LOVE OF COUNTRY
Joel Gary, Organist
Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 3:00 p.m.
Love of country has long been the subject of countless pieces of music over the years, but rarely is it ever featured as the subject of an entire concert. In addition to those familiar, stirring tunes dealing with the military and flag-waving pride, this concert will feature music celebrating some of our great American cities and others by some of our greatest American composers. Making his second appearance on the Riverside Pops concert series, Western Michigan's own Joel Gary is equally at home performing literature of the church or theatre, as well as being a teacher of both styles of organ playing. As a young man, he was concurrently organist for "Good Time Charley's" restaurant in Grand Rapids, from 1989 to 1991, in addition to duties as a church musician. For several years, Joel worked in the pipe organ maintenance and restoration business, which eventually led to a keen interest in modern digital organs. Since 2000, he has been employed by Westfield Organ Company of Grand Rapids, representing Allen digital organs. Currently, Joel is serving as the Director of Music and Organist at First Congregational Church of Lowell, and is also a staff organist for the Grand Ledge Opera House. In addition, he is President of the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society and a board member of the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
LOVE OF MAKING MUSIC
Stephen Warner, Organist
Adam Olson, Saxophonist
Sunday, November 22, 2009 - 3:00 p.m.
Stephen Warner is on the staff of organists for the Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor where he regularly performs intermissions and accompanies silent films. Steve began studying piano at age seven in a home where he was surrounded by automated musical instruments and a giant record collection. That, and the promise of a theatre organ coming to a local musical instruments museum was enough to hook him for life! Steve holds dual Bachelors Degrees in Organ Performance and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and is Organist for Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit, where he plays weekly upon one of the nation's most historic E. M. Skinner organs. He is also involved in the mechanical and restoration side of things on a daily basis as an employee of Holden Pipe Organs of Ferndale. Now married, Steve lives in Southfield. Steve and saxophonist Adam Olson have been making music together since their early teens in their mutual home town of Traverse City, Michigan. Adam enjoys a varied career in performance across the U.S. and abroad. He has given concerts on important stages including Alice Tully, the Hermitage, Moscow Conservatory, Orchestra Hall (Detroit), the Senate Theatre (Detroit) and others. Mr. Olson has played with the orchestras of the Kirov (Russia), Detroit, Ann Arbor and Traverse City. As an enthusiast of new music, Adam has premiered over twenty new works for saxophone by composers such as Jennifer Higdon, Ellwood Derr, Pei Lu, Chad Hughes, Carter Pann and John Berners. Mr. Olson currently resides in Traverse City. Come and hear this unbeatable combination!
LOVE OF LAUGHTER
SILENT MOVIE: "SEVEN CHANCES" (1925)
SILENT MOVIE: "ONE WEEK" (1920)
Scott Smith, Organist
Sunday, February 14, 2010 - 3:00 p.m.
This special Valentine's Day event spotlights two of Buster Keaton's best silent comedies ever, both based on the subject of matrimony. In our feature length comedy, "Seven Chances," Jimmy Shannon (Buster Keaton) is a partner in a financial brokerage firm that is on the brink of financial ruin when he is presented with his grandfather's will, according to which he is bequeathed seven million dollars on the condition that he must marry by 7:00 p.m. on his 27th birthday, which happens to be the same day he learns of the bequest. Shannon, with the help of his partner and a lawyer, must find a bride who will wed him that very day. Our silent short, "One Week" involves two newlyweds, Keaton (The Groom) and actress Sybil Seely (The Bride), who receive a build-it-yourself house as a wedding gift. The house can be built, supposedly, in "one week." In a pure act of spite, a rejected suitor secretly re-numbers packing crates. The movie recounts Keaton's struggle to assemble the house according to this new "arrangement,' the end result of which is hilariously depicted in the picture. As if this weren't enough, Keaton finds he has built his house on the wrong site and has to move it. Silent movie buffs will enjoy bit parts by silent actors Joe Roberts and Lon Chaney. Organist Scott Smith is a native and lifelong resident of Lansing, Michigan, where he studied both theatre and classical organ during his formative years. Later, he studied jazz theory and advanced harmony with the late Fr. Jim Miller. Beginning as a teenager, Scott performed regularly on the Barton Organ at the Michigan Theatre in downtown Lansing as its last House Organist, from 1972 to 1980. When the organ's new home was secured at the Grand Ledge Opera House, Scott became House Organist, beginning in 1995. He was responsible for the organ's redesign and oversaw the installation and tonal finishing. Scott was one of the original incorporators of Lansing Theatre Organ, and has served as the organization's President since it's inception. In addition to concertizing and accompanying silent films, he also lectures about various aspects of pipe organ history and his writings can be found on the pages of numerous organ publications. Bring a date and enjoy this Valentine's Day treat!
LOVE OF LOVE SONGS
Clark Wilson, Organist
Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 3:00 p.m.
A native of Ohio, Clark Wilson began his musical training at age nine. While growing up, he accompanied numerous stage musicals and was organist at several churches. Following several years with the Schantz Organ Company as a reed voicer and tonal finisher, Wilson began a professional playing career on the staffs of numerous pipe-organ equipped restaurants. He is currently associated with Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Arizona, where he is on the organ staff as well as having assisted with the planning and installation of the world’s largest Wurlitzer organ. Wilson’s recording credits include seven albums. He has given all-transcription recitals for the AGO, performed at numerous conventions of the ATOS and the Organ Historical Society, as well as giving a series of highly lauded workshops for young people’s Pipe Organ Encounters. He has also been a visiting lecturer on theater organ and silent picture accompaniment for the Indiana University organ department, a great step in the advancement of these art forms. He has concertized in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, and done extensive silent film accompaniment. Wilson is currently the resident organist and organ conservator at the famed Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio (for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts). Along with a busy concert and silent film accompaniment schedule, Wilson operates his own pipe organ business and is heavily in demand as a tonal consultant and finisher of both theater and classical pipe organs. He has received both the Technician of the Year and Organist of the Year awards from the American Theatre Organ Society, the only person to have done so, and his time is now nearly equally divided between concert and technical work. Welcome Clark back for his fourth Riverside Pops concert!
(All events take place at the Grand Ledge Opera House, 121 S. Bridge St. (M-100), Grand Ledge, MI. All programs/artists subject to change.)
Tickets are available at the following locations:
By mail:
Lansing Theatre Organ, Inc.
P. O. Box 26154
Lansing, MI 48909
517-394-9881
(season tickets available only by mail)
Grand Ledge Opera House Office (rear of building)
121 S. Bridge St., @ River St.
Grand Ledge, MI 48837
517-627-1443
Arts Tickets Box Office
Center for the Arts
425 S. Grand Ave.
Lansing, MI 48915
517-372-0945
Individual tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. A season ticket (one ticket for each of the four annual public performances) can be ordered through the LTO box office for $35. In addition, any combination of four tickets qualifies for our "Mix 'N Match" program, and is considered the same as a season ticket, for $35.
Ticket orders received one week or less from the day of performance will be held at the LTO box office and available as a will call.