Church of Beethoven, March 8, 2009 Jonathan Wolfe: Fractals, courtesy of Video Artist, Cindy Young

Conceived and developed by cellist Felix Wurman, the Church of Beethoven was born in the domain world on his 49th birthday of 10/27/2007 and made its premier performance three months later, 2/10/08, at the Filling Station on Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Essentially a continuation of Felix' previous creative endeavor, Domus, while he studied in Europe as a young man, his lifelong intent to bring classical music to many people in the community in which he lived was adapted to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when Felix was a cellist in the NM Symphony.  Felix intuited that a change in presentation could give audiences from all walks of life, an intimate experience of classical music and be a catalyst for the coming together of community around his beloved classical music. Soon after the premiere the houses were packed! Church of Beethoven performances are one hour of music, usually from the classical repertoire, spaced by spoken word art, in the forms of poetry, short talks, or compositional readings and a two minute "Celebration of Silence". Together with light refreshment and a relaxed and intimate atmosphere at a reasonable price, works of art can be intimately taken in and considered, as they may have been at the time of their writing and in a way that allows for a deep experience of the art form.
Felix, and his Church of Beethoven, was featured on NPR on 11/15/08: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97010881&sc=ema
In 12/09 and in the prime of his new adventure, we lost our precious Felix to bladder cancer.  Felix' family and friends who were inspired to help Felix' wish for the Church of Beethoven to continue and grow for people of all walks of life with branches in Oak Park IL, Durham, NC, Santa Monica, CA & Tucson, AZ.
We welcome you to join us for performances and to consider starting a Church of Beethoven in your locale! (See pages above for performances and contact.)
You can see more about Felix at felixwurman.org
Cheers, Felix!