The 1977 Klais organ at Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York, NY

Their contributions may not yet be as familiar as those of composers of the German Baroque or French Romantic eras, but the recent works of African-American musicians impress at many levels. On our next Pipedreams program, you’ll be able to hear pieces by Mark Fax and Thomas Kerr, Nol DaCosta, Henry Sexton, and Charles Coleman, which take as themes simple, beautiful original melodies, gospel hymns, and our nation’s racial history. Herndon Spillman, Mickey Thomas Terry, Eugene Hancock and David Hurd spell it out in black and white, our African American organ tradition.

He took his first keyboard lesson at age seven, and only two years later won an important competition, made his international recital debut, and took on the duties of a church organist. Talk about precocious. On our next Pipedreams program, we visit with the talented young German phenom, Felix Hell, a student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia with three compact discs and more than 200 recitals to his credit in Europe, Russia, and the United States. Did we mention that he just turned 16? We’ll chat with Felix and his father Hans-Friedrich, listen to performances from ‘the early years’, and sample his current state-of-the-art in concert and on CD. And you thought that organ music was only for old folks? Audiences around the world are changing their mind when presented with the dynamic playing of Felix Hell. It’s Felicitous Felix, this week on Pipedreams.

…discoveries, authentications, arrangements and acknowledged masterworks by the greatest of all composers for the pipe organ.