The Third Thursday Concert Series continues this month with Te decet hymnus, a special performance featuring the Eastman School of Music organ faculty. Professors David Higgs, Edoardo Bellotti, Nathan Laube, and William Porter will present a program of organ music inspired by the Catholic hymn tradition of Renaissance and Baroque. They will perform on Eastman’s famous Italian Baroque Organ at the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG). 

The upcoming Third Thursday concert offers a rare opportunity to hear these four Eastman organ faculty members in collaboration. Their performance will kick off the first annual Utech Hymnody Symposium and Festival, a two-day event featuring a keynote address, panel discussion, masterclass, and interactive hymn festival. In celebration of the hymn tradition within the organ repertory, the Utech Festival includes the premiere of a new hymn text by Dr. Wayne L. Wold, winner of the 2017 Utech Hymn Text Competition. For more information on this free symposium, visit the festival webpage.

Eastman’s Italian Baroque Organ was built around 1770 in central Italy. Restored and installed in 2005 at the Memorial Art Gallery, the instrument is the only one of its kind in North America. The organ’s beautiful, authentic sounds have been heard by thousands of visitors who attend weekly Sunday mini-recitals and special “Third Thursday” concerts by internationally celebrated guest artists and Eastman musicians. It remains the only instrument on this continent where one can hear authentic renditions of 18th-century Italian organ music.

Admission to the concert is included with Gallery admission, which is half-price on Thursday nights and free to University of Rochester student ID holders.