Catch A Preview Of The Organ That World-Renowned Musicians Will Play At Our Lady Of Refuge Concert Series

Organ enthusiast Joe Vitacco, who led the efforts to restore the 1930s Kilgen pipe organ at Our Lady of Refuge Church (2020 Foster Avenue), has sent us a couple videos of the beautifully restored musical instrument – which will be played by world-renowned musicians at a concert series that kicks off Friday, September 5.

Tickets for each of the three concerts will be $15 if purchased online and $20 at the door. If you purchase a ticket online, it will be mailed to you two weeks before the performance. The church has said it is preferred to purchase them online, especially because the events are likely to sell out. They can be purchased online here.

The “Music for Trumpet & Organ” concert on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 pm will feature organist Craig Cramer, an organ professor at the University of Notre Dame, and John Thiessen, who teaches at Juilliard and was described by the New York Times as “the gold standard of Baroque trumpet playing.”

The second concert, on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:30pm, will feature Todd Wilson accompanying the 1925 silent film version of “The Phantom of the Opera” on the organ. Regarded across the country as one of today’s finest concert organists, Wilson serves as head of the Organ Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is the curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at the Severance Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra). He also serves as director of music and worship at Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, where he plays the Flentrop organs.

The final performance will take place Friday, Nov. 21 at 7:30pm. “The Composer Improvises” will feature Thierry Escaich, an organist at the centuries-old Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, which contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris.

For more information about the concert series, email Joe Vitacco at joe.vitacco@olrbrooklyn.org.