Anne Laver to perform the 2026 Luther College Benefactor’s Organ Recital

Luther College is proud to present the annual Benefactor’s Organ Recital featuring Syracuse University organist Anne Laver at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22 in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall. The recital is free and open to the public.

Syracuse University organist Anne Laver maintains an active career as concert organist, scholar and pedagogue.

Described by Fanfare magazine as a “complete musician, totally adept and utterly stylish in everything she plays,” Laver maintains an active career as concert organist, scholar and pedagogue. Her programs are tailored to the specific organ at hand and center around themes ranging from the art of variation in 17th-century Germany, to music of women composers, to organ music with live dance.

“I’m so excited to welcome Anne Laver to Luther College. Her inventive programming and extraordinary musicianship will bring the CFL organ to life,” said Alexander Meszler, assistant professor of music at Luther College. “Her program will showcase both the tradition and the future of the instrument, and I’m particularly excited to hear works by Natalie Draper, an up-and-coming composer of note.”

As associate professor of organ and university organist at Syracuse’s Setnor School of Music, Laver has had the pleasure of collaborating with Syracuse colleague and composer Natalie Draper. The pair is in the process of recording eight new works together which will be released later this year.

Laver’s program at Luther on Feb. 22 will sample an “eclectic collection of pieces that explore the art of variation, from Bach’s monumental Passacaglia and Fugue to more modern expressions of the genre,” according to the program notes. Along with two pieces composed by Draper, the program will also include music by American composers Dudley Buck and Carl Haywood, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, Dutch pianist and composer Ad Wammes and Canadian organist Rachel Laurin.

The annual Benefactor’s Organ Recital features outstanding artists of international caliber on Luther’s 42-stop Robert Sipe Organ in the Center for Faith and Life. The concert intends to provide an inspirational role model for current and prospective students who wish to pursue organ or church music study at Luther, as well as offer the community a concert of the highest quality.

This recital is made possible, in part, through the generosity of the William B. Kuhlman Endowment for Organ Performance and the Kathryn Ulvilden Moen Fund for Organ and Church Music. William Kuhlman earned degrees from St. Olaf College and Syracuse University and spent his career as professor of music and college organist at Luther College from 1969 to 2005.

The late Kathryn Ulvilden Moen ’41 earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Luther College and a master’s degree from Northwestern University. She taught for many years at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls and at Luther College.