Hampton Congregational Church announces this year’s tracker organ concert which will feature Colin MacKnight, a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow from The Julliard School in NYC, on Sunday, October 27, at 4PM. MacKnight is also Associate Organist and Choirmaster at Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island.  He has also held assistant organist positions at famed St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, as well as at Church of the Resurrection, also in the city.  He’s received first prize and scholarships at the 2017 West Chester University International Organ Competition, the 2016 Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition, and the 2016 Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition.  Equally prestigious organ competitions throughout America include Third Prize in the Longwood Gardens International Competition and First Place in the NYC AGO competition and the Northeast Regional Competition, after which he was selected to give a “Rising Star” recital at the AGO National Convention in Houston in June of 2016.

The church’s 1846 organ was built by Dennison Smith of Hartford.  It is the oldest known Connecticut built organ and the State’s oldest still in the building in which it was originally installed. The instrument is kept in good condition thanks to a grant from William and Beatrice Utley who were much involved in the 1982 reconditioning that saw the organ returned to playable condition. Colin’s program will concentrate on the music of Bach, which is well presented on the Dennison-Smith organ. A free will offering is welcomed.  Refreshments will follow the concert.