Joseph Jongen Mass

Joseph Jongen was born in 1873 in Liege, Belgium and died in 1953. He was admitted to the Liege Conservatoire at the age of seven and graduated in honors in piano and organ. In 1897 he won the Grande Prix de Rome and travelled in Italy, France, and Germany. He was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, and chamber music. His Symphonie Concertante of 1926 was commissioned in the 1920s by Rodman Wanamaker for the rededication of the world's largest pipe organ in the Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia. Due to Mr. Wanamaker's untimely death in 1928, it was not performed on the Wanamaker organ until 2008. Many prominent organists have recorded this piece.

Paul Dredge is very enthusiastic about performing Jongen's Mass for choir, organ, and brass this Saturday with the Spectrum Singers. Their conductor, John W. Ehrlich has performed in the Boston area for over 30 years. He programs the Spectrum Singers to showcase music that is rarely heard, covering the whole spectrum of music, from Renaissance to the present day. www.spectrumsingers.org