Organ Gala! BSO organist James David Christie & Friends, Nov 10 at St Cecilia Church

Chesapeake Organ Company hosts Organ Gala! on Sunday, November 10 at 3 PM at St Cecilia Church, 18 Belvidere Street in Boston. Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra — James David Christie, organ; Robert Sheena, oboe & English horn; and Elizabeth Ostling, flute, with tenor Michal Calmès —  join together in the glorious acoustics of the historic and newly renovated St. Cecilia Church in Boston's Back Bay.  James David Christie will showcase the four-manual, 3000-pipe 1999 Smith & Gilbert Organ, which will also be featured at the 2014 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists.

The dazzling concert program features works by French, Belgian, and American masters of the 20th- and 21st-century, including solo organ works by Ropartz and Alain performed by Mr Christie, and instrumental works by Berthier, Roesgen-Champion, Callahan and Peeters featuring Mr Sheena and Ms Ostling.  Tenor soloist Michael Calmès will sing arias and motets by Tournemire, Martin, Alain and Poulenc.  This concert will be a stunning musical display in one of Boston’s most glorious sacred spaces — a rare and unique opportunity not to be missed!

Admission to this gala concert is by suggested donation of $15, $10 for students and seniors.  St Cecilia Church is handicap-accessible, and is located just a few minutes from the MBTA's Greenline Hynes/ICA station.  For further information, please call the St Cecilia Parish office, 617-536-4548 (St. Cecilia Parish office) or visit  www.stceciliaboston.org.


ABOUT THE ARTISTS

James David Christie, internationally acclaimed as one of the finest organists of his generation, has served as Organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1978 and has performed and recorded with major symphony and period instrument orchestras around the world. He was the 1979 First Prize winner of the Bruges (Belgium) International Organ Competition and was the first American ever to win First Prize and Prize of the Audience in this prestigious competition. He has given over fifty tours of Europe and also performs regularly in Canada, Asia, Australia and Iceland.

Since 1994 Robert Sheena has been principal English horn for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra. His vocal style of playing has earned him numerous accolades  - “spellbinding” (The Berkshire Eagle), …he gave the melody a “lovely lift”  (The New York Times) and “beautiful solo playing” (The Boston Globe).

Elizabeth Ostling joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as assistant principal flute in September 1994 and was named associate principal flute starting with the 1997-98 season, after having served as acting principal since March 1995. She is also principal flute of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

With a voice praised as “beautiful”…“captivating”…“thrilling”…and “rich,” tenor Michael Calmès has achieved a distinguished record of performances in concerts, recitals, opera and oratorio. Since his Boston Lyric Opera Company debut in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, he has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike in opera and operetta ranging from the sophistication of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos to the comic genius of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.