Two organ stylists to share the stage

Tony Monaco and Rhonda Edgington will present an organ concert titled “Tony and Rhonda Go to Church” on Thursday, Feb. 9. The event will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts. Admission is free, and the performance is open to the public.

The concert is set to feature music of composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Marcel Drupre, Willian Bolcom, Ad Wammes, Henry Martin and Johannes Matthias Michael. Monaco will be playing the Hammond B3, and Edgington will perform on the Casavant Frères (Casavant Brothers) pipe organ.

Monaco has been an artist-in-residence at Hope since 2014, and he released his first CD in 2000. The album entitled “Burnin’ Grooves” has eight international releases, and Monaco has since been on many tours around the world. In 2007, he celebrated his 40th year as a musician and appeared on the cover of Keyboard Magazine.

Monaco has also performed for various festivals, clinics and workshops. His most recent albums include “New Adventures” and “Groove: Blue.”
Edington is a West Michigan native and is an active concert organist, church musician and chamber musician. She is also an active supporter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and was dean of the student chapter while pursuing her master’s at Indiana University. Furthermore, she later served on the Chicago AGO board and also worked with the 2006 Convention Planning Committee.

Holland residents may recognize her as she now serves as organist and assistant music director at Hope Church and accompanies for the Hope College Department of Music. Her newest CD entitled “Subtley and Sparkle” was recorded on the Walh Organ at Augustana Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL. In addition, Edington is featured on an album titled “Baroque Christmas in Hamburg” with the students of Hochschule fuer Kuenste in Bremen, Germany.

The performance’s location, the Jack H. Miller Center, is located on 221 Columbia Ave., between 9th and 10th streets. Come support the organists.