Some churches may have embraced a more contemporary vibe, but those who play the great pipe organs aren't worried. They embrace the challenge of the complex instrument and delight in its sound, which you can see and hear in the accompanying sound slide show. (Photo by Rachel Heidenry at the Lutheran Church of Webster Gardens)

This is the second of two parts on the pipe organ, in this the International Year of the Organ. To read the article on Wicks Organ Co., click here.

Magnificent, soaring pipe organs have been built for more than 100 years in Highland, Ill. The slideshow with this story highlights the workers and the work that makes Wicks Organ Co. a family affair.

This is the first of two parts. the second will look at the instruments made at Wicks, including some local installations, and comments from organists.

The soprano who has brought to life Elizabeth I and Isolde -- among others -- will be feted on Thursday, and will give back to her home metropolitan area (she lives in Lebanon, Ill.) by appearing on KFUO, singing "God Bless America" at the Cardinals game and signing CDs in Chesterfield. Included with the story is an excerpt from the new CD.

Though Mother Nature forced free concerts off the levee this summer, the Fair St. Louis Foundation says its series was a success. This weekend will bring the 2008 season to a close. Soon organizers must decide whether to move back under the Arch. (Photo from the Umphry's McGee concert by Rachel Heidenry | Beacon)

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra outreach chief Marc C. Thayer is back at home following a three-week cultural adventure in the cities of Erbil and Suleimanya in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. In this last dispatch, Thayer takes a look back at the experiences in classrooms, in homes and in the countryside, while thinking ahead to a year from now when the experiences will be replayed in this fascinating, volatile land.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra community outreach officer Marc Thayer has spent the last few weeks in northern Iraq, where he coached music students in an institute sponsored by American Voices. This organization sets up temporary teaching institutes in areas of conflict. In this letter, he writes from the ancient city of Erbil.

Tuesday night, the musical academy at Suleimanya gave a gala concert, jam-packed with music and people. The temporary academy was sponsored by American Voices, which brings the arts to troubled areas. Wednesday, academy personnel moved south to the ancient city of Erbil. Here is Marc Thayer’s fifth letter written for the Beacon from northern Iraq.

In his fourth letter to Beacon readers from Kurdistan in northern Iraq, St. Louis Symphony outreach director Marc Thayer reports on progress toward a concert by the students. He also takes us up into the mountains to watch a sunset and up the down staircases in a government bureaucracy, demonstrating that the more things are culturally different, the more they are, across the world, pretty much the same.

Wachovia Securities and the St. Louis Symphony Society enter into a three-year arrangement, bringing two major players in the St. Louis establishment into a relationship with potential rewards for both.