Archives: Events

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.

August 17:  Abraham Ross (Montreal, QC)

Abraham Ross (Montreal, QC) performs music of Charles Ives, J. K. Paine, G. E. Whiting, and Florence Price as part of St. John’s Organ Society's 30th Summer Recital Series. Ross enjoys an active career as a concert organist, harpsichordist, and director, presenting imaginative programmes informed by the most recent research on performance practice, technology, and musicological context. 

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 10: Paul Griffin (organ) and Sophia Anastasi Griffin (soprano) (Washington, DC)

Paul Griffin (organ) and Sophia Anastasi Griffin (soprano) (Washington, DC) performing music of J. S. Bach, Louis Vierne, and Giacomo Puccini as part of St. John’s Organ Society's 30th Summer Recital Series. Paul now serves St. Peter School in Capitol Hill D.C. as Music Teacher/Director of Choirs and The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land as organist. Sophia is a professional vocalist based in Washington, DC.

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 3:  Rosalind Mohnsen (Boston, MA)

Rosalind Mohnsen (Malden, MA) performs works of Dudley Buck, Horatio Parker, and Florence Price as part of St. John’s Organ Society's 30th Summer Recital Series. She is Director of Music and Organist at Immaculate Conception Church of Malden/Medford, Massachusetts. 

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.

July 27:  Joshua Ehlebracht (New Haven, CT)

Joshua Ehlebracht (New Haven, CT) performing works of J. Nicolaus Bruhns, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker as part of St. John’s Organ Society's 30th Summer Recital Series.

Ehlebracht recently received his master’s degree in organ performance from the Yale School of Music. 

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.