Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour launches Sept. 7 at First United Methodist

Jeff Neufeld, music director and organist at Elgin’s First Congregational Church, will be launching a concert tour of Elgin’s church pipe organs, many of which have been in place since the late 1800s and early 1900s. There will be one or two concerts each month continuing into late spring 2025.

Dubbed the “Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour 2024-25,” the series kicks off with a concert at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at First United Methodist Church, 216 E. Highland Ave. It will feature the church’s four-manual Austin and Rodgers combination pipe and digital organ.

The pipe portion of this organ was first installed by the Austin Organ Company in 1924. There is no charge for admission, and a free-will offering will be taken to support First United Methodist’s ministries.

St. John’s Lutheran Church will follow with a concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, featuring their 1920s-era Wangerin Organ Company instrument.

The tour will then make its way out to the west side with concerts at Journey of Hope United Methodist on Nov. 17, Westminster Presbyterian on Jan. 5, and Christ the Lord Lutheran on Jan. 19, before returning to downtown Elgin.

The return leg starting in February will feature the pipe organs at St. Laurence Catholic, Zion Lutheran, St. Mary’s Catholic, Bethlehem Lutheran, and Holy Trinity Lutheran before culminating with an organ and orchestra concert at First Congregational.

Most of the organ concerts will be headlined by Neufeld who holds degrees in organ performance from Wheaton College, Northwestern University, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, but some of the concerts will also feature that church’s resident organist, instrumentalists and vocalists, or include a hymn sing.

Visit First Congregational’s website at fcc-elgin.org/organ-tour/ to learn more as the concert dates and times for each church continue to be finalized and published.

Though not part of the organ tour, Jeff Neufeld and his brother, Jeremy Neufeld, will also be presenting a piano and organ duo concert at First Congregational of Elgin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Jeremy is a church music director and concert pianist in the Seattle, Washington, area.