See Award-Winning Organist Thierry Escaich Perform In Our Lady Of Refuge’s Final Fall Concert

Thierry Escaich, a French musician often hailed as one of the world’s greatest organists, will play a single New York City concert at Our Lady of Refuge (2020 Foster Avenue) on Friday, November 21 at 7:30pm.

The concert, which marks the final show in the church’s fall music series, will feature composed music and improvisation with a choir, as well as showcase Our Lady of Refuge’s beautifully restored vintage Kilgen pipe organ.

Our Lady of Refuge’s Joe Vitacco let us know Escaich will be playing works by César Franck, Maurice Duruflé and Charles Tournemire, and the musician’s image will be projected on a 10-foot screen so all can watch him play. Plus, you’ll be able to hear the professional vocal ensemble The Salvatones accompanying Escaichs.

Joe let us know that:

This is Mr. Escaich’s only concert appearance in New York City this Fall, and for people who want to hear one of the recognized great composers and improvisers of our time this is an opportunity not to be missed. Thierry Escaich has been lauded in Le Monde, Gramophone, Guardian and many other main stream media publications. In an article published October 2014 in L’Express titled “Les nouveaux génies français”,Escaich was called a “Prince de l’harmonie”. He has been honored with commissions to compose works for The New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and the New York City Ballet, to name a few.

Joe also mentioned that when Our Lady of Refuge reached out to people for its fundraising campaign to pay for the organ’s restoration, “they said the instrument would be used to enrich the cultural lives of the people of the city,” which he noted, the church continues to do.

“With each concert since the organ’s re-inauguration, the audience has been building in size,” Joe wrote to us. “A recent silent-film program with organ accompaniment generated a nearly full house. Come experience the sound of the restored pipe organ, of which Michael Barone, host of the nationally syndicated radio program Pipedreams said, ‘[it]..is quite extraordinary, and its restoration revealed a surprisingly versatile instrument which, despite its modest specification, has been proven capable of playing a wide variety of music in an authoritative and compelling way.'”

You can purchase advance $15 tickets through November 18 at 12pm here, or remaining tickets will be available at the door for $20.