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Montreal, Tuesday, May 17, 2022 – Ascension of Our Lord Parish is pleased to announce that Quebec organist Isabelle Demers, formerly the Joyce Bowden Chair of Organ at Baylor University and recently appointed Associate Professor of Organ at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, will give the inaugural concert for the newly restored instrument on Sunday, May 29 at 3:00 p.m. at Ascension of Our Lord Church in Westmount.
Restoration of the Casavant OPUS 1344 organ – Thanks to the generous support of its parishioners and a significant grant of $176,000 received from the Conseil du Patrimoine Religieux du Québec (CPRQ) in June 2021, the Ascension of Our Lord parish has completed the five phases of the restoration of its Casavant OPUS 1344 organ. The restoration consisted of the replacement of the Blower and Bellows, the Console, the restoration, and repair of the Recital, Positif and Solo and finally the Great Organ and Pedal divisions. In addition, a 32′ Counter-Trombone was added to the instrument. Considered by the CPRQ Organ Committee as “of heritage value”, the inaugural concert of this organ was presented on January 13, 1930 by Quebec-born Lynwood Farnham.
The expertise of Casavant Frères – Casavant Frères technicians, under the supervision of Jacquelin Rochette, the firm’s artistic director, came to the Ascension of Our Lord Church to dismantle the church’s Opus 1344 organ console and transport it to their workshop in Saint-Hyacinthe for restoration and refurbishment including the installation of state-of-the-art electronics. Although restoration work has been done periodically over the past fifty years, this is the first time since its installation in 1928 that the console of our Opus 1344 was physically removed from the church.
PROGRAMME
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 146 (trans. Marcel Dupré)
- Charles-Valentin Alkan, Impromptu sur le Choral de Luther, op. 69
- Henry Walford Davies, Solemn Melody (arr. John T. West)
- Rachel Laurin, Introduction and Passacaglia on a Theme by Raymond Daveluy, op. 44
- César Franck, Allegretto from Symphony in D minor, FW 48 (trans. Calvin Hampton)
- Louis Vierne, Symphony No. 1 in D minor, op. 14, Allegro Vivace, Final
Tickets: Free admission — Voluntary offerings
Address: The church is located at the corner of Sherbrooke Street W. and Clarke Avenue in Westmount
Isabelle Demers: http://concertartists.com/artists/isabelle-demers/
Information: https://ascensionofourlord.ca/
About the Church: http://ascensionofourlord.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Ascension_Info_booklet-E.pdf
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
