Pulling out all the stops for organists convention

Youngstown has more than its fair share of pipe organs, and they will be put to the test when a regional convention of the American Guild of Organists comes to the city in the summer of 2017.

More than 300 organists and guests from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky will converge on the city July 2-5, 2017. The weekend will include recitals and concerts, workshops, master classes, lectures, silent films and a young artists competition. The concerts, by the way, will be open to the public.

It will mark the first time since 1926 that the biennial (that means it’s held every other year) Great Lakes Regional Convention of the AGO will be in Youngstown.

Adam Zagotti, dean of the Youngstown chapter, said his group threw its name in the ring as a convention host in 2012, and was granted the honor last year.

The venues will include Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Wick Avenue; Trinity United Methodist Church, Front Street, downtown; Stambaugh Auditorium; St. Patrick’s Church, Oakhill Avenue; St. Columba Cathedral, Wood Street; Christ Episcopal Church, Warren; and Youngstown State University.

Convention-goers will stay at the Boardman Holiday Inn and will be bused from venue to venue.

Zagotti said visitors also will be shown the city’s highlights, such as the Butler museum. City officials and the Visitors Bureau are working with Zagotti’s committee to show the city’s best side.

THIS AND THAT

Focus on filmmakers: That delegation from Odyssey Motion Pictures of Los Angeles that visited Youngstown last weekend liked what it saw. The group scouted locations and also met with city and county officials to discuss funding opportunities.

“They liked the locations, and now they have to go back and run the financials,” said Councilman Mike Ray, who characterized the visit as “introductory.” Ray, who represented the city on a recent trip to a film market in LA, expects that decisions will be made in a few months.

Valley band eliminated: Mine, the South Range High School band that was the Valley’s sole representative in this year’s High School Rock Off in Cleveland, performed Saturday in the first round at the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but failed to advance.

SounDoctrine making noise: SounDoctrine, the excellent Youngstown-based jazz fusion band, will mark a few milestones this spring. The act will make its debut at Night Town, the well-known jazz club on Cleveland’s East Side, on March 25. It will be the band’s first gig since the release of its new album, “Source.”

SounDoctrine will mark its 15th anniversary May 20 by releasing “Perseverance 2.0,” a reimagined version of its debut album.

Calvin Center fundraiser: Details will be released soon for an event at Calvin Center, featuring several bands, that will raise money to replace the building’s roof. Calvin Center, at 755 Mahoning Ave, near downtown Youngstown, is a former school building that now houses Rust Belt Theater Company, Tribe of Eos belly dance, a basketball league and studio space.