? ? [soft classical music]
- My parents had a rule in the household
that whatever the kids picked as a hobby
they had to do until the end of high school,
which puts a lot of pressure on a five-year-old.
Both my sisters chose to play the piano
and were terrible at it.
I used to listen to their piano lessons.
And after they were done, I would go and sit down
and play whatever they were playing by ear.
Now I'm 26
and people are surprised that I play classical music.
I look younger than I am
and I think my age is younger than people would expect.
I need to try to grow out a beard but nothing happens!
? ? [fast classical organ music]
I'm Greg Zelek
and I'm the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra
and the Curator of the Overture Concert Organ.
? ? [fast classical organ music]
It's a very physical instrument.
It's not just your hands, it's also your feet.
? ? [fast classical organ music]
This particular organ, it's very unique to Madison.
The console's moveable,
so we can put it anywhere we want on the stage.
So you can really see the organist doing his thing.
The facade of the pipes and the design
are meant to look like the rolling hills of Wisconsin.
When people come in, they're in awe of it.
? ? [classical organ music]
Inside of the organ chamber, there are 4,040 pipes.
And the reason that there are so many is that
per each individual stop or sound on the organ,
there is a pipe for each note of the keyboard or pedalboard.
They all reside in this moveable chamber
and the whole thing weighs 174 tons.
It is believed to be the largest moveable object
in any theater in the world.
Most of the time,
the only experience people have with the organ
is the "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" at Halloween...
? ? [scary organ music]
...and baseball games.
? ? ["charge" fanfare]
And yet the organ has some of the richest repertoire
in all of classical music.
So how do we get people to come and hear what that is?
[murmuring of crowd]
- You will actually be going just past the bar over there.
- Announcer: Ladies and gentleman,
on behalf of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, welcome!
Thank you for joining us and enjoy the concert.
[applause]
I feel extraordinarily fortunate to be in the situation I'm in,
to be able to share this music with people.
And to be the curator of an organ
in a space like this is unbelievable.
? ? [classical organ music]
There's nothing more engaging to an audience than their sense
that you're having an incredible time doing what you're doing.
And I feel like I have a responsibility to express
that this music is worth listening to.
? ? [dramatic organ music]
I mean I feel proud.
And I want to show everyone around this country
what an incredible thing
that 250,000 Madisonians have at their disposal all the time.
[ending note]
[applause]