WashingtonLife.com: 'The new Kennedy Center organ was debuted, to mixed reviews, in a free concert with NSO'

[The National Symphony Orchestra performed during the Kennedy Center Debut Concert. (Photo by Margot Ingoldsby Schulman)]

 

Washington Life
Performing Arts: Rubinstein Family Organ

Posted on 29 November 2012
by Patrick D. McCoy

After many years of lamenting over the woes of the Kennedy Center’s Filene Organ, the debut of a new instrument was a long-awaited occasion that called for a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. The Rubenstein Family Organ was a gift from Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein. In his opening remarks, center President Michael Kaiser lavished high praise upon Rubenstein for the generosity of his gift and contributions to the arts nationally. In appreciation of the previous instrument, special attention was given to the Filene Stop, comprised of 61 pipes retained from the old organ as a way of commemorating the contributions of the Filene family to the center’s performances over the years. An engaging multi-media presentation  projected on the screen in front of the organ, provided a few seemingly staged vignettes of the organ’s arrival and installation. Many of the city’s noted organists were in attendance, including American Guild of Organists President Eileen Guenther as well as Marvin Mills, J. Reilly Lewis, Samuel Carabetta, Benjamin Hutto and Michael Lodico.

There has been speculation about the organ’s adequacy for the hall for months, which has been well documented in the D. C. Performing Arts Examiner on Examiner.com and by Anne Midgette in The Washington Post. It was rumored that the organ was originally meant for a local church that could no longer follow through on the financial commitment to secure the instrument. The new instrument by Casavant consists of 4, 972 pipes. In the district, there are churches that house pipe organs of equal or larger size, such as the organs at National City Christian Church, National Presbyterian Church, Washington National Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church (Chinatown location) to name a few. Many organists in the city voiced concern that the instrument was too small for the concert hall. The notion is one that certainly should have been entertained.