX: Te Deum, opus 11
ANNE WILSON: Toccata
HAROLD STOVER: Mountain Music, At Evening and Quick Dance
LEO SOWERBY: Pageant
Ann Elise Smoot
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
Native Philadelphian Ann Elise Smoot
has received wide critical acclaim for her versatility, elegance and
flair in performing organ music of various styles and genres. Currently
based in London, Smoot is director of the St. Giles Junior Organ
Conservatoire, a highly sought-after preparatory school for teenage
organists groomed to receive university organ scholarships and
placement in major conservatoires. Her repertoire ranges from the 14th
century to the present day with performances throughout England, the
United States and Europe.
Passionate about bringing organ music to a wider audience, Smoot has been involved in founding several initiatives, including co-founding the London Organ Forum, which encourage organists to look at their repertoire in a wider musical context. She has taught master classes in England and the United States, and has taught and performed at the Yale Summer School for Organists; at the Oundle International Festival and associated summer school for young organists; and served as a popular tutor on several Royal School of Church Music courses, among other locales.
Smoot has received two degrees with honors from Yale University, where she won several major prizes for scholarship and for organ playing. In England, she studied organ and harpsichord at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by instruction by Dame Gillian Weir. Her critically acclaimed albums include On A Sunday Afternoon Volume 4 (2004), recorded live at Washington National Cathedral. Her career was first launched when she won the 1998 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Playing of The American Guild of Organists.
"Ms. Smoot's performance demonstrated a deep musical maturity . . . she communicated her musical intentions with a rare clarity. She led the listener to know in advance her every rhythmic nuance, each of which was supremely tasteful and satisfying." —American Organist
Ann Elise Smoot Program:
- CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR: From Symphony 5 in F minor
- i. Allegro vivace
- ANDRÉ RAISON: Offerte du 5ème ton (Le Vive le Roy des Parisiens) (From Premier Livre d’orgue)
- ANDRÉ RAISON: Trio en Passacaille
- JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582
- JOSEF: RHEINBERGER: From Sonata 16, opus 175
- ii. Skandinavisch
- LIONEL ROGG: Partita sopra Nun Freut Euch
- i. Choral
- ii. Bicinium
- iii. Canon
- iv. Presto
- v. Récit
- vi. Passacaglia
- vii. Toccata
- JEAN LANGLAIS: From Suite Médiévale
- iv. Méditation (Communion)
- JEAN LANGLAIS: Fête
Eric Plutz
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
A "spirited and virtuosic organist" (Washington Post), Eric Plutz is currently University organist at Princeton University, where he recorded his first solo CD recording, Musique Héroïque
with the Washington Symphonic Brass (2007). Plutz has performed at
distinguished venues across the United States and abroad including
Salzburg, Austria’s Franziskanerkirche, New York City’s Avery Fisher
Hall and Washington, D.C.’s Washington National Cathedral, among other
locales.
Plutz has served as organist and director of music at the Church of Epiphany in Washington, D.C., since 1995, as well as organist at Temple Sinai in Washington and accompanist of the Cantate Chamber Singers. Additionally, he has worked as accompanist at the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Ballet, among others. He was a featured artist at the 2007 Regional Convention for the American Guild of Organists in Baltimore, Md., and a featured performer for the 2007 American Handel Society Conference. His more recent release, Carnival (2008), contains organ transcriptions of orchestral works, including Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Plutz received a bachelor of music degree, magna cum laude, from Westminster Choir College in 1989 and a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1991.
Eric Plutz Program:
ALEXANDRE GUILMANT: Scherzo Symphonique, Op. 55, No. 2
DEREK BOURGEOIS: Serenade
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541
PERCY WHITLOCK: Scherzetto (from Sonata in c minor)
BEDRICH SMETANA: Dance of the Comedians (from The Bartered Bride)
AD WAMMES: Miroir
MARCEL DUPRÉ: Carillon (from Sept Pièces, Op. 27)
ARR. DALE WOOD: Ar hyd y nos (All through the night)
ANTONÍN DVORÁK: Carnival Overture, Op. 92 (Transcribed for organ by Edwin H. Lemare)
Tickets for the Summer Organ Series are $10 for general admission, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2009-10 Season is sponsored by Citi. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
> index of news releases
> For more information, and to request high resolution images for press use, send us a message online.