Clavichord and Organ - Companions for Centuries
Featuring Kevin Birch
(from Bangor, Maine)
2:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 12, 2024
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Berlin, NH
Co-sponsored by NH Chapter AGO & Music in the Great North Woods
Clavichord and Organ - Companions for Centuries
Kevin Birch takes us on a journey of musical discovery performing keyboard music of the 16th and 17th Centuries on two meantone instruments: Martin Kather’s clavichord (2020) after Praetorius (1621) and Gene Bedient’s organ, Opus 37 (1993) at St. Barnabas Episcopal Churchin Berlin, NH.
Birch will perform music of Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584-1654), William Byrd (1543-1623), Johann Caspar vol Kerll (1627-1693), Peter Philips (1560-1628), The Susana van Soldt Manuscript (1599) and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621).
Birch will perform music of Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584-1654), William Byrd (1543-1623), Johann Caspar vol Kerll (1627-1693), Peter Philips (1560-1628), The Susana van Soldt Manuscript (1599) and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621).
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He will introduce the program with a historical overview of the clavichord as a companion to the organ throughout the centuries and discuss and demonstrate Martin Kather’s exquisite realization (2020) of a clavichord depicted in Michael Praetorius’ Syntagma Musicum (1619). This clavichord features quarter-comma meantone tuning and a keyboard with sub-semitones (d#/Eb, G#/Ab, A#, Bb) as well as a short octave with split sharps in the bass.
Kevin Birch began organ studies with Yuko Hayashi on the C. B. Fisk organ at Old West Church in 1979 and earned the Bachelor of Music Degree at New England Conservatory (with Distinction in Performance) in 1987. He continued studies with Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and later with Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa where he earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Since 1992 he has served as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society - a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288, built for St. John’s Church in 1860.
He has performed solo recitals in the US, Canada, Europe, and in South America, and for several national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. He is especially devoted to the many fine historic organs in Maine on which he enjoys frequent opportunities to study and perform.
Kevin is also devoted to the art of the clavichord - an instrument long associated with the organ, especially in Germany and Scandinavia - and is a member of the Dutch Clavichord Society, the German Clavichord Society and the Boston Clavichord Society. Recent projects include solo clavichord recitals for the German Clavichord Society in Cologne, Germany, the Boston Clavichord Society, lecture recitals on “The Clavichord and the Organ - Companions for Centuries” at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH.
Kevin Birch began organ studies with Yuko Hayashi on the C. B. Fisk organ at Old West Church in 1979 and earned the Bachelor of Music Degree at New England Conservatory (with Distinction in Performance) in 1987. He continued studies with Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and later with Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa where he earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Since 1992 he has served as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society - a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288, built for St. John’s Church in 1860.
He has performed solo recitals in the US, Canada, Europe, and in South America, and for several national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. He is especially devoted to the many fine historic organs in Maine on which he enjoys frequent opportunities to study and perform.
Kevin is also devoted to the art of the clavichord - an instrument long associated with the organ, especially in Germany and Scandinavia - and is a member of the Dutch Clavichord Society, the German Clavichord Society and the Boston Clavichord Society. Recent projects include solo clavichord recitals for the German Clavichord Society in Cologne, Germany, the Boston Clavichord Society, lecture recitals on “The Clavichord and the Organ - Companions for Centuries” at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH.
