In the International Year of the Organ, the Berkshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) is truly going international. On Sunday, October 19, 2008, at 4pm, the chapter will sponsor Organic Jazz, featuring noted jazz organist Barbara Dennerlein of Germany, solo at the pipe organ and on the Hammond B3, at First Baptist Church, 88 South Street in Pittsfield. The performance brings to a close the weekend headliners of the 4th Annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival.
Dennerlein began performing jazz professionally at the age of fifteen on the Hammond B-3 in her native Germany. Her technical proficiency, interpretative and improvisational skills, and compositional expertise sky-rocketed her to fame throughout Europe and eventually sent her across the Atlantic to the United States. In 2008 Barbara is also scheduled to play at the Rochester (NY) International Jazz Festival (June 20-21), at the American Guild of Organists’ National Convention in Minnesota (June 25), and at the Trinity Church Wall Street (NY) Pedals and Pipe series of international organ divas (July). She will also be one of the artists who will be featured on J. Michael Barone’s National Public Radio program “Pipedreams” to be broadcast live from the AGO convention.
Long awaited by fans, Barbara’s album “Spiritual Movement No.1″ (Bebab 250970), recorded for the first time exclusively on the pipe organ, was released in 2002. Played on the mighty Goll organ in St. Martin’s Church in Memming, this jazz passion for 2,400 pipes finally brought jazz on the pipe organ to the world. “Spiritual Movement No. 2”, recorded at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtnis Church in Berlin, is due for release in 2008.
As part of the International Year of the Organ, October 19, 2008, has been designated by the National Guild of Organists as “Organ Spectacular, the world’s largest organ recital.” Although the Pittsfield program will be one of more than 200 recitals on the pipe organ worldwide on that day, this jazz organ program promises to be unique among the recitals of more traditional organ music.
Ticket will go on sale around July 4 at The Colonial Theatre box office: 413-997-4444, TheColonialTheatre.org.
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What a coup for Pittsfield, the Pittsfield CityJazz Committee and jazz-lovers with reach!
[...] concert at 8 pm Saturday, October 18 at Thompson Chapel. Then on Sunday, October 19 at 4 pm, Barbara Dennerlein, a German organist who plays jazz on the pipe organ and the B3, will perform at the First Baptist [...]