Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences and the St. Louis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present a concert and symposium highlighting the works of French composer Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) March 19 and 20.
The concert commemorates the immense organ of 10,000 pipes built for Festival Hall, the primary concert venue of the 1904 World’s Fair. Guilmant, an esteemed performer and composer, presented more than 40 recitals on the Festival Hall organ.
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WHO: Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences and the St. Louis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists WHAT: Concert and symposium highlighting the works of Alexandre Guilmant WHEN: Concert, 8 p.m. Friday, March 19. Symposium, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20 WHERE: Concert, Graham Chapel, just north of Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Symposium, Music Classrooms Building, 6500 Forsyth Blvd. COST: Concert, $10, at the door. Symposium, $45, $35 for seniors and students. To register, call (314) 935-5517 or visit www.agostlouis.org. INFORMATION: (314) 935-4841 |
Renowned concert organist Thomas Murray will present the commemorative recital at 8 p.m. Friday, March 19, in Graham Chapel, located immediately north of the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door.
The program includes several works by Guilmant, which he performed during the World’s Fair, as well as music of Nadia Boulanger.
The Guilmant Symposium takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20, in the Music Classroom Building, 6500 Forsyth Blvd. Lecture topics include Guilmant and his activities in America as well as a history of the Festival Hall organ. Cost is $45 for adults and $35 for seniors and students.
For further information, contact Kathleen Bolduan in the Department of Music: (314) 935-5517, or visit www.agostlouis.org.
The Festival Hall organ was played twice daily during the World’s Fair, to average crowds of 2,000 people. Afterwards, the organ was purchased by the Wananaker Department Store in Philadelphia (now Lord & Taylor), where it remains the world’s largest pipe organ and continues to be played six days a week.
Guilmant served as organist of several important Parisian churches, including La Trinité, and was renowned as a recitalist across Europe and in America. His compositions have been mainstays of the organ repertoire for 150 years. His students at the Paris Conservatory include Marcel Dupré and Nadia Boulanger, the esteemed teacher of composition.
Murray is University Organist and Professor of Music at Yale University. A specialist in the performance of 19th-century Romantic organ music, he has given recitals worldwide along with his concerts on Yale University’s Newberry Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall. Murray is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Organists in England. In 1986, he was named International Artist of the Year by the American Guild of Organists.