Those of you who have wondered if there will be a time to hear me playing the new organ at Hope College will get your chance in February. On Thursday, Feb 9 at 7:30pm, in the new Jack H Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, I will be performing in a unique concert, combining the new Casavant Pipe Organ with the college’s Hammond B3 electronic organ. However, I will not be playing the Hammond! (I may have many talents, but that is not one of them). Tony Monaco, the prof for jazz organ, will be also part of this concert. He and I will be alternating playing selections, as well as explaining a bit about the history and design of our respective instruments. I’ll be playing pieces by Bach, Dupre, and then more modern jazz-influenced classical pieces, Tony will be playing jazz standards. The concert will be free, and Tony is a great player, so it should be a fun evening.
In March, I will be out of town for about two weeks. First, I’ll be playing an organ concert at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Then I’ll be flying to Germany, where I haven’t been since the summer of 2014, to play two organ concerts, in the cathedral in Magdeburg, and in the Marktkirche (Market Church) in Hanover. I wanted to share with my Hope Church friends some of the music I’ve been preparing for these concerts, but which I can’t quite find spots to play in a normal worship service. Thus, a new idea – the Post-Pizza-Pre-Concert-Tour-Recital! On February 26 there will be a pizza Sunday. After we’ve all had our pizza and a bit of time to chat with friends, I invite you to join me back in the sanctuary for a short (aprox 30mins) recital of music I’ll be playing in my concerts in NY and Germany. There will be a range of music, from Baroque to Modern. The concert will start about 1pm (but no pizza allowed in the sanctuary please!)
~Rhonda Edgington, Associate Director of Music & Organist