ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120036
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
All right, Southwest Virginia - prepare yourself to be organ-ized.
Sunday evening Roanoke, Galax and Virginia locales in between will participate in one of the largest coast-to-coast organ bashes in the nation's history. More than 500 organists at 200 locations across the country will give what they're calling "The World's Largest Organ Recital" to celebrate the 100th birthday of the American Guild of Organists.
At precisely the same moment (6 p.m. Sunday) 200 organists between here and the West Coast will launch into the "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" of Johann Sebastian Bach (see listing below). Possibly the best-known piece ever composed for the organ, that's the music that was heard in the original film version of "Phantom of the Opera" (DAH DAH DAAAH! Dah dah dah dah dum, dah daaah!)
And as if that weren't enough to thrill fans of the king of instruments, three internationally known organists are concertizing in Roanoke this month as well. Gerre Hancock, organist of St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City, will play at Calvary Baptist Church at 3 p.m. Sunday in a combination recital and hymn festival.
Diane Bish, star of the syndicated TV show "The Joy of Music," will play at Greene Memorial United Methodist Church a week later at 4 p.m. on April 21. And Thomas Murray, professor of organ at Yale University and recording artist, will give a recital at 4 p.m. on April 28 at the duPont Chapel at Hollins College. All in all, it's one of the biggest months ever for organ lovers in Roanoke.
The organ recitals come at a time when the public perception of the instrument could use some improvement, said Dick Cummins, who is organist and music director at Greene Memorial United Methodist Church. The organ, said Cummins, has gone from "the king of instruments" in America to "the stepchild of all musical instruments."
Why? Partly because you almost always have to go to church to hear organ music, which is uncomfortable territory for some people. "There's a funny feeling some people have about that," Cummins said. Also because there has traditionally been little visual contact between artist and audience at organ recitals. "Unlike, say, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma at Lincoln Center, the organist is usually out of sight" in the organ loft, which contributes to a feeling of remoteness, Cummins said.
And that's not all. "There's still this concept of the organ as a stodgy, heavy, opaque, dull, boring, uninteresting kind of instrument, poorly played by amateurs. And it's a real shame, because it is a glorious and magnificent instrument, especially in the hands of an artist," Cummins said.
Joe Kennedy, who is organist at South Roanoke United Methodist Church where Sunday's recital will be held, says that many Americans lost regular contact with organ music with the advent of talking motion pictures, which put thousands of theater organists out of business. But he says the organ is rebounding in popularity today.
"We went through a time in the '60s and '70s and early '80s when people moved away from organ recitals, but I think it's making a tremendous comeback. Certainly [in Roanoke] we find that our American Guild of Organists summer recital series has developed a tremendous following, even on holiday weekends like the Fourth of July and Father's Day. And I can tell by the many artists who are playing throughout the country now -there's an audience for it," Kennedy said.
One impediment to the organ's popularity is the fact that it's usually a huge, immovable and very expensive instrument. Even a medium-sized pipe organ will cost in the neighborhood of half a million dollars. Companies such as Allen and Rodgers, using digital sampling technology, have created electronic instruments that reproduce organ pipe sound with eerie accuracy, but even these instruments can cost in the neighborhood of $20,000, Kennedy said.
Bish is doing possibly more than any other performer to raise the organ's profile in the minds of Americans with her TV show "The Joy of Music," which is seen in more than 100 million homes worldwide. She performs weekly with classical music superstars such as guitarist Christopher Parkening and the Canadian Brass, and her music is accompanied by lush visuals from countries where she performs.
Local organists are doing their part, too.
Four organists will perform in Roanoke on Sunday for "The World's Largest Organ Recital." Joe Kennedy begins the recital with the same Bach Toccata and Fugue that will be heard simultaneously at all other locations across the nation. Freelance organist Katherine Reier will perform pieces by Pachelbel and David Cherwien. James McConnell, who is both an organ builder and organist at Grandin Court Baptist Church, will perform works by Roger Nyquist and Paul Manz. And Ronn Lowe, a freelance organist who plays widely in the Roanoke area, will perform works by an anonymous English composer and Charles Ore.
In Galax, Mary Elizabeth Whartenby will perform ``Toccata and Fugue ''at 6 p.m at Galax Presbyterian Church.
The music will echo through St. Mary's Catholic Church in Blacksburg earlier in the day - at 9:45 a.m. with Joe Ball.
A Bach's Lunch featuring James Bryant will be held at Virginia Tech's Memorial Chapel at noon on April 17.
And Carter Edmondson will take on ``Toccata and Fugue'' on April 23 in Radford University's Preston Auditorium. The student recital will be held at 4 p.m.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Joseph Kennedy, organist at Southby CNBRoanoke United Methodist Church where Sunday's recital will be held,
says the organ is rebounding in popularity today. color.