CLU concert series celebrates pipe organ

[KB7DQH]

Carl Swanson was present 20 years ago at the creation of a synergistic relationship between a pipe organ and a building.

"The organ builder, the architect and I worked together," Swanson, now 85, said. "We knew what each of us were doing and it made everything work."

Swanson was a professor of music and university organist at California Lutheran University at the time Samuelson Chapel was being built. Constructed by Louisville, Ky.-based Steiner-Reck organ builders and known as the Borg Petersen Memorial organ, the pipe organ has been the pride and joy of the CLU community for 20 years.

The university will celebrate the anniversary by holding a series of concerts beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at Samuelson Chapel. Organist Jonathan Ryan, a well-known concert organist from Charlotte, N.C., will give the first concert, named the Carl Bertram Swanson Honorary Recital.

"Carl was here at the university for 41 years and for a school that's 50 years old, that's quite an accomplishment," said Kyle Johnson, current university organist and lecturer in music at CLU. "It's the absolute least we could do to name one of the recitals in his honor."
CLU concert series celebrates pipe organ

    Student Kristen Morgan receives a lesson from instructor Kyle Johnson on how to play the pipe organ at CLU.
    Student Kristen Morgan learns to play the organ from music professor Kyle Johnson on a 2,109-pipe organ at CLU in Thousand Oaks.
    CLU is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Borg Petersen Memorial Organ in Samuelson Chapel.
    Music instructor Kyle Johnson looks over the internal workings of the 2,109-pipe organ at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The university will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the organ with a concert series.
    Student Kristen Morgan learns to play the pipe organ from CLU music professor Kyle Johnson.
    See this entire gallery at full size

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The series also will feature Johnson in recital at 7 p.m. Nov. 4, and Johnson's own professor and mentor from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, John Ditto, at 2 p.m. Feb. 12. Ditto also will offer a masterclass for students and the public at 11 a.m. Feb. 11.

"Orvil and Gloria Franzen left a large chunk of money for music scholarships at the university," said Johnson. "But they also left a chunk of money for an organ program series that was left rather open.

"There was no program last year, so I was able to use the interest from last year's money and role it into this year's to create this series."

Swanson, who plans to attend Friday's event, said he was humbled by the honor of having the recital in his name. "I'm just rather excited about it," he said. "It's a fine instrument in a fine space and I'm glad we have it."

Made from zinc and copper pipes as well as maple, oak, rose and pear woods, the organ cost $291,000 to build and install in 1991.

"We just had it appraised to keep our insurance current," Johnson said. "Today, it's worth $1 million."

"The keys are so soft to the touch," Swanson said. "They're made of rose wood and wood absorbs moisture, of course, so if your hands are moist when you're playing, it doesn't hinder performance too much.

"It's what's called tracker action, or mechanical action, which means I press the keys and steel trackers engage which open and close the valves on the pipes," he said. Swanson said that tracker action is in contrast to pneumo-electric or electric organs. "It gives me a chance to handle the touch of the keys, to feel what music I'm producing," he said.

"I was drawn to the organ from a young age sitting in church in Kansas," Johnson said. "I felt a connection to the organist who made all of those wonderful sounds. The organ has such a broad spectrum of colors, of sounds to choose from."

Johnson went on to learn piano but didn't take organ lessons until college. Since then, he earned his doctorate of musical arts from University of Missouri.

"It's not something you ever learn completely," he said. "You study your whole life."

The recitals are free to the public. The CLU chapel is south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks.

On the Net:

http://www.callutheran.edu

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/13/clu-concert-series-celebrates-pipe-organ/#ixzz1XzObj8mi
- vcstar.com

Eric
KB7DQH