The Capelle Meisters classical organ concert series continues at Westminster College with Dr. William Porter Friday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Wallace Memorial Chapel.

"Dr. William Porter of the Eastman School of Music is a big name in organ circles," said Dr. Elizabeth Harrison, assistant professor of music and college organist at Westminster.  "He has performed thousands of recitals in the United States, Europe, and Asia.  His world-famous improvisations attract huge audiences because he can extemporize on the spot at the organ and creates an incredibly appealing piece of music that will only be heard in that one instance.  One of his improvisations will feature the Westminster Hymn."

Westminster College recently received a $1,851 grant from the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance for partial support of Capelle Meisters, a classical organ concert series being offered by the Department of Music through the new Western Pennsylvania Cultural Arts Center.

"The title of our series, Capelle Meisters, is taken from music history. The word "Capelle" means chapel and the word "Meisters" means masters. Historically Capellemeisters were the musicians who composed and performed for weekly and sometimes daily worship services and during the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and were considered the most outstanding musicians," Harrison said.

"Following that tradition, our Capelle Meisters brings some of our country's best musicians to our campus to perform a wide variety of church music using the organ in our chapel. We feel incredibly privileged to have received this grant and to offer this series to Westminster and to the surrounding community!"

This project is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, the regional arts funding partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency. State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania's General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance.

 The concert is free and open to the public, but a free-will offering will be collected.  For more information, contact Harrison at (724) 946-7024 or e-mail harrisea@westminster.edu.

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