Town #45 Simsbury

Friday, May 1, 2009
Anne Laver, organist, at First Church of Christ * Metro Bis

Another organ concert, and this one was excellent! It was at the First Church of Christ in Simsbury. It is large and beautiful, with a balcony wrapping around three sides of the sanctuary. Most of the attendees sat there, as did we, because the organ is there, and seeing the organist’s hands and feet adds to the enjoyment of the sound. The organist was Anne Laver, the 2005 winner of the competition for the Charlotte Hoyt Bagnall Scholarship. She is pursuing a doctorate in musical arts at Eastman School of Music in Rochester. She is highly professional and played confidently and beautifully. Her pieces were enhanced with her explanations of their history and place in the liturgical year. She played Bach, Demessieux, Widor, Heinrich, Albright, and Vierne. There were between 40 and 50 people there including a former coworker of mine and his wife. There was a small reception after and we felt very welcomed by the members of the church and enjoyed chatting with several of them and with the organist’s mother, who lives in Woodstock.

We had had a late lunch and no supper before the recital, so we found a bite to eat at Metro Bis, a gourmet bistro in town. It was late, 9:15, but we squeezed in before they closed at 9:30. We both had and shared two appetizers (goat cheese and potato tart and crispy Thai spring rolls), a Caesar salad, and two desserts (vanilla panna cotta and chocolate ganache)—everything except the entrée. Every item was superbly presented and absolutely delicious. I have wanted to go there for many years and it was wonderful, finally, to do so.

Town #44 Middletown

Saturday, April 18, 2009
O'Rourke's Diner * Joshua Brown, organist, at First United Methodist Church

We started this trip with dinner at O’Rourke’s Diner. We had been to the old one (the one that burned down), but because this was a brand new building—it opened in February 2009—we felt justified in counting this as our first visit there. Their supper offerings are limited, but we were happy with the sandwiches and fries (Bob had sweet potato fries). The diner appears to be close to a carbon copy of the old one, except the seating isn’t quite as tight as it used to be.

The main reason for the trip was an organ concert at First United Methodist Church. It was easy to find and was fairly well attended. They have two organ concerts per year to raise money for their fund to restore and refurbish their Kilgen organ. The organist who performed tonight, Joshua Brown, is the grandson of two of the church’s members. The organ is fairly small, but Mr. Brown got some nice sounds out of it. We weren’t enamored of much of his program but particularly enjoyed one of Bach’s “Easter Chorales” and the Nimrod from Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” There was a reception following the concert and we had our dessert there.

Town #16 Thomaston

Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thomaston Opera House * Black Rock Tavern

Simon Gledhill, from England, performed on the theater organ at Thomaston Opera House. He is also an investment banker and is on a two-week U.S. tour. Mike Foley sent us the announcement of the performance and we met the group there that we see at his concerts. The concert was good, but overall we found theater music a little redundant after a while. Maybe it was just Gledhill's style. We got tickets online for $18 each. The theater is old and quaint and offers various performances during the year.

Afterward, our group went to the Black Rock Tavern, a short walk from the opera house. Service was very slow, as though they didn’t expect the crowd from the opera house. The food was good, but the French fries were very salty. Bob had a pork and cheddar sandwich and I had a warm beef sandwich. ($58 for performance and food) (Jan)

Town #12 Portland

Sunday, February 10, 2008
First Congregational Church of Portland, organ concert with Angela Salcedo

We haven’t heard Angela play in six or seven years, since she was the organist at the Storrs church, at which time she gave her first concert since studying in France. She’s now at the Glastonbury church. Today’s concert, at the First Congregational Church of Portland, included Franck and Duruflé; she still likes the French organ composers. She did an excellent job and got great sound from what was, surprisingly, a very small organ.

We saw a familiar face there—Kasha, the harpist we saw last night with the Wild Notes. It turns out she is the organist at the Portland church! ($20) (Jan)

Town #4 West Hartford (visit #1)

Sunday, January 13, 2008
St. James Episcopal Church, organ concert with Jason Roberts

(Note: When we visit a town for a second event, we will go back to the first entry and edit that title to show it was the first of multiple visits.)

We are pipe organ concert chasers, and attend as many as we can. We went to a concert featuring Jason Roberts, organist at St. James Episcopal Church, in a performance for his doctoral degree. It was an excellent concert. We heard another B.A.C.H. piece, this time composed by Miloš Sokola. The church was not as ornate as many typical Episcopal churches we've seen, but had beautiful stained glass windows and was finished in oak in simple lines and paneling. It was too bad there were so few attendees. (Bob)