2021 Fall International Concert

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to present concert and recording artist, Christa Rakich (Bloomfield, Connecticut), on the historic E. & G. G. Hook organ, Opus 288 (1860) at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 7:30pm.

Rakich has performed widely throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. She currently serves as Visiting Professor of Organ at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Near her home in Connecticut, she maintains two Artist-in-Residencies: St. John’s Episcopal Church in West Hartford and the Congregational Church of Somers. Past Artist-in-Residencies have included the University of Pennsylvania and First Lutheran Church in Boston.  As a Fulbright Scholar, Christa Rakich studied with renowned Bach interpreter Anton Heiller at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Organ and German from Oberlin College (Phi Beta Kappa).  After receipt of her Master’s degree with honors from New England Conservatory, she joined the faculty there, where she taught for many years, serving ultimately as department co-chair. She has also served on the faculties at Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut, and as Assistant University Organist at Harvard. 

An eager collaborator, Christa Rakich, with her colleague Susan Ferré, is a frequent performer at the Big Moose Bach Festival in New Hampshire. With flutist Wendy Rolfe and gambist Alice Robbins, she is a founding member of the Marion Baroque Ensemble, based in Massachusetts, and was for many years keyboardist for the Fanfare Consort, a Connecticut-based ensemble that included baroque trumpet, strings, lute, organ, and harpsichord. 

Rakich also serves as Vice-President of the Boston Clavichord Society. One of her recent concerts for that organization included a performance of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony on 2 clavichords, with clavichordist Erica Johnson. With cellist Kathleen Schiano, Rakich commissioned and premiered Sonatas for Organ and Cello by Dutch composer Margaretha Christina de Jong and American James Woodman.

A prizewinner at international organ competitions, Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach. She has recorded his Clavierübung III, Leipzig Chorales, and Trio Sonatas. Other organ recordings include Deferred Voices: Organ Music by Women Composers, Transcriptions from St. Justin’s, Live from St. Mark’s Cathedral, From the Ashes: Richards-Fowkes Opus 21 in Somers, and A Tribute to Yuko Hayashi: Richards-Fowkes Opus 14 at Duke University.

For more information, and for free downloads of her compositions, please visit www.christarakich.com. 

St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.

Admission is free.  Donations are appreciated.