In his Sunday organ recital, Rowan organ instructor Dr. Gordon Turk delivered a rousing performance complete with program notes. The program included seven standalone pieces and one four-movement sonata.

To kick off the afternoon performance, Dr. Turk sat at the organ console and played Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Coronation March, transcribed for organ by W.T. Best. This exuberant piece filled Pfleeger Concert Hall and set the tone for the rest of the concert.

After Coronation March, Dr. Turk thanked Rowan and the Storer family for restoring the Helen Stanger Storer Organ. In 2015, the Storer family willed $2 million to Rowan for the repair of the organ, which is nearly as old as Pfleeger Concert Hall itself.

“The premium seats for hearing the organ are right in the center of the room, particularly where the big aisle goes through. And that’s the area where the sound really comes together at its fullest and at its greatest intensity and its greatest clarity, but it speaks everywhere into the room, so we’re delighted to have an instrument that can be as versatile as this instrument is, and as beautiful,” said Dr. Turk.

Dr. Turk described the various mechanisms of the organ. On center stage was the console that controlled the organ itself. This console, composed of various keyboards, foot pedals, stops, and preset keys, allows the organist to use the vast array of pipes in the wall to generate a multitude of sounds.

By informing the audience of how the instrument itself functioned, Dr. Turk gave them the knowledge necessary to better appreciate the performance itself. 

The audience was largely concentrated in the center region as recommended, and the audience was comprised of many community members, Rowan students, faculty, and staff. 

With that, he introduced the second piece, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. 

Between each piece, he would deliver program notes about the music he was about to perform. This would include the history of the composer, the work itself, and any other information that may enrich the performance.

The program for the afternoon carried the audience through musical history, from the baroque period with Bach to the classical, the romantic period through Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and even some more modernist work like that of Erik Satie. His set even included a work composed by New Jersey Native Seth Bingham, Roulade.

 After the completion of the final, triumphant piece for the afternoon, fittingly titled Final (Symphony No. 1) composed by Louis Vierne, Dr. Turk took his last bow, or so it seemed.

It is customary in formal musical recitals for the musician to sometimes leave, and return to the stage to take an encore. Dr. Turk returned to the stage during the applause, sat, and played the true last piece of the evening. It was a short, simple piece with a gentle melody, far different from everything else he had played that day.

After the encore, Dr. Turk left the stage. Audience members began to file out, including community member Bill Korba. Korba frequently attends performances at Rowan and finds them to be an incredible resource for students and the community.

“When I was in college, I didn’t attend any of my university performances. And I didn’t know what I was missing,” said Korba.

“I think it’s an incredible resource that more students and more members of the community can attend, and I learned more about the organ and organ music in this event than I probably knew in my entire life up to this point,” Korba said.

Korba also made the choice to move to the center of the room Dr. Turk had mentioned as being the best location for listening and found that it enriched his experience of the performance as promised.

“I saw that nobody went there in that area, so I moved to that area, and it really intensified the experience,” said Korba.

Quality performances such as Dr. Turk’s occur frequently at Rowan and are always open to community members like Korba, and students are often able to attend for free or at a reduced price.

To attend Rowan College of Performing Arts events, such as the Spotlight Series, you can visit the Rowan Box Office website for more information about upcoming performances.

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