I am not an organist. Four months ago, I couldn’t pronounce the word “diapason,” and I’ll admit that I’m still fuzzy on what it means. Nonetheless, I’ve collaborated with Eastman faculty and students this past year to present “Tuesday Pipes,” a free concert series at Christ Church, to the Rochester community. I’ve loved every minute of it, and I’m eager to bring in new audiences who might be thinking that organ music is only for Sundays and wedding ceremonies.
Christ Church, located on East Avenue just a few hundred feet from the Eastman School, houses two of Rochester’s most prized instruments. The Craighead-Saunders Organ is a scientific process reconstruction of an instrument that still exists today in Vilnius, Lithuania, created by the central German organ builder Adam Gottlob Casparini in 1776. Completed after six years of research into eighteenth-century organ design, it is perhaps the only instrument in the United States where one can hear the music of Bach sounding like, well, the music of Bach—as he would have heard it. On the other side of the pews, the Hook & Hastings Organ represents the American Romantic tradition, featuring original pipes from 1862 and 1893. As someone who has dedicated his life to classical performance, I can’t express how thrilling it is to experience what this music really sounded like at the turn of the twentieth century.
Tuesday Pipes concerts are short, eclectic, and free! Every Tuesday afternoon, I make the quick walk over to Christ Church and catch rare performances by Eastman organ faculty, alumni, and students. Feeling at home among a core group of weekly attendees, I’ve listened to composers as diverse as Bach, Vierne, Saint-Saëns, and Karg-Elert. Concerts are unaffiliated with church services; these are purely musical experiences.
So, whether you’re on lunch break or simply looking for a quick taste of Eastman culture, don’t miss out on one of the most engaging concert series in Rochester. If Christ Church isn’t your usual Sunday morning destination, then that’s all the more reason to come out and experience the depth of what the organ—and our organists—can do.
What: Tuesday Pipes
Where: Christ Church, 141 East Ave, Rochester, NY, 14604
When: Tuesdays, 12:10-12:35pm
Admission: Free
For more information, visit our events page or email Myles Boothroyd at miles.boothroyd@gmail.com.