St. Mary Catholic next stop on Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour Feb. 15

The next stop on the 2025-26 Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at St. Mary Catholic Church, 397 Fulton St. in Elgin.

The instrument featured is the church’s historic 1926 George Kilgen & Son pipe organ with performances by St. Mary director of music and organist Vilma Dydas along with other guest singers and instrumentalists.

Admission is free, and a free-will offering will be taken to support St. Mary’s ministries and future organ maintenance projects.

The following week, Feb. 22, the Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour will be at First Presbyterian of Elgin,

It will feature Trio de Chats Noirs, which includes Mark Fry on bass trombone and euphonium, Rachel Velvikis on French horn, and Jeff Neufeld on organ.

The Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour is a series of free concerts, begun in 2024, showcasing Elgin’s and the surrounding area’s many unique pipe organs.

The concerts feature local organists and the host church’s own musicians, and program content varies from formal organ repertoire to chamber ensembles, choir anthems, and hymn-sings.

The mission of the series is to revive interest in the pipe organ, open up new performance venues, and provide an affordable concert experience to the community.

Free-will offerings are taken at each concert to benefit the host church’s programs and ministries, but additional, general donations to support the organ tour or sponsor guest instrumentalists can be made to First Congregational Church.

Visit fcc-elgin.org/organ-tour or contact Jeff Neufeld through the church office for more information.