St. Mark's Episcopal Church offers free organ concert series

Internationally renowned concert organist David Briggs will perform works of Bach, Brahms, Vierne and Berlioz in the first in a series of four free concerts St. Mark's Episcopal Church is hosting in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the installation of the church's organ.

Briggs performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at St. Mark's, Main Street at Hillside Avenue, Glen Ellyn. He'll perform on the church's organ, which was designed and custom built by J.W. Walker and Sons of England.

Briggs is the artist-in-residence at St. James Anglican Cathedral in Toronto, Canada. His performances are acclaimed for engaging audiences of all ages. He also is known for his organ transcriptions of symphonic music by composers such as Mahler, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Ravel.

The series continues with performances at 4 p.m. Sundays:

• Isabelle Demers of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, will perform March 20.

• Raul Prieto Ramirez of Barcelona, Spain, will perform April 24.

• Marie-Bernadette Dufoucet Hakim of Notre Dame des Champs Church, Paris, will perform June 5.

When St. Mark's organ was installed in February 1991, the church was not able to afford all of the stops called for in the original design. The church installed a majority of the stops, but left room for eight to be installed later. The organ was completed in September 2015. It now comprises 30 stops, two of which are digital; 38 ranks; 1,987 pipes; and a Cymbelstern (rotating star with bells).

For information about the concert series, visit stmarksglenellyn.org, or call the church at (630) 858-1020.