The organ is not only the much-cited queen of instruments and has been a defining soundscape for the western liturgy for many centuries, it was also chosen by the regional music councils as instrument of the year in 2021. The special attention associated with this is given to the organ in the Michaelsgemeinde in Ottobrunn anyway; This year there will be the traditional concert series again in October, starting on Sundays at 5 p.m.
This Sunday, October 3rd, Cantor Christoph Demmler will kick off the event. He plays on the Rieger organ, built in 1995, which has 32 registers and more than 2000 pipes. Demmler will perform works by Marcel Dupré and Camille Saint-Saëns together with a string trio consisting of Uta Reichel, violin, Franz Schuhbeck, viola, and cellist Barbara Mader. In the 20th century, Dupré helped France to flourish as a professor and at times director of the Conservatoire National de Paris and as an organist at St. Sulpice. He made a number of important organ works and died 50 years ago. He will play the quartet for violin, viola, cello and organ.
On October 10th, also at 5 pm, the Catholic cantor Stefan Förth of the parish association “Four Fountains – Ottobrunn” is a guest in the Michaelskirche. He has been working in Ottobrunn and the surrounding area since last year and will be giving an organ concert in the local Protestant church for the first time. He plays pieces by Bruhns and other composers. The third concert in the series on October 17th will be organized by “Ensemble 34”, consisting of the flautists Matthias Jochner and Christian Mattick and the organist Ulrike Koch. The program includes works by Bach, Marais, Hindemith and Petrassi.
At the end of the concert series, church music director Klaus Geitner from the Himmelfahrtskirche Sendling comes to the Michaelskirche to listen to a kaleidoscope of rarities from the organ literature. In 2020, Geitner accompanied the renovation of the organ in St. Michael’s Church as an organ expert. It was built in 1995 by the Rieger company and at that time it cost the Protestant parish almost 800,000 marks. A further 50,000 euros were collected last year in order to clean, renovate and adjust the sound of the special, high-quality instrument.
The 3-G rule applies to concerts, the number of seats is limited. Registration is possible at www.michaelskirche.de.