Bangor, Berlin organists plan a musical exchange

BANGOR – Summer is the traditional season for organ music in Europe. Shoppers at bustling outdoor markets take a break from the warm temperatures and heated haggles with vendors to listen to organs playing in the cool shade of a nearby church.

A Bangor organist familiar with this scene will be the face behind the music at three of these summer concerts.

Kevin Birch, music director at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York St., will travel to Berlin on July 16-19 to perform on a historic organ similar to the one housed in St. John’s since 1860.

He will swap his role in the summer concert series at St. John’s with German musician Gunter Kennel.

Although Birch, a University of Maine faculty member, once studied at the Sweelnick Conservatory in Amsterdam, it was his association with the grand E. & G.G. Hook organ that sparked Kennel’s interest in the trans-Atlantic exchange, Birch said.

Built by prominent brothers Elias and George G. Hook of Boston, the organ debuted at St. John’s on Christmas Eve in 1860 after traveling up the Penobscot River on the steamship Kennebec. Then the largest organ in the state, the instrument was considered luxurious, Birch said.

“It’s a classic vintage American organ, the very best of its time,” Birch said. “It’s a very rare survivor.”

Kennel, who has a doctorate in theology and teaches at Humbolt-University Berlin, will perform in Bangor in September. Birch described him as a brilliant organist who will make a distinct impression in his performance at St. John’s.

“He’s a world-class organist with great energy and technique. He will bring a program to play on this organ that will be, I think, quite unique,” he said.

The cousin organ on which Birch will perform this summer was shipped to Heilige Kreutz, a Berlin church, after being salvaged from a church in Woburn, Mass., in 2001, Birch said.

Unlike many historic organs, neither instrument has been modernized, preserving their original structure and sound, he said.

“I think they just left well enough alone, which is, I think, very wise stewardship with an old artifact like this,” he said.

Such vintage organs rarely made their way out of the country during the pre-Civil War era, Birch said, making the Hook instrument one of only two great historic organs on the European continent.

“A great American organ, through this odd coincidence, found its way into a great European city,” he said.

Beyond planning for this summer’s cross-cultural exchange, Birch said, he hopes St. John’s harmonious affiliation with Kennel remains strong. “I hope this continues to be an ongoing relationship,” he said.

The distinctive American sound and construction of the Hook organ make it even more special at its home in Berlin, Birch said.

Birch looks forward to getting a taste of German culture in his second performance in Berlin, where he will perform on a 1723 Wagner organ. “It will be great to play on an organ that Bach would’ve played,” he said.