Midday Masterworks began in 2002 as a quarterly Wednesday noon-hour organ mini-recital series featuring the new 3-manual (keyboards), 39-rank (different sets of pipes/sounds) Berghaus pipe organ of the United Methodist Church of Monroe, Wisconsin. The half-hour programs are themed and include quality music for organ that is enjoyable by all ages.

Custom-built for the church by Berghaus Organ Company of Bellwood, Illinois, the organ represents over 20 years of planning, donations and memorial gifts in becoming a reality. Mark Janssen, whose mother, the late Lottie Dinges, was an organist, chaired the committee that researched the project and selected Berghaus to build the instrument. Installation of the instrument began in late 2001, with voicing finished in early 2002.

The instrument combines the timeless quality of pipes with 21st century technologies, including a console designed with MIDI features and capabilities.

All of the mini-recitals are on the 4th Wednesday of the months (except January 2007) of January, April, July, and October, from 12:15 - 12:45 p.m. They are free and open to the public. Located at 2227 - 4th Street in Monroe, just north of the Monroe Clinic-Hospital, the United Methodist Church has ample parking and is handicapped-accessible. For those interested in lunch before or following the program, Deb recommends the historic Ratskeller Restaurant in the lower level of the Turner Hall of Monroe.

New in 2008 is Midday Masterworks - Reprise! The noontime Midday Masterworks program will be repeated later in the day from 5:30 - 6:00 pm at St. Victor Catholic Church on the new Matthew Ronald Buholzer Memorial Pipe Organ. Same date, same program, but two very different acoustical spaces and two very different instruments...and of course, two different times! If you have a schedule conflict over the noon hour, would enjoy hearing Midday Masterworks in another space or on another instrument, or just can't get enough of Midday Masterworks, this is for you!

Midday Masterworks is enjoying its seventh season in 2008, with the following programs:

January 23, 2008 April 23, 2008 July 23, 2008 October 22, 2008

Totally Toccata - II A Variety of Variations (Mark Brampton Smith, guest organist) Those Fabulous French All That Jazz

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