Eastman, MAG Bring Baroque Music to Life

A piece of living history graces the Fountain Court at the Memorial Art Gallery. Last fall, the Eastman School of Music brought to the University a restored full-size Italian Baroque organ from Europe, making Rochester the only place in North America to hear 18th-century music written for a large Italian organ as it was meant to be heard. Originally built around 1770 in central Italy, the organ was restored in Germany before being transported to Rochester, where it was rebuilt.

“The experience of Rochester’s knowledgeable audience for music, art, and history will be immeasurably enriched by the acquisition of this historic instrument,” says David Higgs, chair of Eastman’s organ department. “It will allow the performance and study of a body of repertoire previously unavailable to both Eastman and the Rochester community.”

The installation is the first major accomplishment of the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative, a long-range plan to assemble a collection of new and historic organs unparalleled in North America. When fully realized, EROI will establish Rochester as the first global center for historical organ performance, research, and preservation in the United States.