From 2-inch flute pipes to 16-foot bombastic trumpet pedal tones, Nantucket’s six pipe organs will resound during the 34th Annual Nantucket Community Music Center’s (NCMC) Organ Crawl on Saturday, October 11.
For this celebration of the dynamic musical range of the pipe organ, the “king of instruments” as coined by Mozart, Nantucket’s four organists, Jeff Cutts, Kezia Duarte, Joe Hammer and Isaiah Williams will be joined by internationally renowned concert organists and composers Carson Cooman, and Paul Fey.
Carson Cooman, composer-in-residence at Harvard Memorial Church and a frequent Organ Crawl participant, has hundreds of music compositions in print and tours frequently throughout Europe. Paul Fey (as in “high”), a young German organist, composer, and YouTuber with more than 85,000 subscribers, will bring his engaging and charismatic personality to exploring what a Nantucket organ can do. Fey will also present a concert on Friday, October 10, at 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Church (Episcopal). The concert is free.
The current Organ Crawl schedule, with 20-minute performances at each church and 10-minute “crawling” between, is:
- 9:30am St. Mary’s Catholic Church (Bigelow organ, 2001); Kezia Duarte
- 10:00am First Congregational Church, Old North Vestry (Roche organ, 1989); Jeff Cutts and Isaiah Williams
- 10:30am First Congregational Church, Summer Sanctuary (Steere organ, 1904); Jeff Cutts and Isaiah Williams
- 11:00am United Methodist Church (Appleton organ, 1831); Joe Hammer
- 11:30am Unitarian-Universalist Meeting House (Goodrich organ, 1831); Paul Fey
- 12:00 noon St. Paul’s Church (Episcopal) (Hutchings-Votey organ,1902); Carson Cooman
The Organ Crawl is presented free of charge, with donations accepted.
Nantucket is the only location in the United States where 100% of the pipe organs are mechanical-action (no electricity is used to play the instrument, other than for blowers providing the wind and music rack lights). It is also the location of the oldest American-built organ still in use for worship services and performances – the Unitarian-Universalist Meeting House’s 1831 William Goodrich instrument.
Founded in 1975, the Nantucket Community Music Center (NCMC) is committed to fostering a vibrant music culture on the island through education, performance, and preservation. The annual Pipe Organ Crawl is one of many events NCMC offers to engage the community in celebrating Nantucket’s rich musical heritage while providing music education opportunities for our island’s youth.
Photos courtesy of NCMC