Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 7:30pm - $10
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church
383 Jarvis Street, Toronto (at Carlton St.)

For more info go to http://www.organicevolution.net

“We’ve been installing these systems for 20 years now and it took this long for someone to do what you guys are doing!”
- James Chubb, Classic Organ Works

ORGANic Evolution 2 will celebrate the marriage of the old with the new, the traditional with the modern, the past with the future. Long before computers and synthesizers and electric guitars, the King of musical instruments was the Pipe Organ. This show is not about crowning a new King, but more, providing the King with a new wardrobe – providing the grand artist with a new pallet from which to create masterpieces for a new generation.

David Smits, Music Committee Chairman and Organist at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Toronto, and Rob Adlers, musician and computer software analyst, have taken the classic pipe organ to a whole new level. With the help of Classic Organ Works, the link between this century-old Casavant organ console and the pipes has been updated with MIDI capability, which allows the organ to control and be controlled by MIDI capable instruments and computers. The duo has been testing this technology with various musical genres, including classical music, jazz, folk, contemporary and music from other cultures, including their own compositions and in May premiered a number of new pieces of music composed specifically to showcase this technology and the grandeur of the pipes.

On Saturday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m., Smits and Adlers and a number of special guests (including Ken Baird, Steve Cochrane and Leif Bloomquist) , in collaboration with Classic Organ Works, will be presenting the next step, ORGANic Evolution 2, a concert at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church which will pick up where the earlier showcase in May, left off. As Rob Adlers states, "David Smits and I wanted to show the congregation and other folks what the restoration and upgrade efforts to the Casavant organ at St. Andrews meant. There was a lot of new technology that had never been showcased, and the organ really has a new life, with new possibilities. From that show and demonstration, we're now taking forward those promises and wish to apply them in a proper performance. The most interesting realization was that even with all the automation and technology, live performance is still key to a successful show. You can not take away the organist."
Tickets are $10 available at the door and from the performers. For more information, please contact David Smits, Rob Adlers or David Carswell.

This concert is a "must see" for anyone who is interested in preserving the pipe organ and in how to make the pipe organ relevant and exciting for the next generation.

“MIDI control of the big pipes - I didn't know anyone was doing that. I have no idea how the purists feel, but I think it's great! Good work! “
- Pete Levin, Legendary Jazz Keyboardist

Contacts:
David Smits - (416) 705-2522 - dsmits@mypiano.ca
Rob Adlers - (519) 573-4709 - robadlers@auralplane.com
David Carswell - (905) 981-9479 - organic@cogeco.net