Concerts
Zimpel & Pfeifer Duo to play Sept 29, 2019
Organ and Trumpet Duo from Leipzig Germany
First Congregational Church of Kennebunkport invites all to hear an outstanding organ and trumpet duo from Leipzig, Germany, in two events on Sunday, September 29. Frank Zimpel, organ, and Alexander Pfeifer, trumpet, will be guest musicians at the Sunday Worship Service at 9:30 a.m., and they will present a concert at 2:30 p.m. Admission to the concert is free, and donations are welcomed.

The duo will play a variety of music, including major works for trumpet by J S Bach, Handel, Sibelius and others. Pfeifer will play several different trumpets, at different pitches, including the “piccolo” trumpet. Zimpel will play the church’s 1854 E. & G. G. Hook organ, which was restored during the past year.
Zimpel and Pfeifer are favorites with audiences, who readily appreciate the duo’s excellent musicianship and friendliness. The city of Leipzig was in East Germany, and Frank and Alex have shared stories of their boyhoods under that regime. Also, Leipzig is the city where Johann Sebastian Bach was Kantor, and it is the worldwide center for the study of Bach and performances of his music. Please plan to meet Frank and Alex at coffee hour following the Sunday service and at a reception following the concert.
After early musical training in Köthen, organist Frank Zimpel studied Protestant church music in Leipzig, where he was a finalist in the 10th International Bach Competition, in 1996. He did postgraduate study in organ at the University of Music in Vienna, and from 2002 to 2012, he was a lecturer at the Evangelical University of Church Music in Halle. Currently he is a Kantor in a church in the western area of Leipzig and also is a lecturer at the Leipzig Academy of Music.
Alexander Pfeifer studied violin as a child and began trumpet lessons at the age of 12. He attended the Music School J. S. Bach in Leipzig and studied trumpet at the Dresden Academy of Music from 2002 to 2006. While a student in Dresden he was a substitute in the orchestra at the Dresden Staatskapelle, and also was a guest solo trumpeter with an orchestra in the Saxony region. Currently he works in the Saxon State Opera (Semperoper) in Dresden and also teaches at the Music School J. S. Bach in Leipzig.
First Church is delighted to share this opportunity for great music and international visiting with the community. For more information about these September 29 events, please contact joyceorganist@aol.com or visit www.trompete-orgel.com.
The duo will play a variety of music, including major works for trumpet by J S Bach, Handel, Sibelius and others. Pfeifer will play several different trumpets, at different pitches, including the “piccolo” trumpet. Zimpel will play the church’s 1854 E. & G. G. Hook organ, which was restored during the past year.
Zimpel and Pfeifer are favorites with audiences, who readily appreciate the duo’s excellent musicianship and friendliness. The city of Leipzig was in East Germany, and Frank and Alex have shared stories of their boyhoods under that regime. Also, Leipzig is the city where Johann Sebastian Bach was Kantor, and it is the worldwide center for the study of Bach and performances of his music. Please plan to meet Frank and Alex at coffee hour following the Sunday service and at a reception following the concert.
After early musical training in Köthen, organist Frank Zimpel studied Protestant church music in Leipzig, where he was a finalist in the 10th International Bach Competition, in 1996. He did postgraduate study in organ at the University of Music in Vienna, and from 2002 to 2012, he was a lecturer at the Evangelical University of Church Music in Halle. Currently he is a Kantor in a church in the western area of Leipzig and also is a lecturer at the Leipzig Academy of Music.
Alexander Pfeifer studied violin as a child and began trumpet lessons at the age of 12. He attended the Music School J. S. Bach in Leipzig and studied trumpet at the Dresden Academy of Music from 2002 to 2006. While a student in Dresden he was a substitute in the orchestra at the Dresden Staatskapelle, and also was a guest solo trumpeter with an orchestra in the Saxony region. Currently he works in the Saxon State Opera (Semperoper) in Dresden and also teaches at the Music School J. S. Bach in Leipzig.
First Church is delighted to share this opportunity for great music and international visiting with the community. For more information about these September 29 events, please contact joyceorganist@aol.com or visit www.trompete-orgel.com.
Annual Christmas Concert
Let us help you get into the Christmas Spirit. Join us for our annual Christmas Concert
Christmas Concert – Sunday, December 10, 2017 – 3 PM
Flyer.10Dec2017.1stChurchKBTChristmasConcert
The concert program will include Christmas music & Christmas carols with Megan Grassi, violin, Megan’s daughter Sophie Grassi, violin, Monica Bridges, vocalist, and Joyce Painter Rice, organ and piano.
Megan Grassi received her B.A. in Violin Performance from Lawrence University in Wisconsin where she studied with Calvin Wiersma. She also trained at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. In her postgraduate years she studied with Andrew Kohji Taylor, a student of Juilliard’s Dorothy DeLay. Megan was a featured soloist with the Merrimack Valley Orchestra and played at numerous summer chamber music & orchestral festivals including Apple Hill, Kinhaven, & the Pierre Monteux School. She has pedagogical training from institutes at Steven’s Point, Ithaca College, Hartt School, and Concordia. Megan was a member of Boston’s New England Philharmonic & has played & taught in Germany, Italy, & Martha’s Vineyard. Most recently she worked with coach Jodi Hagen, a tenured violinist of the Boston Ballet & Boston Lyric Opera, & a former student of Roman Totenberg. Megan currently divides her time playing with and training talented young musicians of Bowdoin’s Mozart Mentors Orchestra and maintaining a private violin studio in Kennebunkport.
Sophia Grassi began playing the violin at age 3 and is now 11 years old. She has performed as a soloist in local recitals, Ogontz Music Festival and at Phillips Andover. She is currently looking forward to playing Handel’s Messiah for the first time this Christmas as the youngest member of the Mozart Mentors Orchestra.
Vocalist Monica Bridges, soprano, is a member of her church choir. She began singing as a child with her siblings at church. Monica has sung the National Anthem for military and sporting events. She also sings in the Kennebunk Variety Show. Monica currently works for the NH Army National Guard.