Bangor concert series to feature famous pre-Civil War Hook organ

BANGOR – St. John’s Organ Society will present its 14th annual summer concert series on the E&GG Hook organ, opus 288, considered one of America’s great historic pipe organs.

Each free concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York St.

The tracker organ was made by Boston brothers Elias and George G. Hook, then shipped up the Penobscot River in 1860 to be installed at the church. It is one of the largest pre-Civil War organs in the country, played in a church with some of the finest acoustics in the state.

The concerts are scheduled for Thursdays except for the Fourth of July concert, which will be held on Tuesday.

. “American Music to Celebrate Independence Day,” Tuesday, July 4.

. “Program of American Composers,” organist George Bozeman of Deerfield, N.H., who has done restoration work on the organ off and on over the years, Thursday, July 13.

. “Works of Bach, Barber, Buck, Franck, Mozart, Woodman and Tournemire,” organist Diane Luchese, Thursday, July 20.

. “Works of Bach, Barber, Buck, Franck and Frescobaldi,” St. John’s organist Kevin Birch, Thursday, July 27.

“Works of Ellington, Joplin, Rheinberger and More,” organist Richard Hill, Thursday, Aug. 3.

. “A Program of French Composers,” organist Carlton T. Russell, Thursday, Aug. 10.

. “Works of Andriessen, Menotti, Parry, Saint-Saens and Parry,” organist Steve Burgess, Thursday, Aug. 17.

. “Works of Bach, Buxtehude, Clerambault, Dvorak and Pachelbel,” organist George Becker, Thursday, Aug. 24.

. “Music for Trumpet and Organ,” organist Scott Vaillancourt and trumpeter Jack Burt, Thursday, Aug 31.

John Fesperman of the Smithsonian Institution has called the organ “a musical monument of great importance,” while the Organ Historical Society’s Alan Laufman has described it as “a national treasure.”

For more information, call Dr. Kevin Birch, director, at 942-6941, or visit the St. John’s Organ Society Web page at www.hookopus288.org.