The HISTORIC ORGAN FOUNDATION presents a Gala Fundraiser Concert to benefit the restoration of the pipe organs at Our Lady of Refuge (Brooklyn), and Boston's own Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Gala Concert will be held on Friday evening, October 5 at 7:30 PM at Church of the Advent, 30 Brimmer Street on Beacon Hill in Boston.
Several of Boston's finest organists will perform on Church of the Advent's magnificent Aeolian-Skinner Organ with all the proceeds being split between the two organ restoration projects. Harvard University's composer-in-residence Carson Cooman has written "Boston Fantasia" which will be premiered in this concert. Other Boston organists include Leo Abbott, Heinrich Christensen, Jonathan B. Hall, Harry Lyn Huff, Rosalind Mohnsen, Mark Edward Nelson, Lois Regestein, Lee Ridgway, and Brandon Santini. Works featured in this concert range from 16th-century composer Thomas Aberg through Marchand and Bach to Widor, Sowerby, Saint-Saens, Howells and the contemporary works of Calvin Hampton.
Distinguished organist Mark Dwyer will play five hymns from the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 to be sung by all present at the benefit concert. A $200 restoration gift per hymn will give each donor a CD of their chosen hymn following the concert.
Cathedral of the Holy Cross's landmark Hook & Hastings organ, Opus 801 is the largest surviving example of the artistry of that Boston firm. When it was completed in 1875, Opus 801 was the largest pipe organ in America. The organ has 5292 pipes and boasts 39 ranks of mixtures, a cornet on every division, and 13 ranks of reed pipes, including three reed stops which were manufactured in Paris by Henri Zimmerman.
Advance purchase tickets are available at http://www.olrbrooklyn.org/pipeorgan/oct-5-2012/ -- Tickets for the concert only are $18 ($30 at the door); tickets for the recital and gala reception are just $38 in advance ($70 at the door). For further information, please call 617-913-8647 or visit the Historic Organ Foundation at http://www.olrbrooklyn.org/pipeorgan/oct-5-2012/.
