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Squirrel Island completes first summer organ resident program

February 9, 2011
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The Community Chapel on Squirrel Island, Maine, has completed its first summer organ resident program. The island has approximately 100 summer residences, whose families arrive at the beginning of each summer by ferry from Boothbay Harbor. Many families are now in the sixth generation of Squirrel Island residency. In addition to a town hall, tea shop, post office, and a wonderful library, a central focus of the island community is the chapel, which was built in 1882.
In 1976 a new organ was installed in the chapel, replacing an electronic instrument that had begun to succumb to the effects of moist salt air. The new instrument was Opus 12 of the Bozeman-Gibson & Company firm, then located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Before installation on the island, the organ was briefly erected at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston, where it was heard by some 2,000 attendees of the 1976 Boston AGO convention in a performance of the Chandos Anthems and an organ concerto of Handel, with the Handel & Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dunn, and Barbara Bruns playing the organ.
When the organ was installed on Squirrel Island in 1976, there were four organists who summered with their families on the island: Elizabeth (“Cheeky”) Draper, Jeremiah Newbury, George Spaeth, and Andy Dupree. Through the years this roster has dwindled; only Jerry Newbury and George Spaeth are still playing on occasion. In recent years, a professional organist from the mainland was hired for some Sunday worship services, and there have been a number of guest organists. The chapel has a tradition of supplying the pulpit with a different guest preacher each Sunday. There is no resident pastor; the services are non-denominational. There has usually been a solo organ recital each summer selected from a roster of well-known organists. But last year the idea of inviting bids from musicians who could spend much of the summer on the island, playing for Sunday services, organizing a choir, and presenting some concerts, was put into action. Notices were sent to the appropriate organ journals, and from a group of applicants Tim Pyper was chosen for the initial summer of 2010.
Hailing from Toronto, Pyper is currently completing a doctorate at Cornell University. He studied with David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music, and also with well-known teachers in Toronto and elsewhere. He began in September 2010 as interim director of music at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary. For the Calgary Organ Festival and Symposium, Pyper performed 20th-century British organ music on September 30.
In addition to playing for Sunday services and directing a choir, Pyper arranged for three performances. On July 22 he played a solo recital of organ music by Buxtehude, Frescobaldi, and Pachelbel. On August 12, a solo recital was devoted to works of Bach. A gala concert on August 3 featured musicians who were attending the Bowdoin International Music Festival in nearby Brunswick, Maine. Justyna Jara of Poland, 1st violin, Ingrid Capparelli Gerling of Brazil, 2nd violin, Gerald Wawrzyek of Chicago, viola, and Nathan Haley of London, cello, performed the Allegro from Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” quartet. Solo works for violin and for cello included music by J. S. Bach and Fritz Kreisler; and Etudes-Caprices by Henryk Wieniawski featured a violin duet. The program ended with the Organ Concerto in A Major by Michel Corrette. A near-capacity audience made the chapel ring with enthusiastic applause.
It was quite apparent that the Squirrel Islanders were very pleased with the results of the first summer of their organ resident project. The organizers are looking forward to reviewing applicants for the summer of 2011. Notices are going out soliciting applications this fall. Organ students interested in the 2011 Squirrel Island Organ Residency should contact Martha Mayo at <[email protected]> for more information.
George Bozeman

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