Pipe organ concerts
Weekly series at St. Simon & St. Jude and St. Dunstan’s
St. Dunstan’s Basilica and St. Simon & St. Jude will once again be filled with the sounds of the pipe organ as the churches cohost their summer concert series this month.
Jason Chen will open the series on August 6 and 7 with his first full-length recital, featuring music by Bach, Healy Willan and Widor. A student of Leo Marchildon, this concert is a send-off before Chen begins his organ performance study at Mount Allison University this fall.
On August 13 and 14, Tignish-born soprano Robyn Perry will sing alongside Leo Marchildon in a program centred on the history and impact of the Angelus Church Bells with works by Louis Vierne and other poets and composers who have been inspired by the sequence of the Angelus.
Ottawa baritone Luc Lalonde will be singing selections from Ralph Vaughan William’s “Songs of Travel” and Gustav Holst’s “Vedic Hymns,” accompanied by Marchildon with special arrangements for the organ on August 20 and 21.
The final concerts on August 27 and 28 will welcome visiting organist Devon Turner from Oklahoma who is a specialist in early organ music and who will perform music ranging from Henry Purcell to César Franck.
The hour-long concerts take place on Tuesday evenings at 7 pm at St. Simon & St. Jude in Tignish, and again on Wednesday afternoons at 1 pm at St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown.
Admission is by donation.