Exciting events and performances are coming to the ESTEY ORGAN FESTIVAL this weekend, and GEORGE WIESE tells us all about it. Tune in to hear George’s vibrant connection to the Estey Organ Museum, and fun tales of his life as a musician and conductor.
Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s (FOMAG) 54th Labor Day Weekend Festival begins, by tradition, with a 7:30 concert on Saturday night, August 31, in The Organ Barn at Tree Frog Farm in idyllic rural Guilford. Organist Robert Barney, who is related to several Guilford families, performs a program entitled “Bach: Friends & Family” with assistance from Boston soprano Janna Maria Fröhlich and Vermont flutist Amara Cunningham. Then, at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 1, the Guilford Festival Orchestra performs “European Tour,” a program of works by French and German composers, some with an Italian flair. Kenneth Olsson conducts over forty instrumentalists from the region and beyond, as well as soprano soloist Julie Olsson.
Guilford, Vt. — Friends of Music at Guilford’s 10th annual Spring Organ Recital is set for 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, May 27, in the barn at Tree Frog Farm, off Packer Corners Rd. in idyllic rural Guilford. The c. 1897 Tracker Organ was moved from Maine by FOMAG founder A. Graham Down (1929-2014), who invested in its restoration and improvements over the years, and performed the first concerts on it beginning in 1966.
By tradition, each FOMAG season opens with a concert in the barn on Labor Day Weekend, and for the past decade this May event has offered a second annual opportunity to celebrate the organization’s roots. This year’s featured performer is David Neiweem, college organist and carillonneur at the University of Vermont in Burlington, where he teaches vocal studies, conducting, and music education, and is director of choirs. He is also music director at the First Congregational Church of Burlington and director of Vermont’s Aurora Chamber Singers.
