Kotzschmar Memorial Organ

The Kotzschmar Organ in 1912, shortly after it was built.
The newly renovated Kotzschmar Organ at Merrill Auditorium, Portland, Maine. October, 2014

The Kotzschmar Memorial Organ, usually referred to as the Kotzschmar Organ, is a pipe organ located inside the city-owned Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, United States. Built in 1911 by the Austin Organ Co. as Opus 323, it was the second-largest organ in the world at the time, and it remains the largest organ in Maine today.[1]

The organ was given to the city by Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis, a publisher from Pennsylvania who grew up in Portland. Curtis named the organ in honor of Hermann Kotzschmar, a German-born musician who came to Portland in 1849 and lived there until his death in 1908.[1]

The Kotzschmar Organ is a prime example of the U.S. style of municipal (city-owned) organs which were once a prevalent part of American culture throughout the first half of the 20th century.[2] It was the first municipal organ built in the U.S.,[3] and is one of only two U.S. municipal organs still owned by a municipality — the other being the Spreckels Organ in San Diego, California.[1]

Organists

Municipal organists

The City of Portland created the position of municipal organist in 1912. The position remained until 1981, when it was eliminated due to budget constraints. That same year, a non-profit organization called Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ was formed in order to provide continued funding for a municipal organist (who would become a FOKO employee), as well as to fund upkeep and restoration of the organ, which the city could no longer afford.[1]

To date, there have been ten municipal organists in Portland:[1]

  • Will C. Macfarlane, 1912-1919
  • Irvin John Morgan, 1919-1921
  • Edwin H. Lemare, 1921-1923
  • Charles Raymond Cronham, 1924-1932
  • Alfred Brinkler, 1935-1952
  • John E. Fay, 1952-1976
  • Douglas Rafter, 1976-1981
  • Gerald McGee, 1983-1988
  • Earl Miller, 1988-1989
  • Ray Cornils, 1990-present

Visiting organists

A partial list of notable organists who have played the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ:[1] [4]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Parkinson-Tucker, Janice (2005). Behind the Pipes: The Story of the Kotzschmar Organ. South Portland, Maine: Casco House Publishing. ISBN 0-9763041-1-2.
  2. ↑ The American Municipal Pipe Organ Website
  3. ↑ "Pipedreams #0124: The Maine Idea". Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Archived Concerts". Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  5. ↑ Thomas Heywood at the Kotzschmar Organ

Coordinates: 43°39′34″N 70°15′26″W / 43.65955°N 70.25725°W