April 29 organ concert to feature 'Music of Living Composers'
The Fox Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present a special concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at St. Matthew United Church of Christ, 1420 S. Gables Blvd., Wheaton.
The program, "Music of Living Composers," will feature the church's recently installed Rodgers three-manual organ.
Several area musicians will be performing and some of the works presented will be the first performance in Illinois.
The event is free and open to the public. There is ample parking.
Light refreshments will be served and a free-will offering will be received in support of Chapter programming.
Visit www.foxvalleyago.org.
The chapter will hold its annual meeting dinner and program on Friday, May 11, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles. Dinner will be at 5:30 p.m., with the program at 7:30 p.m.
The program, "Transfigured Shakespeare," will feature music by the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and the St. Charles Singers.
The concert highlights include the world premiere of a new brass and organ arrangement of Arnold Schoenberg's sublime, late-Romantic tone poem "Transfigured Night." In a first-time collaboration, the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble and St. Charles Singers professional chamber choir perform "Love Songs (Shakespeare)," a recent work based on four of William Shakespeare's love poems. They'll be joined by narrator Kevin Gudahl, a Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actor whose stage credits include more than 30 productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
The program will feature: Bedrich Smetana's "Fanfares for Shakespeare's Richard III," arranged by Craig Garner; Herbert Howells' Magnificat "Collegium Regale"; Ildebrando Pizzetti's Kyrie from "Messa di Requiem"; Arnold Schoenberg's "Transfigured Night" ("Verklärte Nacht"), arranged by Craig Garner; Gustav Holst's "I Love My Love/Song Without Words"; Benjamin Britten's "Hymn to St. Cecilia"; and Peter Meechan's "Love Songs (Shakespeare)."
Members will need to pay for their dinners. The concert is free to chapter members, but nonmembers must purchase tickets through the following link: transfiguredshakespeare.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets for the concert program for nonmember is $20, $15 for seniors or free for age 18 or younger; online fees apply.
The Fox Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is located in the western suburbs. The purpose of this local chapter is to promote the organ in its historic and evolving roles, to encourage excellence in the performance of organ and choral music, and to provide a forum for mutual support, inspiration, education, and certification of guild members.
The National American Guild of Organists dates back to 1896. The local chapter was founded in 1966.