OGCMA to Present SYMPHONIC DECIBELS: GREAT WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA AND ORGAN Next Week

OGCMA will present the finale to its popular "Summer Stars" classical series on Thursday, August 3 (7:30 PM) at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove NJ. "Symphonic Decibels: Great Works for Orchestra and Organ" will feature works by Mendelssohn, Boellmann and Saint-Saens performed by the Mid Atlantic Orchestra, under the direction of Jason Tramm and the Great Auditorium Pipe Organ, played by Gordon Turk.

Tickets are $17.50 ($11.50 teens/students) and be ordered at https://www.oceangrove.org/stars. The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, NJ. All facilities are handicapped accessible.

The program (with additional pieces TBA) includes Felix Mendelssohn's Overture to Saint Paul, Leon Boellmann's Fantasy Dialogue for Organ and Orchestra, Op 35, and Camille Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 Mvt 4 Finale. Conductor Jason Tramm, who serves as Director of Music Ministries for OGCMA, described the works as "three of the most majestic pieces in the repertoire, that go full throttle with the combined power of a live orchestra and the massive Great Auditorium Pipe Organ. This finale is not to be missed."
 

About the Performers

Dr. Gordon Turk is celebrating his 50th season in Ocean Grove. A critically-acclaimed concert organist whose "athletic performance brings lots of flair to the organ console," (Flint Journal), his playing is "a seamless integration of interpretation and virtuosity" (Newark Star Ledger), and "it is a moving experience to hear him" (New York Times). He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan. His concert tours, both in the USA and abroad have included solo recitals in concert halls, universities, cathedrals and churches, performances in organ festivals, and concerts with orchestras. He has been awarded competition prizes for performances of the music of J.S. Bach and was also a winner in the national improvisation competition of the American Guild of Organists. He was selected to perform the dedicatory recitals of many new organs, and was one of five national organists selected to perform in the opening concerts of the new organ in Philadelphia's Verizon Hall-Kimmel Center.

Dr. Jason Tramm currently holds the following musical positions: Artistic Director/Principal Conductor, MidAtlantic Artistic Productions (with whom he made his Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) debut in 2015). Executive Director, Light Opera of New Jersey, Principal Guest Conductor, Long Island Concert Orchestra, Music Director, the Taghkanic Chorale, and Music Director, Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater. He served as Artistic Director of the New Jersey State Opera from 2008 to 2012, where he collaborated with some of the finest voices in opera, including Samuel Ramey, Vladimir Galouzine, Angela Brown, Gregg Baker, and Paul Plishka. Tramm is entering his 17th season as Director of Music, in Residence, of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in the summer months, where he leads the choral, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the historic 6,500-seat Great Auditorium. In addition to the Ocean Grove Choir Festival, a beloved event in its 64th year and attended by thousands, he has appeared on two National Public Radio broadcasts with organ virtuoso Gordon Turk and symphonic orchestra.
 

About the Great Auditorium Pipe Organ

Ocean Grove's Great Auditorium Pipe Organ is among the largest working pipe organs in the world, and is the heart beat of this historic Christian/Victorian seaside community. The mammoth instrument of 13,000+ pipes (made of metal or wood, depending on the tonal characteristics of the individual pipes) was built and installed in 1908 with original design innovations that became standard elements still extant in modern organ construction. It is made of over 40,000 feet of California No. 1 Sugar Pine and weighs 20 - 25 tons. In its illustrious 108-year-history, this remarkable instrument has been played by numerous distinguished organists, including Will C. MacFarlane, Clarence Kohlman, Josephine Eddowes, Harold Fix, Clarence Reynolds, Beverly Davis, Jon Quinn, and Robert Carwithin, the legendary concert organist Virgil Fox, and many organists from Europe and the US.

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