The Grand Finale

On Palm Sunday at 3:00 p.m., St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish invites the Charlestown community to a concert featuring the historic Woodberry & Harris Opus 100 pipe organ, a remarkable instrument scheduled for extensive restoration, but not before its upcoming performance with three renowned organists.

This tracker organ was unique when installed in St. Mary’s Church in 1892. Franz Mayer & Company, the German manufacturer of the church’s stained glass windows, had constructed a large, beautiful piece behind the organ loft, and this prompted builders to divide the organ’s 2,000-plus pipes in cases on either side of the fixture.

On a modern electric pipe organ, keys signal a blower to send pressurized air through a set of pipes. On the Church’s organ, the blower is the only electrical component, but mechanically linked to keys and pedals to trigger the pipes. Some of the pipes are the size of pencils, and some are the size of cannons.

The organ is used for hundreds of masses, funerals, weddings, and concerts per year. Its ability to withstand so much wear and tear after more than a century demonstrates its remarkable craftsmanship.

Palm Sunday’s 3:00 p.m. concert and meditation features the performances of renowned organists Jonathan Wessler, Tom Sheehan, and Peter Sykes, with baritone Robert Honeysucker. Attendees will enjoy a selection of Bach, Widor, Mendelssohn, Sullivan, and African-American spirituals. This will be the last Parish concert before the Woodberry & Harris Opus 100 is silenced for a lengthy restoration of the instrument’s action and winding. When the project is complete, the rich and robust sounds of St. Mary’s cherished pipe organ will draw the admiration of churchgoers for years to come.

The concert is free and all are welcome. St. Mary’s Church is located on 55 Warren Street in Charlestown. Handicap accessibility is via Soley Street entrance.