Event Archive

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to announce a concert on Thursday, August 29 at 7:30 pm, featuring Anatole Wieck (violin), Sarah Hoskins (cello), & Kevin Birch (organ) (Bangor, Maine) perform music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Gabriel Fauré, and Josef Rheinberger. 

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

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Born in Latvia, Anatole Wieck received his first musical education in Riga and Moscow. In the United States since 1973, he studied violin and viola at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he completed his Doctorate in Musical Arts working closely with Ivan Galamian, Lillian Fuchs, and Paul Doktor. He also studied baroque interpretation with Carol Lieberman at Boston University. He plays baroque viola, viola d’amore and baroque violin. Since 1986 Dr. Wieck has taught upper strings at the University of Maine and conducted the University of Maine Orchestra. He has performed and conducted in Europe, North and South America, and has participated in chamber music festivals such as Chamber Music/West (San Francisco), White Nights (St. Petersburg, Russia) and festivals in Montepulciano, Italy and Newport, Rhode Island. He was a Fulbright Senior Specialist in 2006 in Guatemala.

A collaborative musician at heart, Sarah Hoskins thrives in artistic partnerships of all kinds. While she has performed with musicians, dancers, painters and spoken word artists, chamber music remains her truest delight. She is also a devoted teacher and educator both in the studio as well as the classroom setting.  She was a prize winner in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Society of American Musicians and pursued Cello Performance degrees at Wheaton College and DePaul University. She has recently relocated from Colorado to Maine where she teaches music to K-8 students, assists in church music, maintains a private studio, plays in the Bangor Symphony, and enjoys exploring the trails in Maine with her family of 7.

Kevin Birch began organ studies with Yuko Hayashi on the C. B. Fisk organ at Boston’s Old West Church in 1979 and earned the Bachelor of Music Degree at New England Conservatory (with Distinction in Performance) in 1987.  He continued studies with Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and later with Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa where he earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Since 1992 he has served as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society – a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288, built for St. John’s Church in 1860.  He has performed solo recitals in the US, Canada, Europe, and in South America, and for several national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. 

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to present a concert on Thursday, August 22, at 7:30 pm, featuring Duo Edelen: Christina Scott Edelen (organ) and Fred Edelen (cello) (Bath, ME), performing music of Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Willem de Fesch.

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

Duo Edelen has performed since 1983 in countless concerts in both the US and Europe on both modern and original instruments. Comprised of cello (Baroque and modern) and keyboard (harpsichord, organ, and fortepiano), the duo has won a name for itself through its expressive playing, tonal beauty, and virtuosity.

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to announce an organ concert on Thursday, August 15, at 7:30 pm, featuring Sarah Johnson (New Haven, CT) performing music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Amy Beach, and Horatio Parker.

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

Johnson is the Associate Director of Music at Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven Connecticut, and a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, where she studies with David Higgs. A native of Garland, Maine, Sarah began her organ lessons with Kevin Birch, organist and music director at Saint John’s Catholic Church in Bangor. In her undergraduate degree at Vassar College, she studied organ with Gail Archer and piano with Todd Crow. Sarah holds a Master of Sacred Music from Boston University, where she studied organ with Peter Sykes. Since beginning college, Sarah has performed in New York City at Central Synagogue, in Boston at Old West, Trinity Copley, and Holy Name Parish, in Atlanta at the Cathedral of St. Philip, and recently in Naumburg, Germany at St. Wenzel. She was named an E. Power Biggs Fellow of the Organ Historical Society in 2013 and featured as a rising star and guest recitalist at the 2017 Musforum Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a board member of the Saint John’s Organ Society in Bangor, dedicated to the preservation of E. & G.G. Hook Opus 288, and recently performed on their 29^th annual concert series. Sarah has also performed at Methuen Memorial Music Hall in Methuen, MA on their 74^th and 76^th annual concert series. During her time in Boston, Sarah was Organ Scholar at Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury and Assistant Librarian at the Organ Library of the American Guild of Organists. In Rochester, Sarah was the Organ Assistant (VanDelinder Prize Winner) at Christ Church Episcopal from 2018-2020 and Minister of Music at Church of the Ascension from 2020-2023.

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to present an organ concert on Thursday, August 8, at 7:30 pm, featuring Hentus van Rooyen (Portland, ME) performing music of Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, and Herbert Howells. 

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

Dr. Hentus van Rooyen, a native of South Africa, is Director of Music Ministries at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Cape Elizabeth, ME. Additionally, he teaches Applied Organ lessons at Bowdoin College, and is the chorus master for the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s Magic of Christmas. In April 2024, he appeared as guest director for the St. Mary Schola, Maine’s Premier Early Music Ensemble. Prior to his relocation to Maine in 2022, van Rooyen served as Assistant Professor of Music, Sacred Music Coordinator and College Organist at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS, and served as the Director of Music and Organist at Christ Episcopal Cathedral in Salina, KS.

Van Rooyen holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in organ performance from the University of North Texas. His other degrees in organ performance, pedagogy, and church music were completed at the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa. He has studied organ performance with Jesse Eschbach and Wim Viljoen, and baroque repertoire studies with Paul Leenhouts. For more information about van Rooyen, including upcoming performances, please visit www.hentusvanrooyen.com.

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to an organ concert on Thursday, August 1, at 7:30 pm, featuring Erica Johnson (Walpole, MA) performing music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Josef Rheinberger, and Elizabeth Stirling.

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

Johnson, DMA, is a Boston based organist, keyboardist and church musician. She is the College Organist and Instructor of Organ and Harpsichord at Wellesley College and she has recently been appointed as the Adjunct Organ Instructor for the School of Theology of Boston University for 2024-25. She also serves as the Director of Liturgy and Music at Sacred Heart Parish in Newton Center, MA. Erica is a graduate

of the Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin College (Economics), New England Conservatory, and the Eastman School of Music. As a grant recipient of the Beebe Fund for Musicians she studied an additional two years at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Germany, with Harald Vogel. Her years in Germany yielded two honors: the 2004 International Arp Schnitger Prize awarded by the Arp Schnitger Gesellschaft, and the 2002 NDR Musikpreis. As an organ instructor Erica has taught at the UNC School of the Arts, Salem College, the Oberlin Conservatory, and as a church musician she was Organ Scholar at the Memorial Church of Harvard University from 1999-2001. More recently she has presented programs for the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, the Göteborg International Organ Academy in Sweden, and recitals around New England. In addition to performing she also enjoys serving on juries for organ competitions, including the Arthur Poister Competition and the Boston Bach International Organ Competition.

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

St. John’s Organ Society is pleased to announce an organ recital on Thursday, July 25, at 7:30 pm, featuring Steven Young (Taunton, MA) performing works of Gustav Adolf Merkel, Théodore Dubois, and Charles-Marie Widor.

The concert is part of the 31^st Summer Recital Series on Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor.

Young, DMA, AAGO, is professor emeritus of music at Bridgewater State University.  He serves as Minister of Music/Cantor at First Lutheran Church of Brockton. He maintains an active schedule as a performer, choral adjudicator, and choral clinician.  His research articles have appeared in the Diapason and the Choral Journal.

These hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30.  St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor.  Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

August 31:  Kevin Birch (Bangor, ME)

Kevin Birch (Bangor, Maine) will play music of Louis Marchand, Johann Sebastian Bach, and César Franck as part of St. John’s Organ Society’s 30th Summer Recital Series. Birch serves as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society. 

Featuring gifted artists playing Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor, these hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30. St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

August 24:  Mary-Katherine Fletcher (Boston, MA)

Mary-Katherine Fletcher (Boston, MA) performs music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, and César Franck as part of St. John’s Organ Society’s 30th Summer Recital Series. Fletcher is the director of music and organist at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, MA. 

Featuring gifted artists playing Maine’s largest 19th-Century mechanical-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288, at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor, these hour-long recitals occur on Thursday evenings at 7:30. St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.