Kimmel Center to Host 4th Annual FREE Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day, 6/7

The marathon of FREE Organ music returns as the Kimmel Center celebrates the Fourth Annual Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day on Saturday, June 7 in Verizon Hall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. "Fred" is as personable as pipe organs get, boasting 6,938 pipes that make it the largest mechanical action pipe organ in a concert venue in the United States.

The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Day showcases this majestic instrument in its full range of glory beginning with a family-friendly PNC Grow up Great program interactive puppet presentation of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with organist Peter Conte and Puppet Art Theater Company.

Then the four hour marathon of organ music kicks off at noon with Dr. Steven Ball performing the silent movie, The Goat, followed by a two part members recital by the American Guild of Organists. Additional highlights include Michael Barone of Pipedreams gliding through a program of the Colors of the Organ, a performance by the New City Brass Ensemble, jazz improvisation on organ featuring Lucas Brown, Thomas Sheehan performing with 60 talented singers from Opera Philadelphia, and Dr. Steven Ball concluding the program with Sherlock Jr. silent film accompanied by organ.

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 7

Verizon Hall

11am -- PNC Grow Up Great: Peter and the Wolf
Performed by Puppet Art Theater Co.
Peter Richard Conte, Organist, Kayla Moses Barker narrator

12pm -- Silent Movie -- The Goat
Presented by Dr. Steven Ball

12:30pm -- A.G.O. Members Recital (part one)
Scherzo from Symphonie No.4 - Charles Marie Widor - Aaron Patterson, Organist
Strawberry Fields Forever - Lennon/McCartney, arr. Neely Bruce - Parker Kitterman, Organist
Toccata on "All you need is love" - Lennon/McCartney, arr. Paul Ayres - Parker Kitterman, Organist
Toccata in F major, BWV540 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Paul Fleckenstein, Organist

1pm -- The Colors of the Organ
An inside look into the Fred. J. Cooper Memorial Organ with Organist Paul Fejko and Host Michael Barone

1:15pm -- Improvisation / Jazz
Lucas Brown, Organist
Aisha Brooks-Lytle - vocals
Victor North - saxophone
Byron Landham - drums

1:45pm -- Opera Philadelphia
Thomas Sheehan, Organist and 60 singers from Opera Philadelphia

3pm -- Organ & Brass
Timothy Evers, Organist and the New City Brass

3:30pm -- A.G.O. Members Recital (part two)
Tiento de Batalla sobre el Balletto del Granduca - by Timothy Tikker - Matthew Glandorf, Organist
Gospel Prelude on "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" -- William Bolcom - Erik Meyer, Organist
Sortie in Eb - Louis James Alfred Lefebure-Wely - Erik Meyer, Organist
Salamanca. - By Guy Bovet - Grete Ingalis, Organist
Fanfare d'Orgue Etude de Concert - Harry Rowe Shelley (1858-1947) - Christopher Kehoe, Organist

4:10pm -- Silent Movie -- Sherlock Jr.
Presented by Dr. Steven Ball