Starting Dec. 30, the MIT Chapel will webcast a concert from its organ, an instrument with great historic significance. Built in 1955 by Walter Holtkamp, the most avant-garde organbuilder of his time, the organ "reveals Holtkamp, as much a radical in his field as Frank Lloyd Wright was in architecture," according to Holtkamp biographer John Ferguson. The program — chosen by Leonardo Ciampa, the director of the MIT Chapel organ recital series — not only shows off the various tone colors of the instrument but also its MIT connections: Buxtehude's “Jig Fugue” was played by Melville Smith at the dedicatory recital in 1955; The Adagio by John Cook was composed in 1967, while Cook was Institute Organist. Institute Professor John Harbison has also given special permission to Ciampa to play an organ arrangement of his "O Magnum Mysterium.” An original work by Ciampa, "Paean for Judith" was also commissioned for this concert occasion. To hear the concert, click here.
