PORT TOWNSEND — Organist Woody Bernas will breathe new life into classical music during an October Candlelight Concert on Thursday at Trinity United Methodist Church.
The peformance will begin at 7 p.m., with the doors to the venue at 609 Taylor St. opening at 6 p.m.
Admission will be by a $10 donation and children will be admitted free.
During his performance, Bernas will perform at the console of a 2,000-pipe replica of a Baroque-era instrument built in 1735 by Gottfried Silbermann in Reinhardsgrimma, Germany.
“This concert will offer listeners a rare opportunity to travel back in time to hear music from the 17th and 18th centuries by composers who were known in their time not only for their excellent writing, but for their skills as performing organists,” Bernas said in a news release.
And, Bernas continued, the music will be performed “on an instrument intended to reproduce the sounds [the composers] would have been familiar with.”
Proceeds of the concert will benefit Port Townsend nonprofit agencies and Trinity’s music and historic Victorian restoration program, according to a news release.
Refreshments will be served following the performance, Bernas’ third at the church.
Bernas will open the program with a piece by William Selby.
Although born in England in 1738, Selby eventually became the organist at King’s Chapel in Boston and organized the very first colonial music festival, according to historians.
Bernas holds a master’s degree in divinity from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, according to his biography.
A former student of William P. Crosbie, canon organist-choirmaster at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James in Chicago, Bernas has more recently studied with Marilyn Biery at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Minnesota.
Bernas is currently the principal organist at Summit Avenue Presbyterian Church in Bremerton and serves as one of two sub-deans for the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
In 2010, Bernas was invited to play a series of recitals in Stockholm, Sweden. His performance at St. Jacob Church was recorded and released under the title “Live in Stockholm.”
This album will available for sale after his Candlelight Concert performance.
For more information, call 360- 774-1644.
________
Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@ peninsuladailynews.com.
