In this 2011 file photo, Tandy Reussner, a Ph.D concert organist, practices for the Organ Vespers concert to benefit local charities.

As a child, Tandy Reussner had her heart set on being a doctor when she grew up. She met that goal, although not exactly in a medical way.

Dr. Reussner, whose career playing the organ has spanned almost 30 years, has a Musical Arts Ph.D. in Organ Performance from Kansas University. The winner of several national organ competitions, Reussner plays the organ for First Christian Church’s traditional service and gives concerts through the year. She also gives a yearly holiday benefit concert that is marking its 17th year.

The organ vespers began as a shorter “pre-vespers” concert at the Bales Organ Recital Hall, before the annual KU Vespers concert. Reussner and her husband, Dr. Lee Reussner, created an endowed scholarship for organ students, for which the vespers was held as a benefit. In 2011, Reussner moved the organ vespers to First United Methodist Church in downtown Lawrence and has invited other musicians to participate, such as choral groups from local high schools and the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Medical Staff Men’s Choir. This year, the concert is held as a benefit for Family Promise and the LMH Endowment Association.

And for those who stereotype organ music as dull or dark, they only need come one time to the concert to be amazed at the versatility of the organ, called the “king of instruments.” The organ can produce a huge array of instrumental sounds, all controlled by the organist through the hand keyboard, the foot keyboard and various stops and pistons, not to mention the swell and crescendo pedals.

“The organ has so much to offer to the audience, but we have to meet them where they are,” Reussner says. “Most people won’t connect with the academic, esoteric pieces, and if people don’t relate to the music, then the music will die. But there is a balance — making organ music approachable, but not sloppy or cheap.”

Spirited, fun pieces are interspersed with holiday classics, many of which Reussner has personally arranged or transcribed. This takes a tremendous amount of time, but when songs like “Sleigh Ride” come alive in a symphonic orchestra on the organ, Reussner is gratified. She gives significant time and thought to the concert each year, beginning the process during the summer months by considering the theme and pieces for that year’s concert.

“In order to make sure the program engages the audience and keeps their attention, I choose the pieces very carefully and think about the flow, one piece to another,” Reussner said. “Mood, logical progression and ease of logistics are all carefully chosen so that folks can come away from the concert feeling like they had a respite from the busyness of the season and that all that is good about Christmas has been restored. It’s part of the art of performing that I absolute love.”