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A recent highlight was the dedication of Opus 27 in Cedar, MI. Dr. Conrad Donakowski, Emeritus Professor of Music from
MSU, played the dedication recital on Sunday, April 24th. Dr. Donakowski has roots in Cedar-- in fact, his parents are buried
there at Holy Rosary Church. Dr. D played a very accessible recital on the rebuilt Hinners organ (see opus list). There
were pieces by Frescobaldi, Massenet, Bach and Franck. There was even a piece by Lode VanDessel, a Belgian composer and longtime
organist at St. Aloysius in Detroit. He had been one of Dr. Donakowski's teachers, and I had also studied with him during
high school in the 60's. Judith Donakowski, a talented soprano, sang Schubert's Ave Maria, and she also sang
the Franck Panis Angelicus duet with Chris Peterson. Grace Mackson, a young organ scholar from Conrad's church in
E. Lansing, gave a very convincing performance of Bach's C Major Prelude. In keeping with Holy Rosary's
Polish origins, we sang Serdeczna Matko, a traditional Marian hymn. Dr. D brought the enjoyable concert to a close
with his Leelanau Springtime Christmas Fantasy, which seemed very appropriate considering the winter-like weather
we were having.
The organ behaved very well, which was a relief to the builders, and the Great 8' Trumpet, which had been prepared-for
and added only recently, rounded out the instrument nicely.
If you would like a copy of the organ brochure and/or program, just e-mail us with your request.
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