{"id":111163,"date":"2025-01-22T12:26:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T17:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111163"},"modified":"2025-01-23T12:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T17:18:09","slug":"preview-acclaims-organist-gail-archer-performs-concert-ukrainian-relief-toronto-february-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/01\/22\/preview-acclaims-organist-gail-archer-performs-concert-ukrainian-relief-toronto-february-1\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Acclaimed Organist Gail Archer Performs Concert for Ukrainian Relief In Toronto February 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Organist
Organist Gail Archer (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Organist Gail Archer will be touring her Concert for Ukrainian Relief from February through May 2025, and she\u2019ll hit Toronto on February 1. She\u2019ll be performing on one of the city\u2019s largest pipe organs<\/a> at the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.<\/p>\n

The concert will include material from her 2020 album Chernivtsi, A Recording of Contemporary Ukrainian Organ Music.<\/p>\n

Gail Archer<\/h3>\n

Based in New York, Gail Archer has become noted for her adventurous take on classical organ repertoire.<\/p>\n

Gail Archer is a concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor and lecturer with an international profile. She has an extensive recording catalogue that includes Russian music, Liszt, Bach, and more in a wide range of material.<\/p>\n

Archer founded Musforum<\/a>, an international network for women organists. She is college organist at Vassar College, and director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University. A faculty member at Columbia University\u2019s Harriman Institute, Gail has performed in Eastern Europe every year since 2011, including Russian as well as Ukrainian halls and churches.<\/p>\n

Among her other accomplishments, she became the first American woman to perform the complete Messiaen cycle in 2008. Archer has also become well known for researching and rediscovering the work of composers who have become obscured by time. Her 2020 album Chernivtsi, A Recording of Contemporary Ukrainian Organ Music, dives deep into little known music. The album, from which she draws the concert program, consists largely of shorter works by contemporary composers.<\/p>\n

Music by Ukrainian Composers<\/h3>\n

The program includes by 19th-21st century Ukrainian composers. It\u2019s part of a decade-long effort on her part to sharing Eastern European organ literature, and in particular, to recognize the contributions of Ukrainian composers. When it comes to the pipe organ, one of the issues in Russia and Ukraine is that the instrument itself is much scarcer than in your average Western European city, where they are ubiquitous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my own view, the organ music contributions from Ukraine have been enormous, and human culture and civilization would be far poorer without them,\u201d says Archer in a statement. \u201cI hope this will be kept in mind particularly in this period of conflict and crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n