ABOVE PHOTO: Laura Edman, who teaches the organ at UW-River Falls, will be among the performers at a February 24 organ concert at UW-River Falls. Pat Deninger/UWRF photo.
A concert featuring multiple styles of organ music at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls is intended not only for audience enjoyment but also to raise money to restore the pipe organ musicians will play during the performance.
“It’s a very special occasion for us to have a world-class improviser, someone of his caliber, performing as part of our concert…”
The concert, “Laura Edman and Friends,” is at noon on Friday, Feb. 24, in Abbott Concert Hall in the Kleinpell Fine Arts building on campus. It is part of the Frances Cohler Coffee Concert Series. The concert is free and open to the public.
The concert is the third since April showcasing organ performances designed in part to solicit funds to restore the musical instrument, installed in 1974 by Charles Hendrickson who built numerous pipe organs throughout the Midwest. The organ is outdated, and a $130,000 fundraising effort to make improvements to it has been undertaken. Donations can be made at https://www.uwrf.edu/Give/Organ-Restoration-Fund.cfm
“I’ve tried to put together a concert that shows what you can do with an organ, that it really is a versatile musical instrument,” said Laura Edman, who teaches the organ at UW-River Falls and who designed the concert. “And I’m trying to tell the story about how we need to raise money to restore this organ.”
Renowned organist Aaron David Miller, known for his improvisational playing style, will be among the musicians to play the organ at the concert. He will be the event’s last performer, said Edman.
