Emory Celebrates Bach During 2012-13 Organ Season

Sometimes, you just crave a little Bach. Emory University is celebrating the famous composer with several Bach events this season.

The 2012-2013 University Organist Recital Series kicks off in September. Now in its 31st year, highlights include the debut of a commissioned portative organ, guest artists, and returning favorites such as "Scary Ride!" All concerts are free and are performed in Emory’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts or Glenn Auditorium where noted, according to a press release.

The season opens with "Bach Live!" on Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. Emory University Organist Timothy Albrecht performs Johann Sebastian Bach musical monuments on two instruments which American organ builder Daniel Jaeckel has built for Emory’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The hour-long recital begins and concludes on the esteemed 2005 Wortsman Memorial Organ located at the back and above the Emerson Hall stage. The middle of the program features short Baroque organ selections of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, introducing for the first time the new continuo instrument, the Graves Memorial Portative Organ, located on the concert hall stage.   
 
The popular "Scary Ride" returns on Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. Count Dracula (Timothy Albrecht) and his minions are back, amidst thunder, lightning, fog, gargoyles, and tombstones. Attendees of all ages are encouraged to wear costumes and enjoy the candy reception in the front lobby.

Maurice Clerc, organist at Dijon Cathedral, performs on the refurbished Casavant Organ on Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. in the Glenn Auditorium. The concert is cosponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the American Guild of Organists. 

"Bach Bowl!", a Super Bowl Sunday tradition, is Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. This year’s program features Bach concertos for pianists Keiko and William Ransom, organists Tamara and Timothy Albrecht and the Vega String Quartet. In addition, Dominic Salerni, first violinst, will perform a Bach violin sonata. 

One of the world’s most distinguished organists, Olivier Latry, French organist at Notre Dame, performs the final recital on his United States tour on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.

The March 21 recital at 8 p.m. is the third in a four-year series of annual Bach Birthday Recitals, held each year on Bach’s birthday. Viewed together, the four recitals will constitute the first Atlanta performance of the nearly 100 preludes and fugues comprising Bach’s monumental Well-Tempered Clavier I & II. This year, the concert will be held in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall, with Timothy Albrecht performing individual pieces on the harpsichord, the piano and the new Graves Memorial Portative Organ.

Timothy Albrecht performs light classics suitable for the happy occasion of Emory Commencement Weekend, May 12 at 4 p.m. The program includes the Widor Toccata and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March IV.

Unless otherwise noted, all concerts are in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Road, Atlanta, 30322. For event and venue details, visit arts.emory.edu.