2025 Festival | June 8–15, 2025
Organ Mini-Festival
Thursday, June 12 | First Lutheran Church, Boston
Join us at the First Lutheran Church, home to the magnificent Richards, Fowkes & Co. Opus 10 organ, and enjoy three programs from leading virtuosos.
9AM | Kola Owolabi, organ
The Voice of the Organ: Manifestations of Power and Love
Professor of Organ at the University of Notre Dame, Kola Owolabi has performed throughout the United States and Europe and has released three solo recordings. He makes his BEMF début in a program celebrating both the power of music, and the pipe organ as the voice of that power: from Lutheran hymns that refer both to God’s power and his love, to themes of unrequited love in Peter Philips’s Le rossignuol, his setting of a Lassus chanson, to the tremendous power a composer like Handel held over those who performed under his direction.
11:30AM | Catalina Vicens, organetto with Trio Mediæval
Riches d’amour
The 14th century saw the organ rise as a powerful symbol of the Catholic Church, embodying both its authority and its divine message. The portative organ, a more portable version of the instrument, played a significant role in spreading the Church’s influence beyond its walls. With its ability to accompany both sacred liturgies and secular celebrations, it reflected the organ’s dual nature: a divine instrument of power and an instrument of joy. Catalina Vicens combines a vibrant international career as a soloist and researcher. She is joined by the voices of Trio Mediæval in a program that explores the dual role of the organ with selections from the Rossi and Las Huelgas Codices, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, and Francesco Landini.
2PM | Erica Johnson organ
Reflection and Transformation: Struggles in Power and Love
College Organist for Wellesley College, Erica Johnson has enjoyed a distinguished career as a church musician, performer, and instructor of the organ. For her BEMF début, she explores a programmatic reflection of power and love for the organ. From a biblical reordering of power, to the reform of corruption, and the scorn of love, the keyboard repertoire of the 16th to 18th centuries mirrors the struggles of a hierarchical society. The expressive power of this music is reflected not only in the subject matter but also in the rich tapestry of keyboard figuration.