1996 Helmut Wolff organ in the Bales Recital Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

We explore things new and engaging on our next Pipedreams program, sampling recent releases of organ music on CD, including a jazzy Te Deum from Germany, the sound of praise today. With saxophone? Sure. Plus we’ll have trumpet voluntaries featuring festival reed stops on instruments in Kilgore, Texas; Hendersonville, North Carolina; and Chartres, France. The 1930 Skinner organ at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio, is at its best under the hands of Todd Wilson, but really old is the 1730 Trost organ at Waltershausen, Germany, playing music by a kid who grew up just west of there, Johann Sebastian Bach. Would Bach have approved? Absolutely, because he knew the builder of this instrument and loved his work. These and other stunning sounds from cathedrals in Toledo, Ohio, and Saint Louis, Missouri, and a jazz-friendly congregation in Stuttgart are all part of the plan. We’re Going on Record with CDs in review, this week on Pipedreams.

…an eclectic and engaging survey of evidence of the pipe organ’s potential for color and variety, from recent recordings.

…home-grown performers, composers, and instruments celebrate the Festival of the Nativity.

…some stories, with and without words, prove that music’s universal language is completely comprehensible.

…a celebration of composers and performers, in anticipation of International Women’s Day [observed on March 8].

…an all-American program that explores the sonic and virtuosic freedoms and possibilities of pipe organs and those who play them.

…music by our resident composers always makes a good impression.

…performances by and comments from students of Michael Bauer and James Higdon, featuring the Helmuth Wolff pipe organ in Bales Recital Hall in Lawrence.

…some stories, with and without words, prove that music’s universal language is completely comprehensible.

…music by our resident composers always makes a good impression.

…music on themes for the season of Advent, heralding the coming of Christmas.

…give thanks for the quantity and and quality of American composers for the pipe organ.

…a prelude to the upcoming national convention of the American Guild of Organists in and around Kansas City (July 1-6, 2018)

…performances by and comments from students of Michael Bauer and James Higdon, featuring the Hellmuth Wolff pipe organ in Bales Recital Hall in Lawrence.

Resident faculty James Higdon plays the inaugural concert on a splendid new 45-stop Hellmuth Wolff organ at Bales Recital Hall of the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

An extravagantly colorful autumn collection of recent recordings in review.