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All-Beethoven concert to celebrate renovated church

Leora Zeitlin

Beethoven is coming to Las Cruces this Sunday to help celebrate the completion of major renovations at First Presbyterian Church. A special concert will feature musicians from the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra and pianist Stephen Helmreich, performing Beethoven’s Wind Quintet in E-flat, Op. 16 and the ever-popular Septet in E-flat, Op. 20. Horn player William Kuyper and fellow musician Janet Loman, who chaired the church’s renovations committee, came to KRWG to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the multi-year effort to improve the acoustics, lighting and functionality of the church sanctuary, and the works to be performed in the concert.

Kuyper, who played horn with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 38 years, also recounts a story of an ill-fated attempt to perform Beethoven’s Septet at Iguazu Falls, on the border between Brazil and Argentina. “They didn’t get to hear the glory of my horn,” he quipped, “but we certainly enjoyed Iguazu!”

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