BRATTLEBORO — On Jan. 18, at 3 p.m., the Estey Organ Museum, dedicated to the history and heritage of the Estey Organ Company, will present Gavin Klein, self-proclaimed “teenager by day and musician by night” playing the historic Estey Organ at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St.
The program features works by J.S. Bach including chorale preludes In Dulci Jubilo BWV 729, and Herzlich thut mich Verlangen BWV 727, plus Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565; excerpts from Suite Gothique Op. 25 by Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897); and a selection of works by other renowned composers from 1562 to 1983.
“Music is my life and passion,” says Klein, a sophomore at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Mass. “I've been interested in music for as long as I can remember.”
Studying piano since the age of four, Klein was inspired to play the organ after hearing some of the great organs of Europe, especially the main organ of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Klein began studying the organ in 2015 with William Ness, former Minister of Music and Organist at the First Baptist Church of Worcester.
Klein now has a full schedule centered around music. He is the organist at the Apple Valley Catholic Collaborative Parishes of Stow and Acton, Mass., Alternate Organist at the Evangelical Congregational Church of Lancaster, Mass., Permanent Substitute Organist at St. Luke's Episcopal Church of Hudson, Mass., and most recently became Organist for the Sisters of Saint Benedict in Harvard, Mass.
Over the years, he has been the recipient of two Scholarships from the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and another from the Boston Chapter. Klein has played organs all over the U.S. and in Europe.
In his free time, he transcribes and composes music, fills in at churches around the area, restores musical instruments, skis, and hangs out with his friends and family. Along with organ and piano, Klein also plays clarinet, saxophone, flute, and guitar.
“I would like to say thank you to both the Estey Organ Museum and Epsilon Spires for continuing the legacy of one of Brattleboro's most prominent companies, the Estey Organ Company, and for keeping the pipe organ alive,” he said in a news release.