Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Office of Religious Life
Building W11
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Phone: 617-253-7707
http://studentlife.mit.edu/rl

October 14, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Robert M. Randolph, chaplain to the Institute at MIT, has commissioned Leonardo Ciampa (Artistic Director of MIT's organ concerts) to compose two significant organ works. The MIT Organ Book will contain 25 short works, based on recognizable tunes from a myriad of religious traditions, as well as some secular works of an inspirational nature. According to Chaplain Randolph, "The book will be of great use, not only at the services in our Chapel, but also at functions in churches, chapels, and schools throughout the country. We wish to show that the pipe organ is as relevant and necessary to our spiritual lives as ever before, and we believe that this volume will take us one step forward in the realization of that wish." The second commission, the Kresge Organ Symphony was also the brainchild of Chaplain Randolph. "The large, 1955 Holtkamp organ in Kresge Auditorium is an instrument that certainly has a voice. I wondered: what is its voice? What would that voice sound like, and if it were to speak, what would it say? I commissioned Mr. Ciampa to answer those questions in the form of a grand organ symphony. This majestic work will comprise four movements and, I do not doubt, will be a significant addition to the culture here at MIT and to the culture of the organ world as a whole." In the fall of 2012, Ciampa will premier the Kresge Organ Symphony in a public concert in Kresge.

MIT has two 1955 Holtkamps, the aforementioned instrument in Kresge and a smaller instrument in the Chapel. Until recently, both instruments were rarely heard. Seeking to change that, in 2009 Chaplain Randolph hired Leonardo Ciampa to organize concerts on both instruments, as well as to play for the newly instituted Tuesday morning gatherings. According to Randolph, "The organs have been heard more in these three years than they were heard in the thirty years previous."

For further information, contact:
Christina English
Administrative Assistant to MIT Religious Life
and
Robert M. Randolph, Chaplain to the Institute
617-253-7707
cenglish@mit.edu

Click here to download a PDF of the above press release.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Friday, January 27, 2012, at 8 p.m., PETER PLANYAVSKY, former Cathedral organist in Vienna and one of the world's greatest concert organists, will give an organ recital at MIT Kresge Auditorium. Admission for this historic event is FREE.

The organ in MIT's Kresge Auditorium was installed in 1955 by Walter Holtkamp, Sr. The consultant was Melville Smith, a well-known leader in the Organ Reform movement. During the eras of Smith and of Canadian organist/composer John Cook, who was the MIT Organist in the 1960s, many organists of international renown played recitals in Kresge: Marchal, Heiller, Cochereau, Biggs, and others.

For this historic event, the admission is FREE.

This concert is being sponsored by the MIT Office of Religious Life (Robert M. Randolph, Chaplain to the Institute.)

For more information, contact Leonardo Ciampa, Artistic Director of the MIT organ concert series (leonardociampa@hotmail.com).