By Joyce Anderson, for the Chippewa Valley Post
Elaine Mann wanted to do something fun for her friends and community.
And she likes to play Bach.
This combination will be on display for the fifth and final time on Wednesday.
Mann, who serves as church organist at Grace Lutheran Church, thought about performing mini-recitals that could provide a musical break – a brief respite – during our long Chippewa Valley winter days. She saw this as a time to set aside “the noise” of the everyday, and relax into the marvel of Bach arrangements played on the fine Schlicker pipe organ at the church.
It would be free. And informal.
Mann could play a few other pieces as well, but there would always be Bach.
People could stop by the church at 202 W. Grand Ave. during their lunch break, climb the stairs to the balcony with or without their lunch or sit quietly in the space below. For a half hour. And then return to work refreshed.
Her colleagues, Pastor Dean Simpson and Ken Ziehr, thought that Mann should call this “Bach’s lunch” and suggested playfully that it begin and end at irregular times: say 12:12 to 12:42 p.m.
And so it is that the community was invited to “Bach’s Lunch” at Grace Lutheran Church on five successive Wednesdays from 12:12 to 12:42 p.m. The last of these mini-concerts on Wednesday will have “Praise to the Lord” as its theme.
Earlier concert themes were “A Mighty Fortress” (Feb. 17), “O Lamb of God Most Holy” (Feb. 24), “The Lord Is My Shepherd” (Mar. 2) and “Wondrous Love” (Mar. 9).
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Personal Note and Spoiler alert: I’ve had the experience of sitting in Grace’s beautiful space with light filtering through stained glass windows while Elaine Mann played a piece that was first performed in a church somewhere in Europe a few hundred years ago. My adjectival memory: Timeless. Familiar. Complex. Intricate. Moving. Wow!
For a brief time, there is only music floating down across the ages. There is only “awe”.
I plan to be “Bach” for more!