Experience 8 days of organ music during ASU concert series

Two organs. Four performers. Eight days.

The 2025–26 organ season hosted by Arizona State University's School of Music, Dance and Theatre will feature “Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow and Soft as Possible)" by the pioneering composer John Cage.

“ASLSP” began as a piano work commissioned for the 1985 University of Maryland Piano Festival and Competition (now the William Kapell Competition). The title, an abbreviation of the phrase “as slow and soft as possible,” refers to “Soft morning, city! Lsp!” — the first exclamations in the last paragraph of “Finnegans Wake” by James Joyce. There is currently a 639-year performance of the piece taking place in Halberstadt, Germany.

In honor of this tradition, the ASU production will be a 192-hour continuous performance presented by Goldman Professor of Organ Kimberly Marshall and guest organists Christopher Anderson (Southern Methodist University), Diane Luchese (Towson University) and ASU alumnus Alexander Meszler ('20 DMA) who will join her for six-hour shifts on each of the eight days from Jan. 7–15, 2026.

“The highlight of this year’s season is the performance of John Cage’s ‘Organ2/ASLSP,’” Marshall said. “It will be a unique experience and the longest performance by living organists of which I am aware.”

The event will be held at ASU Organ Hall, where both the Fritts (1991) and the Traeri (1742) organs will be used, adding another dimension to the experience with the 250-year difference between the construction dates of the instruments. The hall will be open for auditors from 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Jan. 7–14 and until 12 p.m. on Jan. 15 when the performance ends. The 192-hour concert is also being planned as a continuous livestream.

Marshall said the full organ season spans seven centuries and explores the organ as a sound machine that creates astonishing sounds and textures. The season repertoire includes works of the 20th century alongside the music of Bach, both for solo organ and for voices accompanied by the organ.

Another highlight of the 2025–26 season is a program by the ASU Organ Studio that explores the legacy of blind organists, from 14th-century Italian composer Francesco Landini to renowned French organists of the 20th century.

In addition to the regular season, Marshall and the studio will welcome in the holiday season with a special gala concert on Dec. 6.

The ASU organ program offers comprehensive instruction that encompasses the entire spectrum of organ repertoire and performance techniques.

“We are committed to the rich history of the instrument and to sharing its sounds with our local and global communities,” Marshall said. “Playing the organ is still a vital music career. All my students have positions working in local churches, and they also present concerts and teach piano and organ to their own students. It’s a thriving world for organists!”

“Visions of Heaven and Earth”
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2:30 p.m.
Kimberly Marshall, organist
Tickets

Goldman Professor of Organ Kimberly Marshall presents a thematic program including works by J. S. Bach, Dieterich Buxtehude and Jehan Alain. The program will also include two movements from Robert Bates’ “Arizona Visions,” composed for the inauguration of the ASU Fritts organ in 1992.

John Cage’s “Organ2/ASLSP” 
Jan. 7–15, 2026, noon
Kimberly Marshall, organist
Guest organists: Christopher Anderson, Diane Luchese and Alexander Meszler
Free

Goldman Professor of Organ Kimberly Marshall and three organist colleagues will present John Cage’s "Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow and Soft as Possible)." The eight movements will be performed continuously over the eight-day period.

“Bach  bAch   baCh   bacH”
Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, 2:30 p.m.
Stefan Engels, guest organist
Tickets

Stefan Engels, organ professor at Southern Methodist University, presents an all-Bach concert, divided into four equal parts. The varying capital letters inside the name (B-A-C-H) function as representations for the tonality of the pieces and to show the different colors of the temperament of the organ.

This concert is co-sponsored by the Central Arizona Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

“Singing with Bach”
Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, 2:30 p.m. 
Kimberly Marshall, organist
Stephanie Weiss and Nathan Myers, vocalists
Tickets

ASU voice faculty Stephanie Weiss, associate professor of voice, and Nathan Myers, associate professor of voice, join Kimberly Marshall for a program of Bach’s vocal music.

“Curse or Gift?”
Music by blind organists from the 14th through the 20th centuries 
Sunday, March 1, 2026, 2:30 p.m. 
ASU Organ Studio

The ASU Organ Studio presents a program tracing the contributions of blind organists from Francesco Landini in the 14th century through French organists in the 20th century.