In an extraordinary spring concert, under the direction of Maestro Julien Benichou, Felix Hell will perform Handel’s opulent Water Music Suite No. 2, HWV 349 and Poulenc’s hauntingly beautiful Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings in G Minor, FP 93 with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra on his own custom built, three-manual Rodgers Organ. Hailed as the “most well-known young concert organist worldwide,” and “undoubtedly one of the major talents of the century,” Hell “sets standards that many established and honored older players would struggle to equal.”
Acclaimed organist Felix Hell.
Born in 1985 in Frankenthal/Pfalz, Germany and starting piano lessons at seven followed by his first organ lesson six months later, he has studied at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik, Heidelburg, at The Juilliard School, New York, and at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia where he received his Bachelor of Music at age 18, the youngest organ major to graduate from this prestigious organization.
At the age of 21, Felix received global recognition for his performances of the entire organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, presenting roughly 250 works, totaling close to 20 hours of performance time in each of the three full cycles. He has an Artist Diploma degree and a Master of Music degree from Peabody Institute, Baltimore, and in 2009 was awarded Johns Hopkins University’s prestigious Outstanding Graduate Award. He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Peabody.
Felix maintains a rigorous performance schedule and has already performed more than 700 recitals throughout his native Germany, as well as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Russia, and the USA, where he performed more than 450 recitals in 44 states. His discography includes 8 CDs, encompassing an organ repertoire of five centuries. All his recordings have been critically acclaimed by the public and experts.
Maestro Benichou has chosen Brahms’ joyful pastoral Symphony No. 2 in D Major, OP 73, composed during a summer holiday at Portschach, Austria to complete a season of outstanding performances by the MSO.
The Season Finale Concert will be performed on Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm at the Easton Church of God, 1009 N. Washington Street, Easton, MD. Tickets: $35 for adults are available for check or cash at Crackerjacks toy store & at the door. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available to 18 year olds and under with reservations. For information, please call 1-888-846-8600 or visit the MSO Website www.midatlanticsymphony.org where the ticket order form can be downloaded by clicking on “Concerts – Tickets”.
The concert will also be held on Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 7:30 pm at the Mariner’s Bethel Church, Route 26 and Central Avenue, Ocean View, DE and on Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 3:00 pm at the Community Church, Racetrack Road, Ocean Pines, MD.
The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, a nonprofit organization, is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Talbot County Arts Council, the Worcester County Arts Council, the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, the Sussex County Council, The Arts Council of Calvert County, and the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, as well as donations from individuals, organizations, and corporations.
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