Kimmel Center Celebrates ORGAN DAY with Six Hour Music Marathon Today

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is opening its doors for the six-hour marathon of FREE organ music with The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day today, June 13 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Audiences of all ages are invited to explore "Fred," the largest mechanical action pipe organ in a concert venue in the United States, through a diverse line-up of programming tailored to include something for everyone.

"We are so pleased to welcome the entire community for our annual free Organ Day celebration," said Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers. "There is something for everyone to enjoy on this festive day from family friendly to jazz, choral music, silent film pairings, and more. We invite everyone in Philadelphia to join us for this fun-filled event, and we encourage their return for new, exciting experiences throughout the year."

The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day showcases this majestic instrument in its full range of glory, beginning with family-friendly PNC Grow Up Great session of "Sing-a-long Songs and Story-time with Ms. Aisha. " Children will be hand clapping and feet stomping to sing-along renditions of favorite children's songs such as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." At 11:30 a.m., special guests from Storybook Musical Theatre will invite children to fill the stage with an interactive presentation of Watty Piper's classic, The Little Engine That Could. Organist Michael Hey will improvise an accompaniment for story reading time. Following the storytelling session, children will be given a chance to play with the organ.

The epic day of organ music continues with an organ performance to 1928 Laurel & Hardy silent film You're Darn Tootin (1928) by Dr. Steven Ball of at 12:15 p.m., followed by a series of member recitals from the American Guild of Organists (AGO) of works by Bach, Mulet, Vierne, and Dupré. Young talent such as Edward Landin and recent regional AGO Competition Winner Aaron Patterson will also be featured as part of the program.

The marathon of music continues with exciting collaborations when 25 Opera Philadelphia singers join New York-based Saint Patrick Cathedral organist Michael Hey on stage, and Principal Organist of Longwood Gardens Peter Conte to be accompanied by Philadelphia Brass. Organ Day takes on a sampling of the popular film score, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with organist Timothy Evers, a variation of the majestic classical music, Nimrod, with organist Rudy Lucente, and modern composition, Park Avenue Fantasy, with organist Christopher Kehoe. PuzzleBoxJazz.com performance mixes organ with jazz. The day concludes with a dazzling finale by organist Michael Hey.

Unveiled in May 2006, The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, Dobson organ Op. 76, ranks as the largest mechanical-action concert hall organ in the United States with 6,938 pipes, four blowers, 300 levels of memory, 111 stops, and a total weight of app. 32 tons. The largest pipes are made of wood and are about 32 feet tall, while the smallest metal pipes are similar in size to a slender drinking straw. It is the culmination of more than six years and 52,000 man-hours of planning, construction, and voicing (the process of producing specific tones by manipulating the speech of organ pipes).

The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day
Saturday, June 13
Verizon Hall

11 a.m. - PNC Grow Up Great: The Little Engine That Could
?"Sing-a-long Songs and Story-time with Ms. Aisha"
Interactive presentation of Watty Piper's classic, The Little Engine That Could
Performed by Storybook Musical Theatre ?Tim Evers & Aisha Broos-Lytle, Hosts
Michael Hey, organist

??12:15 p.m. - Silent Movie
?Dr. Steven Ball, organist??

12:45-1:20 p.m. - A.G.O. Members Recital, TOCCATAS
?Zach Hemenway, organist
Prelude in B Minor, Marcel Dupre (1886-1971)

Sandor Kadar, organist
Dorian Toccata, Johann S. Bach (1685-1750)

Gary Garletts, organist
Tu Es Petrus, Henri Mulet

Kathleen Scheide, organist
Toccata, Jiri Ropek

Edward Landin, organist:
Toccata alla Rumba, Andreas Willscher (b. 1955)

David Christopher, organist
Carillon de Westminster, Louis Vierne

??1:20 p.m. - AGO Competition Winner
Aaron Patterson, organist?

1:45 p.m. - Opera Philadelphia (25 singers)?
Michael Hey, organist ??3 p.m. - Organ & Brass
?Peter Conte, organist, and Philadelphia Brass

??3:30 p.m. - A.G.O. Members Recital, Transcriptions?Christopher Kehoe, organist
Park Avenue Fantasy, Matt Malneck and Frank Signorelli

Rudy Lucente, organist
Nimrod

Timothy Evers, organist
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Howard Shore
The Fellowship Theme
Concerning Hobbits
Many Meetings
Evenstar
Forth Eorlingas
Gondor Theme
The Return of the King
4:00 p.m. -4:30 p.m. - Organ & Jazz ?PuzzleBoxJazz.com

4:30 p.m. - Finale
Michael Hey, organist ??Organ Day is made possible through a donation by the Fred J. Cooper Restoration Fund as recommended by Frederick R. Haas and Daniel K. Meyer.

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, The Kimmel Center's mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience through diverse programming, arts education, and community outreach. The Kimmel Center campus is comprised of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, SEI Innovation Studio, and the Merck Arts Education Center), the Academy of Music (owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association), and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is the season sponsor of The Kimmel Center's 2014-2015 Season. American Airlines is the official airline of Broadway Philadelphia. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org

The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields. The Guild serves approximately 15,500 members in more than 300 chapters throughout the United States and abroad. Founded in 1896 as both an educational and service organization, the Guild seeks to set and maintain high musical standards and to promote understanding and appreciation of all aspects of organ and choral music.