A founder of the Tuesday Noon Recital Series, Kim Rauch, will play an organ recital on October 19 at First Lutheran Church in downtown Johnstown.
Rauch will play a program he calls “The Art of the Ornament”. No, it’s not about Christmas decorations.
“It will demonstrate how composers take simple musical ideas and develop them through musical embellishments,” he said. “The Baroque era was notorious for this, and the French composers exaggerated it.”
Examples on the program are a movement from the second suite by the French baroque composer Jean Adam Guillain and an ornate setting of “Ein Feste Burg” by Dietrich Buxtehude. Also on the program are Buxtehude’s Prelude and Fugue in D major.
Rauch also plays contemporary works, “Aria on Jewels” by Dale Wood and a prelude to the folk song “Shenandoah” by Christopher Tambling.
“I am honored to be invited back to the First Lutheran organ console,” he said. “This series began thirty years ago when I was Minister of Music. It is a pleasure that the series continues with the amazing gifts and talents of local musicians. “
Rauch, who lives in Hollsopple, became well known among musicians in the region. He recently retired as the director of the Inclined to Sing children’s choir of the Johnstown Symphony and the Greater Johnstown Community Chorus, which he founded. He was the director of the symphony choir.
He has taught music in the Richland School District and served in numerous churches, most recently as minister of music at Laurel Trinity Lutheran Church in Jennerstown.
He is currently Program Director of the Grand Hall, a former church that has been restored as a concert and reception location in Cambria City.
Rauch holds degrees from Pennsylvania State University and Westminster Choir College. He also received his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and frequently played the organ at Heinz Chapel and conducted the men’s glee club.
In October 2020, Rauch will dedicate two of the pieces from the midday concert to his father, who died a year ago.
The Tuesday Noon Recital Series receives a scholarship as a program recognized by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
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