Lynn Zeigler, associate professor of music, will present a free concert of organ music this Friday as part of the on-going Faculty Recital Series.

Zeigler will perform “Messe pour les Paroisses” (Masses of the Parishes) by Francois Couperin, a work from the French classical period of the 17th and 18th centuries. Zeigler last performed the work in Honolulu, Hawaii by specific request.

Zeigler’s recital will be held Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Music building.

At the beginning of the concert, Zeigler will explain the intricacies of the unique music and organs used by the French.

“The music is based on the dance of the time, on the rhythms that were present in jigs and gavottes,” Zeigler said.

“Not many people play this music. Most of the time they’ll go to the Germans — and I do too,” she said. “But in Europe, I’m well known for my interpretation of French classical organ tradition, and particularly in the Netherlands and Denmark I’m always requested to play major works.”

“She is an internationally known concert organist and she’s right here at Iowa State,” Kirk Smith, associate professor of music and chair of the ISU music department, said.

“I think that we have the best performing faculty in the state and I think it’s nice for the campus and the community to be able to hear such quality,” Smith said.

Zeigler presents a half-hour musical recital each Monday at 5:20 p.m. in the Recital Room of the music building. The only requirement for the program is that organ music must somehow be involved. Attendance for the recital has been as high as 204.

Previous programs have featured a cowbell, a snake rising from a basket to the sound of oboe music, stage thunder and lightning, and serious Bach organ works. “There is no other like it in the U.S.,” Zeigler said.

Kevin Schilling, associate professor of music, performs with Zeigler as “Basically Baroque,” an artistic partnership that plays baroque music and is now in its 21st year. “The harmonic movement in baroque music is so rich. It’s beautiful music,” Zeigler said.

Schilling said he has learned a lot from Zeigler. “She knows about what you have to do on the organ to play expressively, and it is relevant to other kinds of music, particularly baroque.”

Zeigler’s attitude toward performing crystallized when she was living and teaching in Switzerland. “If when I do a concert I can reach one person, if one particular piece means something very special to someone, then I did my job.

“You can’t be everything to everybody, but if you can reach somebody that is what I’m all about,” she said.

In June, Zeigler will be playing at a monastery in the largest and most influential organ series in the Netherlands.

“Because I’ve been there so many times…I know so many of the Dutch organists. It’s good for me musically, professionally and personally to go over there to exchange new ideas and old ideas with them,” Zeigler said.

Her tour will also include Switzerland and possibly Germany. She is also working on dates for concerts in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Chicago.

Zeigler took a leave of absence two years ago to write a book about her experiences in teaching, concertizing and her approaches to music and to playing.

She said, “I’ve been very, very lucky and because of that I need to share what I know, what I’ve learned, either the hard way or the easy way.”

Zeigler will soon have two CD’s on the market. Proceeds from An Organ Collection from Iowa State University will help fund scholarships for music students.

Her other CD is a double CD of the entire organ version of Bach’s Art of Fugue, produced by Calcante Recordings, Ltd, of Ithaca, NY, can be ordered from Zeigler at 294-2939.