World traveled organist to perform concert on historic, 125-year-old Beaver pipe organ

Scott Tady, Beaver County Times
·2 min read

BEAVER ― World traveled musician Michael Kearney invites you to his Oct. 11 organ concert on a very special instrument.

Kearney will perform at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beaver, playing a historic 1898 A. B. Felgemaker & Co. pipe organ, built in Erie and originally installed in a Rochester church.

"Beaver County is so fortunate that this instrument has survived and is still in excellent condition," Kearney, a Long Island native and Monaca resident who has played organ concerts on historic instruments across the U.S. and in Europe, said. "For an organ of less than 400 pipes to have such a diversity of beautiful voices is incredible, and the acoustics at Holy Trinity are magnificent."

Michael Kearney will perform on a historic pipe organ in Beaver.
Michael Kearney will perform on a historic pipe organ in Beaver.

The 7 p.m. concert will feature music by J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, Louis Vierne, contemporary Dutch composers and others.

"I tried to pick pieces that will show off a few of the wonderful sound combinations it can make. I hope this concert will lead listeners toward a newfound appreciation for the beautiful diversity of the pipe organ, both within and beyond church services," Kearney said.

Admission is free with a freewill offering and reception to follow at the church, at 1098 Third St.

Michael Kearney.
Michael Kearney.

An organist, pianist and composer with his own YouTube channel, Kearney brings a passion for the Psalms set to music. He accompanied the Genevans, the student choir of Geneva College, on tours of Northern Ireland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Philippines and Malaysia.

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"I am really looking forward to this concert," he said. "Aficionados of pipe organ history tend to say that the three most damaging forces to historic organs are fire, water and money. Many churches had the money to replace their pipe organs in the 20th century with newer electrically assisted means of playing. But they sacrificed the sensitive musicality of mechanical-action organs in the process. Now those electro-pneumatic instruments are failing, and many churches don't have the money to repair them. Meanwhile, pipe organ builders are going back to building new mechanical instruments that resemble this one in terms of historic methods of construction. There is an older and larger organ by the same builder (Felgemaker) in Pittsburgh, but it is currently unplayable."

Michael Kearney rehearsing on the pipe organ at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beaver.
Michael Kearney rehearsing on the pipe organ at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beaver.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Watch a concert performed on a Beaver church's 125-year-old pipe organ