New UT Chapel Holds Dedicatory Concerts

The new 55-foot, 3,184-pipe organ in The University of Tampa’s Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values will make its mark this spring with concerts in January, February, March and April. Performances will feature UT faculty, alumni and guests.

The first concert will take place on Sunday, Jan. 30, at 2 and 4 p.m. and will feature David Clark Isele, UT composer-in-residence, along with Debra Wilke, soprano; Libor Ondras, violin; Gretchen Geist, mezzo-soprano; Aric Brian, trumpet; and Hein Jung, soprano. The concert will include the first performance of “Reverie and Celebration” by Isele. Soloists will perform works by Gounod, Bach, Franck, Martin, Fauré and Mascagni.

To RSVP for the organ concert, or for more information, visit www.ut.edu/sykeschapel.

The other concerts this spring include:

On Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. Haig Mardirosian, organist and dean of the College of Arts and Letters, will play the first solo recital on the organ with music by Dupré, Buxtehude, von Paradis and others.
On March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and March 13 at 2 p.m. Carole Terry, organist and professor of organ at The University of Washington, will perform organ music from the Baroque Era to the 20th century.
On April 16 at 7:30 p.m. and April 17 at 2 p.m., Kurt Knecht ’93, organist and music director at St. Mark’s on the Campus Church, in Lincoln, NE. will perform music by Bach, Rheinberger and Jongen as well as his own “Sursam Sonata.”

The organ was designed specifically for the Sykes Chapel by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders in Lake City, Iowa. Named Opus 89, it is a mechanical key action or “tracker” organ, the type of organ preferred by the world’s greatest organists. Its pipes are made of both wood and tin alloy, and they range from the size of a pencil to more than 32 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter. It took six months to tune the pipes. A first sounding of the organ took place at the Sykes Chapel dedication on Dec. 10.