this afternoon from 1-2 on cjsr:

listen for your chance to win two tickets to the organ & violin performance happening at winspear centre this sunday, november 24 at 2 pm!

→ winspearcentre.com/cjsr

the edmonton symphony orchestra, featuring guest conductor sara jobin, guest organist rashaan allwood (2017 concours d'orgue de quebec laureate) and eso concertmaster robert uchida (violin), will perform a program including works by dvorak, brahms, guilmant and the eso's principal rrombone and former composer in residence john mcpherson.

additional reasons to tune in today include a few words on the university of alberta's memorial organ at convocation hall, which is under threat of destruction (link to sign a petition to save it). we'll hear a wonderful piece by former cjsr broadcaster piotr grella-mozejko for bass clarinet (don ross) and organ (marnie giesbrecht) recorded in convocation hall, as well as fela kuti, shirley scott and more.

 

guilmant at his beloved organ

 

please sign this petition and help save the memorial organ at convocation hall.

this is a beautiful and historic instrument, and your humble host spent countless hours as a university of alberta student letting its tones fill the hallways of his head. future students and organ aficionados deserve the same experience.

i've been hosting this show on cjsr for a wonderful 7+ years and it would mean the world to me if you called in to donate during my program at 780-492-2577 ext. 0.

the halloween fundrive special includes a slew of prizes from:

- winspear centre (two tickets to halloween night screening of silent classic hands of orlac, following a concert pianist who is given a murderer's hands in a transplant, to live accompaniment by the brilliant and hilarious dennis james at the mighty davis concert organ)

→ winspearcentre.com/CJSR

- didgin' for rainbows (keyboard-laden local band releasing their edmontone studio-recorded self-titled debut/swansong at the buckingham on november 14. record pictured here!)

→ https://www.facebook.com/events/2489378517816552/

- metro cinema (6-pack admission to this beloved local arthouse theatre and, on a personal note, home to the organ that was played at my wedding)

→ metrocinema.org

and guests? hoo boy, we got guests!

hammond hotshot dennis meneely will be heard live at cjsr's storied studio a organ. organa gardiner, the organic gardener (caitlin richards of imaginary landscapes), is dropping by too, as are a delightful baby strawberry (my daughter lisi), evil count cradula (chad brunet) and cjsr's reigning most reliable fill-in, ross nicoll (co-keyboardist of the aforementioned didgin' for rainbows).

seriously, donate. we need cjsr.

music with a high organic content this afternoon from 1-2 on cjsr fm 88.5.

listen for details on how to win tickets to my personal favourite organ event of the year (hint: every donor who gives any amount to my show in advance or on my fundrive show, which takes place october 30, is automatically entered in the contest)!

live at the winspear centre on Halloween night, past organ grinder guest dennis james provides live accompaniment for a giant screen showing of silent horror classic hands of orlac. thematically, this is an ideal fit as i pull out all the stops for my halloween fundrive special, with the film's grisly story of a pianist being fitted with the hands of a dead murderer in a totally routine operation.

there is nothing routine about this operation, featuring a live dj, costume party and drink specials. message me if you'd like to enter this draw and visit → winspearcentre.com/cjsr to learn more about the event!

this afternoon on cjsr from 1-2 marks my return to the radio after several weeks off due to personal reasons and i couldn't be happier to be back!

in further organ news, the documentary pipe dreams screens tomorrow night at 7 at west end christian reformed church (10015 149 street), giving an inside look at the fierce competition and wonderful music that goes into the canadian international organ competition. director stacey tenenbaum will be in attendance and one of the featured musicians, thomas gaynor, will give a short recital at the church's beautiful instrument.

my one-time organ grinder thursday special, featuring music and quotes from organ music performers as well as organizers taking part in new music edmonton's now hear this festival of new music, will be heard today at 1 pm on cjsr fm 88.5 and cjsr.com! you can also listen at your convenience by following this link.

the organ grinder won't air on its regular timeslot of wednesday, march 20 as regular programming is being disrupted from 8 am - 6 pm so cjsr can broadcast rendez-vous de la francophonie's annual radio marathon.

this means you can catch a special thursday edition of my show on thursday, march 21 from 1-2 pm! the program will include music and insights from reinhard von berg (pipe organ, march 22) and katelyn clark (organetto, march 23), both of whom will be performing as part of new music edmonton's now hear this festival of new music. remarks from artistic director ian crutchley on the place of keyboard instruments in new music will also be featured.

an edited version of this week's show (music intact, talk breaks altered to reflect that the festival will have already happened by then) will play during my regular timeslot on wednesday, april 3.

http://www.newmusicedmonton.ca/event/now-hear-this-festival-of-new-music/

this week marks 35 years of fm broadcasting for the superb cjsr and i can't express how much it means to me to be at least a small part of their story. i'm honoured as always to share my odd little program about organ music with you on the only station hip enough to broadcast it this afternoon between 1 and 2.

 

on the first new organ grinder of the year: santa goes to sleep, the rest of us wake up, the dying gasps of a french organ master echo through the ages and more haunting horrors. january 2, 1-2 pm on cjsr.

(image from "the phantom carriage", dir. victor sjostrom, 1921)