Details on getting the most out of organ recital featuring Vidas Pinkevicius:
Over the last 9 years I've played more than 150 organ recitals for groups as small as 8 to fully packed cathedrals on the organs as small as 4.5 stops to as large as 130 stops and as old as 400 years to as new as built a few years ago. During that time, I've figured out what works and what doesn't. I also discovered that more often than not organizers don't have any idea about what's needed. That's why I decided to put together this little note. I ask that the person responsible for the event actively confirm that you'll make these things happen:
1. If your booking involves an overnight stay, please be sure to find a hotel that's either at the venue or closer to the airport than the venue itself, and book a non-smoking room.
2. Feel free to take as many flash photos as you'd like before my recital, but please, no flash during the performance.
3. Unless you specifically work it out, you don't have the ability to record and then resell or distribute my performance.
4. If you'd like to interact with me before the event, email is actually quicker and more effective than a conference call. I can be reached at vidpinkus@yahoo.com.
5. I need to know the exact specification of the organ on which the performance will take place (together with up close pictures of the organ console and pedalboard, stop names, numbers, their locations, and accessory devices - crescendo or swell pedals, memory levels, pistons etc.) ahead of time (before I decide on the program).
6. For organs with more than 40 stops, I need at least 4 hours of undisturbed rehearsal on the organ at which the performance will take place. It's best to divide this rehearsal into two segments of 2 hours each (the day before and the day of).
7. I don't need the page turner nor the assistant during the rehearsal or the performance (unless I specify additionally).
8. If the performance is broadcasted on the screen for the audience to see the organist, please make sure the camera man is out of sight.
9. If multimedia slides with a projector are going to be needed for the performance, we have to work it out the technical details separately in advance.
10. If there is some talking or narrating involved before or during the performance itself, for groups of more than 25 people, I need a microphone. Please be sure that you've tested it for volume and for feedback.
11. Suggested intro:
Organist, improviser, pedagogue, composer, and blogger Dr. Vidas Pinkevičius is a creator of Secrets of Organ Playing - a blog about bravery, creativity, and leadership. He is an active promoter of organ improvisation and the organ art and popularizes this instrument through various lectures, seminars, demonstrations, and recitals. Currently, he is the president and co-founder of the National Association of Organists and teaches at the National M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts and is the organist of Vilnius University and leads the university organ studio "Unda Maris". He also is the initiator of the educational project „the Organ for the Future of Lithuania“ with the goal to introduce the pipe organ to general audience in various parts of Lithuania, especially to children.
12. Here's some advice on making your organ festival truly great.
Over the last 9 years I've played more than 150 organ recitals for groups as small as 8 to fully packed cathedrals on the organs as small as 4.5 stops to as large as 130 stops and as old as 400 years to as new as built a few years ago. During that time, I've figured out what works and what doesn't. I also discovered that more often than not organizers don't have any idea about what's needed. That's why I decided to put together this little note. I ask that the person responsible for the event actively confirm that you'll make these things happen:
1. If your booking involves an overnight stay, please be sure to find a hotel that's either at the venue or closer to the airport than the venue itself, and book a non-smoking room.
2. Feel free to take as many flash photos as you'd like before my recital, but please, no flash during the performance.
3. Unless you specifically work it out, you don't have the ability to record and then resell or distribute my performance.
4. If you'd like to interact with me before the event, email is actually quicker and more effective than a conference call. I can be reached at vidpinkus@yahoo.com.
5. I need to know the exact specification of the organ on which the performance will take place (together with up close pictures of the organ console and pedalboard, stop names, numbers, their locations, and accessory devices - crescendo or swell pedals, memory levels, pistons etc.) ahead of time (before I decide on the program).
6. For organs with more than 40 stops, I need at least 4 hours of undisturbed rehearsal on the organ at which the performance will take place. It's best to divide this rehearsal into two segments of 2 hours each (the day before and the day of).
7. I don't need the page turner nor the assistant during the rehearsal or the performance (unless I specify additionally).
8. If the performance is broadcasted on the screen for the audience to see the organist, please make sure the camera man is out of sight.
9. If multimedia slides with a projector are going to be needed for the performance, we have to work it out the technical details separately in advance.
10. If there is some talking or narrating involved before or during the performance itself, for groups of more than 25 people, I need a microphone. Please be sure that you've tested it for volume and for feedback.
11. Suggested intro:
Organist, improviser, pedagogue, composer, and blogger Dr. Vidas Pinkevičius is a creator of Secrets of Organ Playing - a blog about bravery, creativity, and leadership. He is an active promoter of organ improvisation and the organ art and popularizes this instrument through various lectures, seminars, demonstrations, and recitals. Currently, he is the president and co-founder of the National Association of Organists and teaches at the National M.K.Čiurlionis School of Arts and is the organist of Vilnius University and leads the university organ studio "Unda Maris". He also is the initiator of the educational project „the Organ for the Future of Lithuania“ with the goal to introduce the pipe organ to general audience in various parts of Lithuania, especially to children.
12. Here's some advice on making your organ festival truly great.