Piedmont concert part of Notre Dame celebration

DEMOREST - Want to be part of a worldwide celebration of the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris? You can, with an organ concert at Piedmont College in Demorest May 5. The concert is free and everyone is invited.

Piedmont President James Mellichamp will present a special concert on the college's Sewell Pipe Organ at 4:00 in the Center for Worship and Music. The concert is one of 850 similar concerts that will be held around the world in May.

Organists who have performed on the concert series at Notre Dame in years past were invited to participate in the event.

"Piedmont College is proud to be a part of this great celebration as one
of the international concerts in the 'Jour mondial de l'orgue 2013' ('World Organ Day 2013') sponsored by Notre Dame Cathedral," Mellichamp said. "Designated concerts were to include musical selections from across the centuries and composed by musicians at Notre Dame."

For the Demorest concert, Mellichamp has selected works by Louis Vierne and Pierre Cochereau. Vierne, a blind organist and prolific composer, was from 1900 until his death in 1937 organist at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.