Blackstone Residence Pipe Organ
Bratenahl, Ohio USA
Kerl Paukert -- excerpts from Wilma Salisbury
Born in the village of Skutec, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), on January 1, 1935, Paukert studied oboe and organ at the Prague Conservatory. Because of repressive Stalinist policies during his youth, he had little access to forward-looking 20th-century music. Yet, he managed to acquire forbidden recordings and scores, and he developed an insatiable hunger for new music. In 1961, Paukert broke through the Iron Curtain by obtaining permission to become principal oboist of a symphony orchestra in Iceland. After his stint in Reykjavik, he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, Belgium. In 1964, he entered an international improvisation competition in Haarlem, Holland, which led to an invitation to make his American debut in Chicago. Following a national tour, he was invited to study and teach at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he met his future wife, soprano Noriko Fujii.
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Before coming to Cleveland, Paukert taught at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and directed the music program at that city's St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. At the Cleveland Museum of Art, he played at more than 800 recitals and organ demonstrations, commissioned music from local and international composers, mounted the daring Aki Festival of New Music and accompanied instruments as diverse as synthesizer and Chinese erhu. His eclectic repertoire, often performed from memory, ranged from obscure Czech music to the latest avant-garde experiments.
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In addition to his duties at the museum, Paukert headed the organ department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and advised the Jesuits in charge of music at John Carroll University. Since 1979, he has directed the music program at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where he continued to perform recitals and present guest artists after his retirement from the museum in 2005.
Hungarian Cultural Garden Benefit
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens, soon to be 35 and among them the Hungarian Cultural Garden, are situated along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and East Blvd that run through Rockefeller Park, a 254 acre tranquil ravine the spans the 2 miles between the cultural center of University Circle on the south and Bratenal on Lake Erie on the north. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation is the group of volunteers who have created, maintained and improved the Gardens over the years. They have established a theme of the Gardens “Peace through mutual understanding” to showcase that Cleveland’s diversity can lead to peaceful coexistence.
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The Hungarian Cultural Garden was established in 1934 and first dedicated on the 123rd anniversary of the birth of the composer Franz Liszt. The completed garden was dedicated on July 10, 1938, featuring statues of author and dramatist Imre Madach and poet Endre Edy.
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The Hungarian Cultural Garden Gala Organ Concert will take place at the Blackstone Residence 9721 Lakeshore Blvd, Bratenahl, Ohio on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 4:00 P.M. Send check for $100, minimum donation, to Cleveland Hugarian Cultural Garden c/o Carolyn Balogh; 9810 Music St., Novelty, Ohio 44072.
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Program
Lucia Markovich, piano
Il Lamento in A flat major Ference Liszt
Ivan Zenaty, violin (Giuseppe Guarmeri del Gesu, made in 1740)
Chacoone, from Partita in D minor J. S. Bach
Karel Paukert, organ
Toccata and Fugue in F minor Bedrich Antonin Wiedermann
Improvisation on themes by Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok
Prelude and Fugue on the name of BACH Ference Liszt
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