Saturday, Apr. 18, 10 a.m.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
7650 N. Paseo Del Norte
Tucson, AZ

Step back in time to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and join us in exploring how music, tourism, and ambition transformed the West — and how this legacy still resonates today on a worldwide audience.

Discover how the organ helped redefine the American West. During the golden age of railroad travel, visitors from the East flocked to Salt Lake City, where the Salt Lake Tabernacle and its famed organ became the highlight of their journey. Historical Fact: "By 1901, a regular schedule of daily organ recitals was instituted with rail travelers visiting daily... BY THE THOUSANDS! As railroads promoted these recitals, they helped reshape the image of the West—from rugged and untamed to cultured, beautiful, and inviting. Inspired by this movement, communities across the region — including Tucson — embraced organ music as a symbol of refinement and civic pride, launching their own recital traditions.

Valerie Harris, DEAN, Central Arizona Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (CAZAGO) will present a particularly interesting workshop regarding the intermingling of the development of the Arts, specifically music, in the West in conjunction with the arrival of the railroads. Dean Harris is a concert organist, church musician, presenter and educator, who performs regularly as guest recitalist on the historic Aeolian-Skinner organ at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the Musical Instrument Museum on the 1859 Robjohn organ. She holds a DMA in Organ Performance from Arizona State University, where she studied with Kimberly Marshall. She holds a Master’s in Organ Performance and a Graduate Certificate of Church Music from Shenandoah Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University.

From the roar of the rails to the voice of the organ; one journey, one instrument, one unforgettable story — don’t miss the story which changed the sound of the West forever.