Brick Church Music Series launching fall season with renowned organist

DEERFIELD — “The Brick Church” Music Series is about to kick off its fall season at the First Church of Deerfield with a performance by a world-renowned organist.

The First Church of Deerfield is welcoming Nathan Laube to town on Sunday at 3 p.m., marking the start of the fall schedule of The Brick Church’s 17th year.

Jean Pitman Turner, the church’s artistic director, said this show has been several years in the making, as Laube had worked out a performance contract with the church a few years ago, but the pandemic forced the cancellation of the concert.

This unfulfilled engagement stems from when Laube had been in town to watch Monica Czausz Berney, a renowned organist from western Massachusetts, where he then stepped up to the organ and “played a lot of pieces from memory.” At that moment, Pitman Turner knew she wanted Laube to perform a full concert in Deerfield.

“I latched onto him. It took two years to get a contract from him and then the pandemic came,” Pitman Turner said. “He’s finally coming.”

Pitman Turner said Laube will be performing pieces by J.S. Bach, Carl Böhm, Mozart and Mendelssohn. She said his willingness to perform in Deerfield, despite his status as both an organ scholar and -renowned player, shows his passion for performing.

“He frequently is asked to sit on juries for international organ competitions … and he is a regular guest at notable music festivals around the world as a performer and pedagogue,” Pitman Turner said. “He’s very articulate and used to speaking in public. So many times musicians, as well as other folks, do not speak clearly or with passion, but he does.”

Laube will perform on the church’s Richards, Fowkes organ, which Pitman Turner called a “gem of an organ.”

“This is a small organ compared to the ones he plays all over the world, but he appreciates the quality,” she said. “I think the people that do come are organists that appreciate the qualities that were put into making this particular organ.”

Laube is an associate professor at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and is also an international consultant for organ studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in England.

The concert will begin at the First Church of Deerfield, 71 Old Main St., at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at the door with a suggested donation of $10 to $20. Masks are optional and all proceeds will benefit the church. A reception will be held after the concert at Deerfield Academy’s Caswell Library, in the school’s main building, directly outside the rear of the church.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.