Organs to take center stage at Aurora concert

Andrew Lloyd Webber must have loved the organ when he let it stage the intensity in the "Phantom of the Opera." Georges Bizet put Carmen's looming fate under the shroud of organ not on a whim, but out of a keyboard master's nature.

Nevertheless, even the most patronizing plays could not change the instrument's accompanying status.

Some want to change that picture. This Friday in Aurora, organ will take the center stage at the 11th annual "Bach and Beyond at the Abbey" concert at the Marmion Abbey. Gothic grandeur and Baroque elaboration will flow out of the hands of nine organists from the Fox Valley area.

The number one star of the concert will be Johann Sebastian Bach. In his lifetime, Bach the composer was equally known as Bach the organist. For centuries, his organ pieces have been speaking for his passion for large-scale organization and contrapuntal technique, which allows two or more melodies to interact at the same time.

The concert will feature three pieces by Bach, including Toccata in F major, one of the composer's most played pieces.

Works by Bach's contemporaries like Vivaldi and Pachelbel will be in the performance, as well.

Organ artist Christopher Orf is the dean of the event's organizer, the Fox Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He will be playing solo pieces by French composers, Francois Dandrieu and Louis Couperin.

Orf's favorite organ work "Cortege and Litany," is also by a French composer, Marcel Dupré.

"I like it, because 'Cortege and Litany' demonstrates the incredible diversity of the organ, and how the organ can become an orchestra played by one person," he said.

Also in Friday's program are two hymns, "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus" and "O God, Beyond All Praising."

Everyone is invited to join the 40 voices of Aurora community and AGO members.

Leading the choir is Kristin Young, music director at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Aurora.

The Plainfield resident founded her church choir in 1998. Last year, it became one of the first American choirs to sing in the Melk Abbey in Austria, a monastery dating back to 1089 A.D. Fifteen members from that trip will sing at the concert, according to Young.

Without doubt, Marmion's Ott organ will continue its game with the wind in these hymns.

"Everyone wants to hear the magnificent-looking instrument," said Young. "Once you hear it, you are hooked."

The concert is free and open to the public. Offerings will be collected to benefit the American Guild of Organists Young Organists Scholarship Fund.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News">What: The 11th annual "Bach and Beyond at the Abbey" concert</p>

<p class="News">When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 30</p>

<p class="News">Where: Marmion Abbey, 850 E. Butterfield Road, Aurora</p>

<p class="News">Admission: Free, but donations will be accepted</p>

<p class="News">Details: Call (630) 858-4816 or e-mail <a href="mailto:webster4@ameritech.net">webster4@ameritech.net</a></p>