PORT TOWNSEND — At long last, Elwood “Woody” Bernas will come to Trinity United Methodist Church this Thursday for a debut of the church’s newly completed replica of an 18th-century Gottfried Silbermann Baroque organ.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. Candlelight Concert at Trinity, 609 Taylor St. uptown.
Admission is a suggested $10 donation, while children are invited to come free. Refreshments will be served afterward.
“Trinity is fortunate to have two pipe organs,” said concert coordinator Dan Purnell.
Its 1902 Mudler organ has been heard before, but Thursday will see the first performance on the Silbermann Baroque instrument.
A modern copy of one built by Silbermann in 1735 in Reinhardtsgrimma, Germany, the organ is designed to play the music of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and other Baroque composers.
It was built on-site at Trinity with parts from various places across the United States.
It has taken more than five years to assemble the 22 ranks of about 2,000 pipes, noted Purnell.
On Thursday night, Bernas will play the music of Buxtehude and Bach, including preludes and fugues and chorale preludes, to exploit the variety of tonal combinations possible on the Silbermann organ.
“This concert will offer listeners a rare opportunity to travel back in time,” the musician said, to hear music from these 17th- and 18th-century composers on an instrument that sounds much like the organs they played.
Bernas, who has studied with teachers at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James in Chicago and the Cathedral of St. Paul, Minn., was asked in 2010 to play a series of recitals in Stockholm, Sweden.
His performance at the Marcussen and Sons organ in St. Jacob Church there was recorded and released on the CD “Live in Stockholm.”
The disc will be available for purchase after Thursday’s performance.
Proceeds from the Candlelight Concert series benefit local charities and Trinity’s music and historic Victorian restoration program. For more details on these monthly concerts, phone 360-774-1644.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
