Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour heads to Journey of Hope Nov. 17

The third stop on the Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour will be at Journey of Hope United Methodist Church featuring its 1969 Casavant/Allen Organ.

The program will include works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Saens, and Louis Vierne.

Organist Jeffrey Neufeld, music director at First Congregational and the tour's organizer, will be joined on several pieces by Mark Fry, bass trombone; Rachel Velvikis, French horn; and Rev. Jarrod Severing, tenor.

Fry is bass trombonist for several ensembles and is on the faculty of Northern Illinois University. Velvikis is the horn player for the Isthmus Brass, was previously the core horn member of the acclaimed all-female brass group, Seraph Brass, and frequently performs with Fry in the group Trio de Chats Noirs.

The Rev. Severing is lead pastor of Journey of Hope and has performed with the vocal group Alleluia Quartet for nearly 40 years.

Admission is free, and a free-will offering will be taken to support the ministries of Journey of Hope.

The tour continues the west side with concerts at Christ the Lord Lutheran on Jan. 5, and Westminster Presbyterian on Jan. 19, before returning to downtown Elgin.

The return leg starting in February will feature the pipe organs at St. Laurence Catholic, St. Mary’s Catholic, First Presbyterian, Zion Evangelical Lutheran, 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.