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PACIFIC SYMPHONY’S “HOLIDAY ORGAN SPECTACULAR” CAPTURES ALL THE JOY AND FESTIVITY OF THE SEASON—FEATURING ORGANIST TODD WILSON, VOCALIST LYNN EUSTIS AND SYMPHONY MUSICIANS
Joyful and triumphant! Pacific Symphony and the $3.1-million William J. Gillespie Concert Organ capture all the majesty of the season, when world-renowned organist Todd Wilson returns for “Holiday Organ Spectacular,” performing a mix of sacred and holiday favorites. Curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Wilson “sets the gold standard by which others are measured” (The American Organist) with “flawless technique and peerless interpretive maturity” (The Columbus Dispatch). Bringing cherished hymns and carols to life, Wilson is joined by soprano Lynn Eustis and several Symphony musicians—Concertmaster Raymond Kobler; Principal Trumpeter Barry Perkins; Principal Percussionist Robert Slack, playing the vibraphone; and Harpist Mindy Ball. Taking place one night only on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the concert is the second in the Pedals and Pipes organ series, showcasing the 4,322-pipe organ created by C.B. Fisk. Tickets are $15-$55; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.
The concert features a festive mix of holiday organ music including traditional carols, “The First Noel,” “O Holy Night” and “Carol in the Manger,” as well as audience favorite, “Sleigh Ride.” Soprano Eustis sings “Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion,” from Handel’s “Messiah” and “The Sleep of the Infant Jesus,” among other sacred works.
Then, the audience is invited to join in for a sing-along of holiday gems, “Deck the Halls,” “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.”
“The organ has more than 500 years of music in its repertoire, including a great deal of music for the holiday season,” says Wilson, “so this year, we are incorporating an even wider range of styles and instruments. The program includes everything from Handel and Daquin in the 18th century, to David Conte, Conrad Susa and George Baker—all American composers of our own time. We aim to showcase the fabulous C.B. Fisk pipe organ in a variety of roles: as solo instrument, as collaborator with voices and other instruments and as leader of audience sing-alongs. The organ can create a huge range of colors and emotional moods from gentle lullabies to thrilling fireworks. We hope this program will show all of those qualities and impart to our audience the joy and festivity of the holiday season.”
Regarded across America and around the world as one of today’s finest concert organists, Wilson serves as head of the organ department at The Cleveland Institute of Music and as the curator of the Cleveland Orchestra’s organ. He also serves as artist-in-residence at Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, where he plays the Cathedral’s Flentrop organs; as house organist for the newly-restored Aeolian Organ at the Stan Hywet Home and Gardens in Akron, Ohio, and he teaches at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Wilson has performed in major cities throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. His latest CDs on the JAV label feature a live recital of American music from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and “Live from Severance Hall, “a concert of music for trumpet and organ.
“We are fortunate to have soprano Lynn Eustis joining us this year,” says Wilson. “Lynn has a gorgeous voice, sings in a variety of styles and has a winning personality—I know the audience will love her!”
Eustis appears regularly as a soloist with numerous professional organizations including the Dallas Bach Society, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, the San Angelo Symphony, Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Early Music and the Orchestra of New Spain. Internationally, she has been heard with the Američke Jaro Festival and the Hudebni Festival Vysocina in the Czech Republic, the Festival de Opera with the Compaňía Lírica Nacional (Costa Rica), the Guangzhou Symphony (China) and as a soloist at Chichester Cathedral (UK). Eustis is currently associate professor of voice and director of graduate studies in music at the University of North Texas, and has been on their faculty since 1999.
