The Riverside Church Hosts Accomplished Group Of Organists For Its

Annual Summer Organ Series 2014

Concert Series Highlight to Include Live Organ Improvisation Accompaniment to

1926 Silent Film Comedy Classic, The General

Spotlighting one of the largest and most acclaimed organs in the world and continuing a decades old tradition of summer concerts featuring outstanding organists, The Riverside Church is presenting its Annual Summer Organ Series—featuring six concerts throughout the summer—every Tuesday, July 1 to August 5 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the Church’s majestic Nave, 91 Claremont Ave. (bet. 120^th & 122^nd Sts.), Morningside Heights.

Pulling out all the stops, the concert series will feature performances by talented organists playing a mixed repertoire ranging from traditional music to orchestral transcriptions on the Church’s 206-rank Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, the second largest instrument in New York City, with over 12,000 pipes.  A highlight of the series will be a live organ improvisation accompaniment to the 1926 silent film comedy classic, The General, starring Buster Keaton.  The full schedule follows:

• July 1 – Gordon Turk, Auditorium Organist, Ocean Grove, NJ. A program of American composers in honor of the July 4^th holiday includes works by Francis Hopkinson, Philip Phile, Charles Ives, Horatio Parker, Hugh McAmis and McNeil Robinson.

• July 8 – Joyce Jones, International Concert Organist, Waco, TX.  A legendary American virtuoso plays works by Bach, Van Hulse, Dupréand Boulnois.

• July 15 – Christopher Creaghan, Associate Organist, The Riverside Church, NYC.  Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

• July 22 – Robert McCormick, Director of Music and Organist, St. Paul’s Parish, K Street, Washington D.C. Renowned organist and improviser plays Elgar’s monumental Sonata in G, improvisation on submitted themes.

• July 29 – Jelani Eddington,Concert Organist, Racine, WI. A special concert of live organ improvisation accompanying the 1926 silent film comedy classic, The General, starring Buster Keaton.

• August 5 – Christopher Johnson, Director of Music, The Riverside Church, NYC. Works by Saint-Saëns, Whitlock, Borodin, Cocker. With “Terra Voce:” Elizabeth Brightbill (flute) and Andrew Caggert (cello).

Prior to each concert at 6:30 p.m., audiences will also have the chance to enjoy an incredible recital performed on one of the most famous carillons in the world—the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon.  The carillon’s centerpiece, the Bourdon Bell—weighing 20 tons—is the world’s largest and heaviest tuned bell ever cast. Its smallest bell weighs ten pounds.  Featuring 74 bells in total, in terms of physical size and weight (over 100 tons), the Riverside carillon has never been surpassed.