InConcert Sierra presents Organist Isabelle Demers on April 17

What: InConcert Sierra presents Organist Isabelle Demers
When: Sunday, April 17, 2011 — 1:15 p.m. pre-concert forum with Dr. Aileen James 2:00 p.m. concert
Where: Seventh-day Adventist Church 12889 Osborne Hill Road (off Hwy. 174) Grass Valley, CA 95945
Cost: $21 general admission & youth ages 17 and under free with adult.

Imagine a petite young woman having the power to shake an entirebuilding and having it resonate right through you.

This very experience awaits concert-goers on Sunday, April 17.InConcert Sierra will present the young virtuosic organist IsabelleDemers, who is becoming quite a sensation on the concert scene today.

Currently finishing her doctorate studies at Juilliard School ofMusic, she is studying under renowned organist Paul Jacobs. She hasalready been booked for 2012 debut solo recitals at both San Francisco’s Davies Hall and Los Angeles’ Disney Hall…and 2011 in
Grass Valley.

Demers performs her recitals from memory, which is not common for organists, and has a fresh approach to programming which includes her own transcriptions of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Wagner’s Overture from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and a Bach Cantata. She will also perform works by Edward Elgar, Maurice Duruflé, and Rachel Laurin.

There will be a large screen above the stage to project Demers’ hands on the keyboard. The organ will be placed with her back to the audience so that her dazzling footwork can be seen. “If you have never watched the footwork of an organist, especially of Isabelle’s caliber, it is like watching a great dancer, simply awe-inspiring,” says Hardin. Because the footwork is so significant, the organ can rarely be learned by anyone younger than 11 or 12 years old, when their feet can reach the pedals. From there, linking the feet to the fingers can consume years of practice.

Demers will perform on an Allen three-manual organ owned by the Grass Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church. There is a reception following the performance to meet Ms. Demers. This concert is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. John Hagele, and the Pleasant Valley Veterinary Center (Steve
Nicholson and Dr. Mimi Vishoot).

Program:
Prelude in Eb-Major BWV 552/1 … J.S. Bach
Cantata BWV 118, “O Jesu Christ, mein Leben’s Licht” … Bach (trans. Demers)
Fugue in Eb-Major BWV 552/2 … Bach
Sicilienne, from Suite op. 5 … Maurice Duruflé
Overture, from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg … Richard Wagner (trans.
Demers)
Allegro Maestoso, from Sonata in G Major … Edward Elgar excerpts from Romeo and Juliet … Sergei Prokofiev
Toccata, from Symphonie #1 op. 38 … Rachel Laurin