Concerts celebrating the homecoming of the Kotzschmar Organ to Merrill Auditorium begin on Saturday, September 27, with Peter Richard Conte, Grand Court Organist of the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, and Portland’s own Municipal Organist Ray Cornils and the Kotzschmar Festival Brass. The season will feature showings of silent films including 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera on Halloween (costume contest included), a hymn festival in collaboration with the Portland AGO chapter and the Salvation Army, family concerts, and the 25th anniversary of “Christmas with Cornils—A Kotzschmar Christmas.”
The year-long renovation of the Kotzschmar Organ was completed in August, and was featured on the cover of the August issue of The Diapason.
Since its installation in the auditorium in 1912, the Kotzschmar Organ is now in the charge of Portland’s tenth municipal organist, Ray Cornils. Although the organ belongs to the city, the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ (FOKO) is a non-profit organization that has secured and provided funding for Kotzschmar-related events, educational programs, and maintenance since 1981. For information: www.foko.org.
