BRATTLEBORO — Estey Organ Museum, 108 Birge St., announces an old-fashioned Hymn Sing to celebrate the museum's 20th anniversary. The event will take place at the museum on Sunday, July 10, at 4 p.m.
Organist Gavin Klein will accompany singers on reed and pipe organs manufactured by the Estey Organ Company between 1850 and 1960. Klein is no stranger to the Brattleboro area, having offered a well-attended recital on the Estey pipe organ, Opus 300, at Epsilon Spires in January 2020. Mr. Klein, a recent high school graduate, was also the featured speaker at the museum's annual meeting in September 2021.
With a background in early music and keyboard studies since the age of 4, Klein took on the organ at age 12. A member of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society, he has served as organist at a number of churches in the Bolton, Mass., area.
He has been artist-in-residence at the Harvard (Mass.) Historical Society for the past two years and has given organ performances in both the U.S. and Europe. Klein is an organ student of C. Henry Mason, director of music at Immaculate Conception Parish in Worcester, Mass.
Klein presented his senior recital at All Saints Episcopal Church in Worcester in early June. The next stop on his remarkable journey is the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, where he will be studying on a four-year organ scholarship. Estey Organ Museum says it is proud to call this young talent a great friend.
As part of its mission to collect, preserve, and interpret the physical and cultural heritage of the Estey Organ Company, the museum boasts in its main Engine House 20 beautifully-crafted instruments dating as far back as the mid-1800s.
The museum is open on Saturday afternoons from 2 to 4 pm through Oct. 15; the trustees encourage 30 minutes for your visit. Admission is $5 for non-members; members and children under 13 can visit for free.
All are welcome to the Hymn Sing; a $5 donation is requested to support the work of the museum. Doors will open at 3:30. Check out the website at esteyorganmuseum.org for information on the museum, the Estey heritage, a 20th-anniversary timeline, lists of supporters and friends, the company's place in Brattleboro history, and much more.