Organic Jazz Program Teams Pipe Organ Group With Jazz Festival
In the International Year of the Organ, the Berkshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) is truly going international. On Sunday, October 19, 2008, at 4 p.m., the Chapter will sponsor Organic Jazz, The Two Faces of Barbara Dennerlein, featuring noted jazz organist Barbara Dennerlein of Germany, solo at the pipe and Hammond B3 organs, at First Baptist Church, 88 South Street in Pittsfield (MA). The performance also brings to a close the weekend headliners of the 4th Annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival.Dennerlein began performing jazz professionally at the age of fifteen on the Hammond B-3 in her native Germany. Her technical proficiency, interpretative and improvisational skills, and compositional expertise sky-rocketed her to fame throughout Europe and eventually sent her across the Atlantic to the United States. This year on her first US tour Barbara has already played to standing room only crowds at the Rochester (NY) International Jazz Festival, at the American Guild of Organists’ National Convention in Minnesota, at the Trinity Church Wall Street (NY) Pedals and Pipe series of international organ divas, and in a Southington (CT) jazz club. She will also be one of the artists featured on an upcoming broadcast of J. Michael Barone’s National Public Radio program “Pipedreams” recorded live in Minneapolis. In September her tour continues on the west coast, including the Monterey (CA) Jazz Festival.
Intrigued by her first pipe organ concert at the Bach Days in Wuerzburg in 1994, Barbara began an intensive period of activity with the "queen of instruments", the mighty pipe organ. Thanks to her complete mastery of the pedals, Barbara manages to exploit fully the immense musical potential of the instrument, sometimes with works she composes especially for it. The result is breathtaking, proving that the instrument can really swing. The listener is carried off to new worlds of sound, a mixture of classical elements and jazz in the widest sense. Among the great concert organs in the United States Barbara has played are the Dobson organ at the Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the Spreckels organ at Spreckel’s Pavillion at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Long awaited by fans, Barbara’s album "Spiritual Movement No.1" (Bebab 250970), recorded for the first time exclusively on the pipe organ, was released in 2002. Played on the mighty Goll organ in St. Martin’s Church in Memming, this jazz passion for 2,400 pipes finally brought jazz on the pipe organ to the world. “Spiritual Movement No. 2”, recorded at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtnis Church in Berlin, is due for release on September 26, 2008.
As part of the International Year of the Organ, October 19, 2008, has been designated by the National Guild of Organists as “Organ Spectacular, the world’s largest organ recital.” Although the Pittsfield program will be one of more than 200 recitals on the pipe organ worldwide on that day, this jazz organ program promises to be unique among the recitals of more traditional organ music.
The Berkshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists has been in existence since 1947, having sponsored a regional convention held in Pittsfield in 1997 to commemorate the Chapter’s 50th anniversary. The Chapter also maintains an active scholarship fund to encourage youths and adults to study the pipe organ. Anyone seeking more information on programs of the Berkshire Chapter of the AGO is welcome to contact the Chapter Dean, Lou Steigler, Minister of Music at the First Church of Christ, Congregational, Pittsfield, or the Organic Jazz coordinator, Nancy Clemens, organist at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Pittsfield, or visit the chapter website www.BerkshireAGO.org.
Tickets for this program and others in the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival may be obtained from the Box Office at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield (www.TheColonialTheatre.org) or 413-997-4444.
