October 7, 7:30 PM
2025 marks the 165th anniversary of Maine’s largest 19th-Century tracker-action pipe organ, E. & G. G. Hook’s magnificent Opus 288 at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor. The St. John’s Organ Society, is pleased to announce that James Kennerley, a Boston-based English organist and composer, will play a concert on the historic organ at St. John’s on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. He will play selections composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn, and an original improvisation on submitted themes. St. John’s Catholic Church is located at 207 York Street in Bangor. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
Hailed by Bloomberg News as “a great organist” of “phenomenal technique and sheer musicality,” James Kennerley is a conductor, organist, vocalist, and composer known for his virtuosic and imaginative performances. He has appeared at major venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington National Cathedral, Saint Paul’s Cathedral (London), and Westminster Abbey, and his popular YouTube performances have attracted millions of views worldwide. His playing is distinguished by thrilling virtuosity, inventive improvisation, and musical sensitivity.
Appointed Municipal Organist of Portland, Maine, in 2017, Mr. Kennerley continues a distinguished tradition of civic organists dating back to 1912. In this role, he presents concerts on the Kotzschmar Organ and serves as Artistic Director of the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ, one of the nation’s leading organizations devoted to the promotion of the organ and its music. He is also Artistic Director of Saint Mary Schola, Maine’s professional early music ensemble, and Minister of Music at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in Falmouth.
Mr. Kennerley maintains an active international career as both performer and conductor, with recent appearances at Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum’s MetLiveArts series, and the Lincoln Center White Light Festival. He has toured widely across the United States and Europe, collaborated with renowned early music ensembles, and conducted major choral-orchestral works in concert and recording. A prize-winning composer and specialist in improvisation, he brings a unique blend of historical expertise and creative innovation to his versatile concert programming.For more information, visit https://hookopus288.org/.
