Arts Notes: Top organ aficionados pipe up at Rando Recital Hall

Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 | 8:29 a.m.

The Southern Nevada chapter of the American Guild of Organists will be pulling out all the stops -- literally -- this weekend by hosting the Southwestern region's midwinter conclave.

The event brings together regional organ composers, scholars and performers to celebrate the organ works of Emma Lou Diemer, Jean Langlais and the 250th birthday of Mozart (Jan. 27).

On Sunday, Michael Barone, host of the popular Public Radio organ show "Pipedreams," will host "Around Bach," an annotated concert at UNLV's Doc Rando Recital Hall that will feature Bach and Bach-inspired music.

This is the first time the local chapter, which has 75 members, has hosted a conclave.

"It's a big deal for us," said Steven Wright, chapter spokesman and conference coordinator. "We have over 200 people registered. They're coming from all over the United States. We have people coming from Canada, Bermuda."

Having Barone attend the conference and emcee "Around Bach," a program that will be recorded and broadcast on "Pipedreams," adds to the excitement.

The weekly 90-minute show, which airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on KCNV 89.7-FM, has 300,000 listeners and promotes the instrument's diversity by presenting recordings from all over the world on organs that range from newly built instruments to historic European ones.

The music presented is equally multifarious.

"I'm not afraid to stretch," Barone said. "In mid-February I have a program of organ music, either written by African-American composers or inspired by African-American themes. The program after that includes two 20th-century pieces."

Sunday's concert will include performances by organists from Nevada, Arizona, Utah and California. The Doc Rando Recital Hall is home to the 38-stop, 53-rank, three manual Beckerath organ.

"This will be a real adventure, because one doesn't think of Las Vegas as being a hotbed of classical music culture, or organ music, more specifically," Barone said, adding that he's looking forward to the visit.

Barone began playing the organ at the age of 14 after years of studying piano. He studied music history at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he got his start in radio by hosting a campus classical music broadcast.

In 1968 Barone moved to Minnesota and began working for Minnesota Public Radio. Shortly after arriving he started "The Organ Program." When the American Guild of Organists held its national convention in the Twin Cities in 1980, the station recorded the performances and began airing them. Two years later, "Pipedreams" was formed.

Known by listeners and colleagues as a passionate advocate of the organ, Barone said the organ sometimes gets a bad rap.

"The problem with the instrument is that people get attitudes about it." Barone said. "Sometimes those attitudes don't lend to longtime friendliness. It could be from a bad experience at a church."

"How they are used in church represents one way of their possibilities. Just the acrobatics of playing organ are intriguing for people who aren't familiar."

That doesn't even include the sweet, lush, incredibly overpowering, triumphant and soft sounds that Barone says the instrument is capable of producing.

"Most people have heard organs before, but never realized what they could do," Barone said. "Always the message is, 'I stumbled across your program a couple weeks ago. Gee, I've never knew organs could do so much.'

"Organ is such a generic word, and yet the organ embraces so many characteristics. Every organ is different. They have multifaceted personalities."

"Around Bach" will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5. For more information, call 895-2787.

Richard Serra

Godt-Cleary Projects will hold a reception for "Richard Serra: Trajectories & Transversals" at 6 p.m. today. The exhibit, on display through March 15, features large-scale prints from Serra's "Arc of the Curve" series of etchings. The series correlates with Serra's gigantic steel structures, for which the American minimalist sculptor is mostly known.

Tonight's opening is held in conjunction with First Friday. Godt-Cleary Projects is at 1217 S. Main St. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment. For more information, call 452-2200.

Renaud Capucon

Playing a 1721 Stradivarius, violinist Renaud Capucon will perform with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at 8 p.m. Wednesday at UNLV's Performing Arts Center. The concert is part of the Charles Vanda Master Series. Ivan Fischer will conduct.

The evening's program includes Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" (overture), Mendelssohn's "Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor" and Tchaikovsky's "Manfred, Op. 58." Tickets are $45, $60 and $90. Call 895-1575.

Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at kristen@lasvegassun.com .