[listen] Organ Concerts at WSU
Last Tuesday, my husband and I had a “date night.” We stopped after work at Byblos for some falafel and hummus, and then snuck off to a concert. But this wasn’t your usual concert. We didn’t pay $50 or more for each ticket, and parking was a piece of cake. We could sit anywhere and still claim to have the best seats in the house. At the end of the night, we went home excited and awestruck instead of deaf, hoarse, and irritable from the crowds.
How? We went to the Rie Bloomfield Concert at the Marcussen Organ. This amazing instrument, housed in Wiedemann Hall, is WSU’s (and frankly, Wichita’s) hidden treasure. Before you dismiss the idea of listening to an organ concert, consider this: Do you really “know” anything about the history or composition of rock, or hip-hop, or ska, or jazz? Can you just enjoy it for its own sake? I believe you can, and I believe anyone can appreciate and enjoy the majesty and beauty of the music produced by this instrument. Relax, don’t be intimidated, and check it out.
The Marcussen organ came to be built as a result of the hard work and dedication of Gladys H.G. Wiedemann and Professor Robert L. Town. Mrs. Wiedemann donated the organ, built by the legendary firm of Marcussen and Son of Denmark. The Marcussen was the company’s first organ to be built in North America, and there are only a handful of these amazing pipe organs in the United States today.
I went to my first Marcussen concert as an elementary student on a field trip. The sight of the organ, which literally fills one end of the concert hall, enthralled me. After the concert, the volunteers took us in small groups behind the organ, so we could see that it actually was even larger than it appeared, and showed us how the organ worked. For me, an aspiring piano player, it was love at first sight. I was familiar with the organ at the church, played haltingly by the ladies brave enough to attempt it and always producing a sound that couldn’t quite be called “harmonious.” Nothing, however, had prepared me for the sounds of the Marcussen. They resonated throughout the room, vibrated through me, tingled in my fingers and toes and made my ears ring with joy. These days, I hit every concert I can at Wiedemann Hall.
This season, it’s been very easy to go hear the organ. With a program called “Wednesdays in Wiedemann,” we can hear the organ played at least once a month. The Wednesday concerts last about 30 minutes and are free to the public. They start at 5:30 p.m. and are played by Organ Professor Lynne Davis. The remaining three concerts are on March 3, March 31, and April 28. Don’t hesitate to mark these on your calendar, and wave to me; I’ll be the one wearing burgundy scrubs.
In addition to the free Wednesday concert series, this season offers the 2009-2010 Rie Bloomfield Concert Series. The concert we attended Tuesday featured Michael Bauer, Professor of Organ and Church Music at the University of Kansas, and was a fantastic chance to hear one of the Midwest’s most talented organists. The final Rie Bloomfield Concert for this season will be March 23 at 7:30 p.m., featuring German Organist Ludger Lohman. Tickets are priced at $10 for the general public, but discounts are available.
In addition to the concert series, Professor Davis is performing a faculty concert on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7, with discounts for students. For more information, call the WSU Fine Arts Box Office at (316) 978-3233.
If you’ve attended a concert featuring the Marcussen organ, either by itself or with one of the choral groups, tell us what you thought.
Photo courtesy of Bob Weeks
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