Celebrity organist Hector Olivera to perform at West Dundee church

World-class, celebrity organist Maestro Hector Olivera will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at St. Catherine of Siena Church, 845 W. Main St. in West Dundee.

The concert is free, though an offering is appreciated to subsidize future organ concerts at the church.

Besides virtuoso playing skills, Maestro Olivera is also a world renown improviser. He can spontaneously generate masterful, imaginative, complex, and glorious improvised compositions.

As the son of an organist, Olivera started playing the organ at age 3 and entered the Buenos Aires Conservatory at age 6. He tells the story of growing up without access to much printed/published organ music. As a boy, he did have recordings which he listened to and transcribed great organ symphonies and concertos. He is known for astonishing keyboard velocity and his savant like musical gifts.

As an adult, he has played every important organ in every distinguished church and concert hall in the world.

Olivera is entertaining with his Spanish accent and witty sense of humor. He has been known to say, "Hold onto your hats, this is going to be loud and fast."

Like world-renown Miss Diane Bish, who performed at the inaugural organ concert at St. Catherine of Siena Church in 2016, he is also a storyteller and shares humorous quips throughout the concert.

Maestro Olivera is another of the world's top tier organists and his concert is being sponsored by Allen Organs and Allen Organs of Chicago (Bolingbrook).

St. Catherine of Siena is located at 845 W. Main St. (Higgins Road), one block west of the intersection of Route 31 and 72 across the street from Spring Hill Mall. For information, call (847) 426-2217.