Organ recital Sunday

Organist Carlton T. Russell will play a recital in Cole Memorial Chapel at Wheaton College on Sunday, October 4, at 7:30 p.m. The program will consist of music by Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901), a German composer considered in his lifetime the equal of Bruckner and Brahms. The event will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the college's large Casavant pipe organ.

Russell, professor of music emeritus, taught at Wheaton for 41 years and was college organist from 1963 to 2005, at which time he and his wife Lorna Brookes Russell retired to Stockton Springs, Maine. The Russells, who served for more than 33 years as organists and choir directors at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wrentham, Mass., are still musically active as ministers of music at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Blue Hill, Maine, and in a Baroque chamber ensemble, The Somerset Consort.

Russell recently has been elected dean of the Bangor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and is the instructor for the Organ Education Program launched last spring by Belfast area clergy to encourage piano students to study the organ, and to assist church pianists who want further training in organ playing.

Wheaton College's pipe organ was funded by a $100,000 gift from the late Catherine Filene Shouse '18, as well as support from other donors. It is in the style of 18th-century German instruments, with mechanical ("tracker") key action, and comprises 39 stops totaling around 2,600 pipes. It was installed and dedicated in the fall of 1969.

There is no admission charge for the recital, but there will be an opportunity to contribute to the Carlton T. Russell Organ Fund. The fund was  established in 2004 by family and friends to help support periodic restoration and renovation of the organ. Cole Memorial Chapel is handicap accessible.

For directions to Wheaton College, go to www.wheatoncollege.edu/About/Driving.html. For a complete online arts calendar, go to www.wheatoncollege.edu/arts. For more information and updates call the arts information line at 508-286-3300 or email arts@wheatoncollege.edu.