Premiere of Dan Locklair's "In Mystery and Wonder: The Casavant Diptych"
at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas - New Work Celebrates
125 Years of Canadian Organ Builders Casavant Freres

On Sunday, October 24, at 7:30 p.m., French improvisational organist
Pierre Pincemaille will premiere American composer Dan Locklair's "In
Mystery and Wonder: The Casavant Diptych" in a recital at Broadway Baptist
Church, 305 West Broadway Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas.  This concert will
officially begin the international 125th anniversary celebration of the
renowned Canadian organ builders Casavant Freres.

Mr. Pincemaille, Titular Organist of the Cathedral/Basilica of Saint-Denis,
France, home of the first of the great Cavaille-Coll instruments, since
1987, will also perform an improvised symphony based on unpublished
themes that were written for Casavant by the late composer Marcel Dupre,
considered one of the greatest improvisers, and works by Bach, Franck,
Widor, and Durufle.

During the weekend of November 13-14, 2004, organists from around the
world - Mexico, Ecuador, Columbia, Zimbabwe, Australia, and Japan and
from California to Texas to New York - who play Casavant organs have
been invited to perform the Diptych.  Presently, several hundred organists
have accepted the invitation.

Casavant president Andre Gremillet said, "As we considered an appropriate
way to celebrate the occasion of our 125th anniversary, we wanted not
only to honor Claver and Samuel Casavant, founders of Casavant Freres,
but also to recognize the contribution of composers and organists, for
without them the instruments would have no meaning or purpose.  What
better way to recognize the contribution of our founders and all musicians
who make music on our instruments than to commission a new work for
organ?"

"Finding in Dan Locklair a composer whose enthusiasm for this commission
matched our desire to have a work that would mark the importance of this
anniversary with something of lasting significance has been most rewarding.
It is our hope that those who give form to this music through performance
will reflect upon the contribution of the artisans who, with their talent
and through their hands, shaped the raw materials of wood and metal into
music instruments."

The piece was composed in two movements to make it accessible to the
widest range of organists possible.  The first movement was written to
be technically modest, with the second movement being more technically
demanding.

Dan Locklair, reflecting on this piece, which is being provided without
charge to any organist who requests it, "It is my genuine hope that
organists and listeners throughout the world will find the piece rewarding
and that this new creation will help Casavant celebrate its past 125
years and effectively launch the company into its next 125 years."

Casavant's magnum opus, Casavant 3750, was installed at Broadway Baptist
Church in 1996; and is Texas' largest pipe organ.  The monumental organ
(129 stops, 10,615 pipes), which is playable from one of two five-manual
consoles in the sanctuary of the church, was dedicated to the memory of
Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn, mother of the internationally known pianist
Van Cliburn.

The recital, free and open to the public, will be recorded live and
released CD by Casavant Freres in 2005.  For more information about the
events and Casavant Freres, contact Tom Stoker at 450-773-5001, 817-731-8030
or [log in to unmask]

Internationally recognized American composer Dan Locklair, a native
of Charlotte, NC, is Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.  His compositional output,
influenced by a wide variety of traditions, ranging from Medieval to
modern music, includes symphonic works, a ballet, an opera, and numerous
solo, chamber, vocal, organ and choral compositions.  His music has been
performed throughout Europe and North America by many major orchestras,
choral groups, chamber ensembles and soloists.  Several of these works
have received major awards, including the 1989 Barlow International
Competition Award for "changing perceptions & Epitaph" and the 1996
American Guild of Organists Composer of the Year Award.  Among his other
honors are consecutive ASCAP Awards since 1981 and a Kennedy Center
Friedheim Award.

For more information about composer Dan Locklair, including a bio, list
of works, discography and much more, please visit http://www.locklair.com.
He is represented by Jeffrey James Arts Consulting - 516-797-9166 - phone
and fax, to whom inquiries about his music can be directed.

Referred to by Smithsonian magazine (July, 1997) as "one of the oldest
and most venerable pipe organ makers in North America," Casavant Freres
traces its roots to two brothers, Claver and Samuel Casavant, sons of
Joseph Casavant, described in the most recent edition of the Encyclopedia
of Music in Canada as the "first Canadian-born organ builder of note."
After extensive travel in Europe, these brothers returned to their native
St. Hyacinthe in 1879 and established themselves as Casavant Freres on
the site where the present workshops stand.  Visit them online at
www.casavant.ca.

Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
Website: http://www.jamesarts.com