BRATTLEBORO-The Estey Organ Museum and Brattleboro Historical Society are partnering to host "EsteyFest," a multi-day festival that includes the biennial gathering of the International Reed Organ Society.
Between Sept. 26 and 30, more than 100 organists and organ enthusiasts from around the world will gather for workshops, lectures, field trips, and musical events. The festival will include public concerts on Sept. 28 and 29, special visiting hours at the Estey Organ Museum and Brattleboro Historical Society, and the opportunity to acquire an antique Estey Organ and be guided through the restoration process.
For over a century, the Estey Organ Company brought music to parlors, churches, lodges, and communities around the world. In addition to manufacturing reed organs, the company designed and built pipe organs in the early 20th century. One of the company's finest extant examples of the 3,000 pipe organs they produced was designed for Brattleboro's First Baptist Church (now Epsilon Spires), where the Estey family worshiped for generations.
Thanks to this year's EsteyFest, the public is invited to experience a variety of performances at Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro that will showcase some of the finest musical instruments built in Brattleboro in the hands of masters from every corner of North America.
On Saturday, Sept, 28, at 7:30 p.m., Boston's Arpeggione Ensemble will lend a spooky touch to the festivities, playing the original score of F.W. Murnau's cult-classic silent film of 1922, Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horrors. Arpeggione's 10-piece chamber orchestra will perform on instruments of the period, including a prominently featured 1920s reed organ, made by Estey, of course! Seating is limited for this event and purchasing advance tickets at epsilonspires.org is highly recommended.
Free concerts on Sunday, Sept. 29, include:
• 1:30 p.m.: Scholar and keyboardist Artis Wodehouse will perform contemporary music specially adapted for Estey reed organs. Wodehouse's program includes the world premiere of a new harmonium sonata composed by Michael Calabris (b.1984), idiomatically suited to the Estey Z56 Artist's Model from 1919 on which she'll perform.
• 3 p.m.: A special Festival Concert will feature two newly restored organs from the Estey Organ Museum collection - a rare 1874 Double Bank organ with two full keyboards and a very grand 1925 Chapel Organ - as well as two organs from private collections - a Philharmonic from 1892, one of the largest single-keyboard reed organs ever built; and a musically exquisite Artist's Model from 1919.
Six organists from the International Reed Organ Society will perform a repertoire written or arranged for reed organs. They will showcase several of Estey's top-of-the-line instruments from various periods of the company's history. The concert organs are on loan from the Estey Organ Museum and private collections.
• 7 p.m.: The day of music will conclude with organist Susan Ferré, who will present a recital of "Music in the Ste. Clotilde Tradition" on the Estey pipe organ at Epsilon Spires. Ferré studied and worked at Ste. Clotilde with organist and composer Jean Langlais. She will perform works from the same period when Estey built organs. Through the music of César Franck, Théodore Dubois, Charles Tournemire, and Langlais, Ferré will showcase the subtlety and power of the Estey pipe organ.
Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) will be live-broadcasting the Artis Wodehouse Talk and the Festival Concert on Sept. 29 at 1:30 and 3 p.m., respectively. They will be live streamed on brattleborotv.org/live/events, BCTV's YouTube channel, Facebook page, and on local Comcast channel 1078.
EsteyFest also offers the opportunity to fix up that old pump organ sitting around. Expert organ restorer Allen Myers will conduct a workshop at the Estey Organ Museum on Sept. 28 entitled "Take Apart a Reed Organ." The program is designed to get the project underway. Simple tools, a mechanical mind, and some spare time are all that is needed.
Participants will receive a written manual and ongoing support. For those without a reed organ, the EOM and BHS will provide a restorable organ for free from their storeroom of antique organs which are seeking new homes. For more information about this opportunity, contact Myers at [email protected].
Between 1852 and 1960, Estey manufactured more than half a million organs, making history as the most prolific organ builder of all time. Many companies across America manufactured reed organs (also called pump organs or harmoniums) at the turn of the 20th century, but Estey organs stood out for their quality - a testament to Brattleboro's skilled workers of yesteryear.
For more information about EsteyFest, visit esteyorganmuseum.org. The Estey Organ Museum is at 108 Birge St. on the site of the historic Estey factory in Brattleboro and open seasonally on Saturdays or by appointment.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.