Please join us for The Manton Memorial Organ Inaugural Festival
The Manton Memorial Organ by Pascal Quoirin of St. Didier, France, is the first French-built pipe organ ever installed in New York City. With its 6,183 pipes, 95 stops, 111 ranks, 2 consoles, and 7 keyboards, it is the largest French organ built anywhere in almost 50 years.
The organ’s remarkable sound qualities impress both the novice and experienced listener, with an extraordinary dynamic range from ethereal and delicate to powerful and profound. The organ has a coloristic palate that expresses the clarity of Baroque masterworks, the virtually infinite nuance of 19th and 20th Century French masters, and offers the versatility demanded by the works of today and the future.
Calendar of Events
- Sunday, 1 May 2011, 4:00 p.m.
- Service of dedication, a Festal Eucharist and blessing of the new organ, with the choir of Church of the Ascension. Dennis Keene will conduct as well as play works of Duruflé, J.S. Bach, and French Baroque composers.
- Thursday, 5 May 2011, 8:00 p.m.
- Gala dedicatory recital by internationally acclaimed organist Jon Gillock, with French 19th and 20th century music (Dupré, Franck, Cochereau, Vierne, Tournemire, Duruflé, Langlais, Messiaen).
- Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 8:00 p.m.
- First inaugural organ-choral event, by Voices of Ascension Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Dennis Keene, featuring the organ in French works (Duruflé Requiem and music by Fauré, Poulenc, Boulanger, others).
- Thursday, 26 May 2011, 8:00 p.m.
- Second inaugural recital by Francis Chapelet, featuring Baroque works from France, Spain and Germany (works by Raison, DuMage, J.S. Bach, and Spanish Baroque composers).
- Wednesday, 8 June 2011, 8:00 p.m.
- Second inaugural organ-choral event, by Voices of Ascension Chorus conducted by Dennis Keene, in a concert entitled “Pipes and Voices” (Kodály Missa Brevis, Parry I Was Glad, the world premiere of Chiayu’s Five Essences for solo organ, and winners of the 2011 Sorel Composition Competition).
- Thursday, 16 June 2011, 8:00 p.m.
- Third inaugural recital by Christoph Bossert, featuring German repertory (J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Reger, and others).
- Monday, 20 June – Friday, 24 June 2011
- First annual Organ Academy. For the inaugural year, the faculty and the focus of repertory will be all-French, from early Baroque through Messiaen.