Cherry Rhodes, a world-renowned concert organist and the first American to win an international organ competition, will lead the Glatter-Goetz/Rosales organ’s 20th birthday celebration with fellow organist and husband Ladd Thomas at the Claremont United Church of Christ, 233 W. Harrison?Ave., at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.

The program will feature a variety of music styles and color combinations to showcase the range and tonal design of the organ and will be followed by a catered dinner. Ms. Rhodes will play classical pieces like J.S. Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in e minor, BWV 548” and Jose Lidon’s “Four Pieces for the Mass.”

Mr. Thomas, chair of the organ department at the University of Southern California, will join Ms. Rhodes in a performance of Claude Debussy’s “Prelude, Aria, and Dance.” He will also speak at the dinner about being an influential figure in the development of the Glatter-Goetz/Rosales organ.

Ms. Rhodes debuted her music career at age 17 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she’s received Fulbright and Rockefeller grants, taught organ at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and recorded her own solo album with the Pro Organo label.

Ms. Rhodes has toured extensively, performing at prestigious cathedrals, churches and concert halls like the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Royal Festival Hall in London. She was also one of the first organists to perform in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, premiering “Concierto de Los Angeles” by James Hopkins with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Ms. Rhodes currently adjudicates organ competitions in North America and Europe and teaches organ alongside Mr. Thomas at USC.

Mr. Thomas has been an organist at the First United Methodist Church of Glendale for 58 years. In 2015, Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Thomas won the Distinguished Artist Award from The American Guild of Organists Endowment Fund. 

Suggested donations are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. Dinner by reservation is $35. For reservations, call CUCC at (909) 626-1201 or visit claremontucc.org.