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Organ Music, Repertoire and Performance => Performers worthy of particular recommendation and interesting repertoire => Topic started by: KB7DQH on April 13, 2012, 07:29:37 PM

Title: Organist Alison Luedecke performs at Fresno State
Post by: KB7DQH on April 13, 2012, 07:29:37 PM
Quote
Organist Alison Luedecke performs at Fresno State

By Donald Munro - The Fresno Bee


Thursday, Apr. 12, 2012 | 04:35 PM Modified Thu, Apr 12, 2012 04:35 PM


Alison Luedecke can't wait to get her hands on the Elizabeth Lyles Pipe Organ at Fresno State's Concert Hall. The reputation of the instrument's builder is that impressive.

"I know other organs built by Martin Ott and enjoy the beauty of the sounds and the action," Luedecke says. "I am very much looking forward to making music on [this] lovely organ."

Luedecke, an acclaimed organist with an active concert career in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, performs Sunday as a guest artist with the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series at California State University, Fresno. The concert is co-sponsored by the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Here's a rundown on Luedecke and her performance:

The artist: Luedecke is a founding member of the Southern California-based Millennia Consort, a nationally recognized ensemble with organ, brass quintet and percussion. Along with a touring concert schedule, she's been a frequent guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Pipedreams."



Alison Luedecke's Fresno concert will focus on baroque pieces, to show off the organ at its best.



The program: "Because I always try to make my programs show off the organ to its best, I've chosen pieces that are mostly Baroque," she says in an e-mail interview. "I will trace the origins of the prelude and fugue culminating in one of the greatest examples by Johann Sebastian Bach, the "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major.

Her favorite all-time organ to play: "Probably Notre Dame de Paris. The history of the church and long standing musical/organ traditions there, the organ bench of their most famous organist Louis Vierne (incidentally, the bench on which he died!), the acoustics, the grandeur of the place, and being in Paris all combined to make that a truly special performance."

QuoteIs organ music a tough sell these days among younger audiences?

Luedecke says she finds that young people love the organ and all its "bells and whistles" once they are exposed to it. "There is much interesting music, in addition to much boring music (as is the case with most instrumental music). Careful concert programming and programming of repertoire played in church services can go a long way to educating people and helping them fall in love with good organ music played well on good instruments."

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/12/2797813/organist-alison-luedecke-performs.html (http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/12/2797813/organist-alison-luedecke-performs.html)

Eric
KB7DQH