Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, in association with the Philadelphia Chapter of The American Guild of Organists (AGO), is proud to present the 8th Annual Organ Day, a six-hour marathon of FREE organ music performed on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ taking place on Saturday, June 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Audiences of all ages are invited to explore the largest mechanical pipe organ in a concert venue in the United States, through a diverse line-up of programming tailored to include something for everyone. This year’s Organ Day will include demonstrations by AGO organists, our family-friendly Grow Up Great program, silent film with organ, special performances with Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Brass, and more.
And don’t miss Organ Pumps, where audience members can lie on the stage of Verizon Hall and feel the powerful vibrations of the organ!
ORGAN DAY PROGRAM
11:00 AM WELCOME by Michael Barone
11:03 AM GROW UP GREAT: Peter and the Wolf
Organist Peter Conte
Narrated by Kala Moses Baxter
Directed by Art Grueneberger
Puppeteers: Scott Hitz, Marc Petrocino, Jake Bazel, Kirk Bixby
11:40 AM KIDS PLAY ORGAN
Organist Tim Evers
12:00 PM SILENT FILM: Who Stole the Mona Lisa?
Organist Josh Stafford
An animated film set to Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird. Produced & directed by Micah Chambers-Goldberg. Copyright 2011 by Astral Artists
12:20 PM SONNET OF PRAISE
Organists Parker Kitterman & Lucas Brown
Calvin Taylor, Composer (b. 1948)
12:30 PM AGO SOLOISTS
Tintinnabulation, William E. Krape (b. 1943)
Organist Aaron Patterson
Les Petites Cloches, Richard Purvis (1913-1994)
Organist Leah Martin
Dreams, Hugh McAmis (1899 – 1942)
Organist Laurie Mueller
Les Cloches de Hinkley, Op. 55/6, Louis Vierne (1870 – 1937)
Organist Andrew Senn
1:00 PM OPERA PHILADELPHIA
Elizabeth Braden, Conductor
F. Anthony Thurman, Organist
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Chichester Psalms (1965)
Hashkiveinu (1945)
Jennifer Higdon (1962 - )
O Magnum Mysterium (2002)
David Hertzberg (1990-)
The Wake World (2017) - Things Both Strange and True
2:00 PM BREAK – Enjoy a free chocolate bouchon at the Bar
2:15 PM WORLD PREMIERE OF COMMISSION WITH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA & HANDBELLS and ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS
Adam Vidiksis, Composer
Joybells of Melmark, Handbells
Selected Chamber Orchestra Musicians including Percussion
Organist Aaron Patterson
2:25 PM JACKSON BORGES IN RECITAL
Fanfare and Processional - Keith Chapman (1945-1989)
Troi Improvisations - Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
III. Improvisation
Philadelphia Flourish - Jeffrey Brillhart (b. 1955)
Nightsong - Robert Hall Elmore (1913-1985)
Rhumba - Robert Hall Elmore (1913-1985)
2:55 PM BACH TOCCATA ROUND ROBIN
Organists Michael Barone, Paul Fejko, Clair Rozier, Kathleen Scheide
3:00 PM PHILADELPHIA BRASS AND ORGAN
Anthony Cecere, French Horn
Robert Gale, Trombone
Steven Heitzer, Trumpet
Brian Kuszyk, Trumpet
Scott Mendoker, Tuba
Peter Richard Conte, Organist
Andrew Ennis, Conductor
Fanfare to La Peri
Paul Dukas, arr. Robert Gower and Charles Decker
Empire March
Edward Elgar, arr. PRC
Marche Triomphale du Centenaire de Napoleon I
Louis Vierne
Choral Improvisation on ‘Naher, mein Gott, zu Dir!’ (Nearer, my God, to Thee!)
Sigfrid Karg-Elert
Confitemini Domino
Carlyle Sharpe
Salvum Fac Populum Tuum
Charles-Marie Widor
3:30 PM PENNSYLVANIA BALLET
Organist Peter Conte
Don Quixote Pas de Deux
Dancers: Nayara Lopes, Sterling Baca
Giselle 2nd Act Pas de Deux
Dancers: Dayesi Torriente, Arian Molina Soca
Black Swan Pas de Deux
Dancers: Lillian Dipiazza, Sterling Baca
4:00 PM AGO SOLOISTS
Toccata in F, BuxWV 156, Dieterich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707)
Organist Chris Gage
Choral - Andante Sostenuto - Allegro molto from Sonata 6, Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)
Organist Mary Elizabeth Campbell
Toccata on Sine nomine, David Cherwien (b. 1957)
Organist Ethel Geist
Toccata and Fugue in d minor, Op. 59, Max Reger (1873 – 1916)
Organist David Burton Brown
4:30 PM SILENT FILM: The Goat starring Buster Keaton
Jackson Borges, Organist
4:53 PM ORGAN PUMPS
Organist Clair Rozier
5:00 PM END
Organ programming is generously supported by the Wyncote Foundation.