In a full roster of thirteen organ recitals this semester we offer a series of glimpses into the extraordinarily long history of the instrument and its music, with Cornell’s organists and two special guests at Cornell’s three recital instruments. At Midday Music for Organ, on alternate Wednesdays at 12:30, we’ll hear early 17th-century musical responses to nature; later 17th-century keyboard magic from Georg Böhm and Jacques Boyvin; an imaginary duel between J. S. Bach and Handel; how Bach, Mendelssohn, and 19th-century composers heard the chorale “Aus tiefer Not”; the achievements of Elizabeth Stirling, the Victorian "lady organist"; encounters of past and present in 20th- and 21st-century organ composition at the Baroque organ; and a celebration of the Romantic and modernist voices of the Aeolian-Skinner.
Guest artist Anne Laver (February 3) will bring echoes of the dance to the Anabel Taylor organ, with a new composition by Natalie Draper framed by music of the Baroque; while Kola Owolabi performs on the Aeolian-Skinner organ in Sage Chapel (March 24) in a program that traces connections back and forth across the Atlantic between France and the US in the 19th and 20th centuries, and introduces the contemporary voices of jazz pianist Joe Utterback (b. 1944) and Canadian composer Rachel Laurin (b. 1961).
That same weekend the Cornell organists will mark Earth Hour with a festive electricity-free concert on the Cornell Baroque Organ (let us know if you’d like to volunteer for organ pumping!). In other full-length solo recitals, Nathan Mondry explores J. S. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein and its legacy, Anna Steppler reflects on Radiance with music by Judith Bingham, Florence Price, and others, and Annette Richards listens out for the natural world and the cosmos in music of Buxtehude, Frescobaldi, and Jacques van Oortmerssen.
Visit our current events page for the full list of organ concerts and program information.
