A celebrity organ recital by Martin Sturm is being given this Saturday (22) at a city centre church.

Martin, winner of the Tournemire Prize for improvisation at the 50th Anniversary St Albans International Organ competitions in 2013, returns to St Albans with a programme of improvisations ranging in style from jazz to symphonic and music by composers from JS Bach to John Cage.

Martin’s career as a performer and composer now takes him to many important venues throughout Europe which he combines with teaching at the International Organ Academy Max Reger and the University of Würzburg.

The recital is being held at 5.30pm in St Peter’s Church and starts with a set of jazz improvisations before continuing with music by Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schoenberg and extracts from JS Bach’s Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue.

A highlight of the programme will be John Cage’s Organ²/ASLSP – ASLAP standing for as slow as possible. Cage does not specify just how slowly it should be played though and there is a performance taking place in Germany which is scheduled to last for 639 years.

Bringing the recital to aclose is Max Reger’s Choral Fantasy, which ends with a song of praise played with the sound of the full organ.

Entry to the recital is free with a retiring collection in aid of the International Organ Festival Society.