October is Calgary Organ Festival time
Internationally-acclaimed performers, free campus concerts and a Halloween night silent film screening set to live music are in store for audiences of the Calgary Organ Festival and Symposium Oct. 24 to Nov. 2.
If you’re new to it, the 10-day festival is filled with recitals around the city, a symposium , a hands-on workshop and worship services.
And since Calgary is said to have the highest number of pipe organs of any city west of Toronto, it seems fitting to show them off. This marks the fifth year for the festival, which is organized by Mount Royal University Conservatory.
Recitals around the city include performances by international recording artist and early music specialist Luc Beauséjour (Montreal), and multi-international competition laureate and silent film specialist David Baskeyfield (UK/USA).
Halloween night will be celebrated in style at the Great Halloween Organ SpookTacular, featuring a screening of the 1925 silent movie Phantom of the Opera set to live pipe organ accompaniment at Knox United Church. Baskeyfield is increasingly renowned for silent film accompaniment; besides Phantom, he’s created music for Nosferatu (1922).
Here on campus at MRU, there is a free, live outdoor carillon concert Oct. 27 at 12:10 p.m.
The open air event is audible around campus but we recommend bringing a blanket to sit on and listening from the TransCanada Amphitheatre by MRU’s Charlton Pond.
And if you’ve never visited the Conservatory’s Wyatt Recital Hall, home to our stunning Carthy organ, there’s a free recital Thursday, Oct. 30 at 12:10 p.m. Francine Nguyen-Savaria will be performing the organ music of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
The full festival schedule is available online.
