Las Vegas Weekly

Give a little organ for the holidays

Hot out of the recording studio: Dorothy Young Riess’s “Organ Recital 2009.”

You’re shopping for a CD, a little holiday gift for someone special, and thinking, “I want something local and classical. An organ recording would be great. A fugue by Bach would be even better. Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner would top off the compilation.”

What a coincidence. Musician Dorothy Young Riess releases her latest CD this week, Organ Recital 2009.

Recorded live, the CD includes 10 pieces, including works by Dieterich Buxtehude and Niccolo Paganini.

If you’ve missed Young Riess’s performances on the Rudolf von Beckerath organ at UNLV (you did, didn’t you?) or need more of a sample before making a financial commitment, she’s performing Sunday at the First Christian Church holiday concert. CDs will be sold for $10.

An active member in the local organ community, the 78-year-old organist started piano at age four, began the organ at 16 and was a protégé of Mildred Andrews, studied with Marcel Dupre in Paris and gigged all over Europe, including a two-year stint at the American Church in Rome.

Sunday’s concert comes on the heels of the holiday concert of the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The concert was presented on the von Beckerath to a packed house, including younger audiences. That means you, Weekly readers. Or should we say, future organ fans?