Jan Kraybill

I'm so looking forward to playing the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant pipe organ for this performance!

From the Kansas City Symphony website:

Michael Stern, conductor Joelle Harvey, soprano Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Charles Bruffy, chorus director

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”

A transcendent experience awaits you — Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony is truly one of his greatest, most deeply emotional works. The stage and choral loft will be filled with musicians bringing you music that touches the soul. Soprano Joelle Harvey and mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor give voice to this luminous work.

Mahler’s personal favorite of his many symphonies, it took him seven years to complete the work. From moments of sublime tenderness to extravagant displays of vigor, this powerful symphony illuminates life’s journey. Soloists, chorus, and a massive orchestra join together to contemplate the nature of life and death, the role of faith, and ultimate meaning.

Inspiration for the radiant finale came as Mahler attended the funeral of his mentor, the conductor Hans von Bülow. Upon hearing “The Resurrection,” a poem by Friedrich Klopstock set to a chorale melody, Mahler later said, “It flashed on me like lightning and everything became plain and clear in my mind. It was the flash that all creative artists wait for ...” From that creative spark came the shape of this epic symphony. Join Michael Stern, Joelle Harvey, Kelley O'Connor, and the Symphony Chorus directed by Grammy® winner Charles Bruffy, and your Kansas City Symphony for an unforgettable performance.

I'm pleased to be invited to be one of the plenary speakers at this convention, and to perform in a concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. More details to come!

I'm thrilled to play a solo recital at this iconic organ venue, as part of the International Summer Organ Festival, which according to the Spreckels website is "the largest organ series on a single instrument in the United States. The Festival is comprised of 11 to 12 concerts that feature world-class artistry and provide a unique opportunity for the audience to experience the largest open-air instrument in the world."

I've designed a program called "Feats for the Feet." The pipe organ is unique in many ways, but one of the most surprising to people unfamiliar with organ music is the requirement to play melodies with the feet just as aptly as with the hands. This concert features music that lets the feet dance!

Planned repertoire includes:

JOSEPH BONNET (1884-1944): Variations de Concert, Op. 1

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750): Fugue in G Major, "à la Gigue," BWV 577

GUSTAV HOLST (1874-1934), transcr. Henry G. Lay: Chaconne from First Suite for Military Band, Op. 28, No. 1

CHARLES FRANÇOIS GOUNOD (1818-1893), transcr. W. T. Best: Marche funèbre d'une marionette (Funeral March of a Marionette)

CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR (1844-1937): Intermezzo from Symphony No. 6 for Organ

ELFRIDA ANDREÉ (1841-1929): Cantabile from Organ Symphony No. 1 in B minor

GUNNAR IDENSTAM (b. 1961): Menuet nordique from Cathedral Music

LIBBY LARSEN (b. 1950): Tambourines, from Aspects of Glory

JOHANNES MATTHAIS MICHEL (b. 1962): Swing Five: ERHALT UNS, HERR (Lord, Keep Us)

ROBERT ELMORE (1939-1985): Rhumba

NOEL RAWSTHORNE (1929-2019): Dancing Feet

AL DUBIN (1891-1945) and JOE BURKE (1884-1950): Tiptoe through the Tulips

LEO SOWERBY (1895-1968): Pageant

I can't wait to perform on this pipe organ in this historic venue, which has been on my bucket list for years!

Each of the pipes in an organ can speak at only one pitch, one volume, and one tone color. Each one is different from all of the others in at least one of those aspects, due to difference in sizes, shapes, and materials. By definition, then, a pipe organ is a community of voices. This program celebrates the rich diversity of voices among the 6,088 pipes of this historic pipe organ, and compositional voices for organ across generations and geographies.

Planned repertoire includes:

JOSEPH BONNET (1884-1944): Variations de Concert, Op. 1

ANDREA GABRIELI (c.1533-1585): Canzon detta Qui la dira (Who will say?)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750): Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (All Glory Be to God on High), BWV 676

GUSTAV HOLST (1818-1893), transcr. by W. T. Best: Chaconne from First Suite for Military Band, Op. 28, No. 1

CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR (1844-1937): Intermezzo from Symphony No. 6 for Organ

LIBBY LARSEN (b. 1950): Tambourines, from Aspects of Glory

JOHANNES MATTHIAS MICHEL (b. 1962): Swing Five: ERHALT UNS, HERR (Keep Us, Lord)

GUNNAR IDENSTAM (b. 1961): Menuet nordique from Cathedral Music

RALPH SIMPSON (b. 1933): King of Kings

CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD (1852-1924): Intermezzo on an Irish Air ("Danny Boy"), Op. 189, No. 4

LEO SOWERBY (1895-1968): Pageant

I'm so excited to join Kansas City Symphony's first-ever concert tour in Europe! Tonight's performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam features Ives's Three Pieces from New England, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole.