Event preview
Concerts are an hour in length and are followed by a dessert reception. There is a suggested donation of $15 for each recital. Dress is casual.
Christopher Houlihan, featured organist
7:30 p.m. June 19
All Saints’ Episcopal Church
634 W. Peachtree St. N.W.
Jack Mitchener, associate professor of organ, Mercer University
7: 30 p.m. June 26
Cathedral of St. Philip
2744 Peachtree Road N.W.
Isabelle Demers, assistant professor of organ, Baylor University
7:30 p.m. July 17
Cathedral of Christ the King
2699 Peachtree Road N.E.
7:30 p.m. July 24
Olivier Latry, titular organist, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, France
7:30 p.m. July 24
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church
3180 Peachtree Road N.E.
There’s the hugely popular Atlanta Jazz Festival and Music Midtown, events that draw thousands of music lovers.
But it’s a lesser-known festival that allows you to release your inner Bach.
While the 19th annual Summer Organ Festival may not draw the throngs of Atlanta’s better-known music events, it maintains a steady and devoted following of classical music fans.
“During the summer there is not a lot happening on the classical music scene in Atlanta,” said Timothy Gunter, one of the festival’s organizers and coordinator for music at the Cathedral of St. Philip.
Helping make Gunter’s point, the Atlanta Opera focuses more on community engagement projects in the summer and doesn’t put on main stage productions, spokeswoman Emily Genetelli said. The main stage season begins in October.
The festival’s hourlong recitals are held at four churches on four Wednesdays. This year, it begins at 7:30 p.m. June 19 at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 634 W. Peachtree St. N.W., and will feature organist Christopher Houlihan.
Each recital typically attracts between 100 and 300 people. The suggested donation is $15 per concert.
The festival typically attracts a diverse following, although organ music may not be for everyone.
“I always think that it’s sad that people who really might like organ music are sometimes not necessarily churchgoers,” said Timothy Wissler, organist at the Cathedral of Christ the King. “This is a way for us to open our churches for people to come in and enjoy these beautiful spaces and great music. We may not have the glitz (of a jazz festival) . This is clearly a niche.”
Even those who find no appeal in the music could be amazed by the instruments.
“I can honestly say each pipe organ is unique,” Wissler said. “There are no two in existence that are exactly alike because they are built for a specific space and whatever building they are in becomes their case.”
Outside of the cost of the church building itself, a pipe organ may be the congregation’s most expensive expenditure, Gunter said. And perhaps its most complex.
The organ at the Cathedral of St. Philip, for instance, was installed in 1962 and has 6,400 pipes, “give or take a few.”
Organ music is typically associated with churches and symphony halls. Although there are other organ festivals in the United States, they perhaps have a wider audience in Europe, where many of the early great organists lived.
One of the most well-known festivals and competitions is the biennial St. Albans International Organ Festival in England, which was founded in 1963 and attracts some of the world’s leading musicians and performers.
In the United States, “it may take a little bit more advertising and a little bit more effort” to draw large audiences, but things are better today than they were a few years ago, said John McElliott, president of Ohio-based Karen McFarlane Artists, which represents many concert organists.
“It’s not a big business by any means,” he said, “but it’s consistent.”
About the Author
