PHOENIXVILLE — St. John’s Lutheran Church, 355 St. John’s Circle, is hosting concert organist Gail Archer on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m.
Compositions by Bach, Schumann, Brahms, Hurkova, Abrashev, Boulanger and Demessieux will be included in the performance. Previous organ performers at St. John’s have included Felix Hell, Peter Richard Conte, Gordon Turk, and Charles Callahan.
Archer is an international concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor and lecturer who draws attention to composer anniversaries or musical themes with her annual recital series in New York City. These include a Bulgarian Celebration, a Slavic Celebration, Max Reger, The Muse’s Voice, An American Idyll, Liszt, Bach, Mendelssohn and Messiaen.
Archer’s 2025 European tour took her to the Slovak Republic, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Italy and the island of Sardinia. Highlights include the Oliwa Cathedral, Gdansk, Poland; St. Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava, the Slovak Republic; the Lambertus Basilica, Düsseldorf, Germany; Herforder Munster, Herford, Germany; the Basilica Concattedrale of San Maurizio, Imperia, Italy; and the Basilika Steinfeld, Steinfeld, Germany. The historic organ in the Steinfeld monastery church was built in 1727 by Balthasar Konig.
In spring 2024, Archer received grants from the Harriman Institute, Columbia University and Vassar College to record a new CD of Bulgarian organ literature in the Concert Hall in Dobrich, Bulgaria; the CD, “Dobrich: A Bulgarian Odyssey,” was released on April 8. Her previous recordings include the 2022 Polish release, “Cantius, and Chernivtsi, A Russian Journey,” “The Muse’s Voice,” “Franz Liszt: A Hungarian Rhapsody,” “Bach: The Transcendent Genius,” an “American Idyll,” “A Mystic in the Making” (Meyer Media), and “The Orpheus of Amsterdam: Sweelinck and his Pupils.” (CALA Records).
Archer is the college organist at Vassar College, director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she conducts the Barnard-Columbia Chorus and Chamber Singers, and a faculty member of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. For the next two years, she will serve as the Co-Deputy Director of the East Central European Center in the Harriman Institute. She is the artistic director of the artist and young artist organ recital series at historic Central Synagogue, New York City.
The concert is part of the 2025-2026 concert series at St. John’s and is offered as musical outreach to the community. No tickets are required, but a free-will offering, with a suggested $10 donation, will be received.
Source: Berkshire mont
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