Episodes: 1999

Words and music from Englishman Simon Preston, one of the world’s most articulate and virtuosic ambassadors for the King of Instruments.

A Minnesota meander to selected Twin Cities area organ sites.

Recital highlights from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Minnesota.

A collection of composed and improvised settings of Gregorian chants, traditional hymns and chorales for organ, choirs and other instruments.

Profound and soulful meditations, songs of sadness and shipwreck on themes of Titanic import.

Superb and sublime, this master-composer’s music never fails to take the organ to its expressive limits.

Performances by the top three prizewinners in recital at Jack Singer Concert Hall. Today’s performers were winners of the Concerto Award and Recital Award, $25,000 each, plus the Bach Prize, $5,000; the Improvisation Prize, $5,000; and the Encore Prize, $3,000. Also, each of the ten finalists received a $1,500 award for participating in this last cycle of the Competition. The next Calgary Competition will be held in 2002. A third broadcast of 1998 competitors will air later in this series. View some images from the competition: Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3

Performances by and commentary from finalists in the world’s most munificent contest for organists, in recital at Jack Singer Concert Hall. Every four years during a 10-day festival event, a select group of the world’s top young musicians vies for prizes and awards valued at more than $80,000. These performances, recorded by the CBC, all feature the Carthy Organ, a 1987 Casavant at Jack Singer Concert Hall. Two additional programs from the Calgary Competition will be broadcast, the second one next week. View some images from the competition: Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3

Inaugural-series recital performances on the new Casavant organ at Central Michigan University.

A potpourri of popular selections presented by the organists and choir of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.

We savor a splendid and monumental new instrument, created in a trans-continental collaboration between two American organbuilding firms, C.B. Fisk of Gloucester, MA, and Manuel Rosales of Los Angeles, CA for Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas.

Turn-of-the-century instruments in the neighborhood of Louisville and across the Indiana border are featured at an Organ Historical Society convention.

Finalists in the 25th Anniversary Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Competition perform, plus others.

Resident musicians James and Marilyn Biery perform at the Catholic Cathedral in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Three players explore the sonic resources of three instruments in one of North Carolina’s most prominent universities. Visit the extraordinary Duke Chapel web site.

Beginning the New Year with a sampler of recent recordings.