Chapter Events

Fall Chapter Meeting!

Organ & Clavichord: Companions for Centuries

Presented by Kevin Birch

November 7

Saturday

9:30am Refreshments with "Meet and Greet"

10am - 12 noon Presentation

Site: Woodfords Church (UCC)

202 Woodford Street

Portland, Maine

Ready for an hour of quiet music as it might have been enjoyed in the inner chambers of a late 17th-Century musical household?

“Organ and Clavichord: Companions for Centuries,” with Kevin Birch, Executive Director of St. John's Organ Society and Director of Music/Organist at St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Bangor, takes us on a journey of musical discovery with keyboard music of the 17th and 18th Centuries on clavichords by Martin Kather (Hamburg – 2020) after Praetorius (1621), Andreas Hermert (Berlin -2023) after an anonymous Austrian clavichord (c. 1700), and Jeremy Adams (Danvers, MA – 1996) after Manuel de Sousa Carniero (1796).

The most popular domestic keyboard instrument of the Baroque era, the clavichord was and is to this day prized for its delicacy and expressive range. Birch’s program, which will begin with a discussion and demonstration of the instruments’ mechanisms, will feature music of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Krieger, Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Let us know if you plan to attend!

Portland, Maine

The Portland Chapter opened their program year with a meeting and luncheon at the home of chapter member Ray Cornils and David Belleville in West Bath, Maine. The members and guests were delighted to hear a presentation of the new Noack Organ, Opus 166 (2022). Didier Grassin, organ builder/ President of Noack company and Ray Cornils shared the planning and design of this unique home organ. Many members also enjoyed a chance to play on the console of this new instrument. Our active Portland chapter this year is working diligently to support their chapter members and new musicians in the southern Maine area. This year we are establishing a chapter “Sharing” music library with both organ and choral music for local churches and musicians.

Paul Schnell, Dean

Portland Maine AGO

Presentation by James Woodman with a lecture/demonstration which examined 20th and 21st century repertoire for the small organ from a contemporary composer's point of view. Music included selections from Carl Nielsen, Herbert Howells, Charles Tournemire, Daniel Pinkham, and James Woodman.