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The Kotzschmar Memorial Organ

Austin Organ console, Portland, 2000

Austin Organ console, Portland, 2000

Item 6187 info
Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ

Portland's City Hall Auditorium was renovated in 1995 and renamed Merrill Auditorium. The acoustics were greatly improved, and for the first time the hall was air-conditioned.

The Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ has raised more than $500,000 during its existence through grants, gifts, bequests and donations, to maintain the organ.

A new Austin five manual console was dedicated in October 2000 by Dame Gillian Weir. In 2002 a month of festivities and special concerts marked the 90th anniversary of the dedication of the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ.

Sources Bok, Edward W. A Man from Maine. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921.

Edwards, George Thornton. Music and Musicians of Maine. Portland, The Southworth Press, 1928.

Parkinson-Tucker, Janice. Behind the Pipes: The Story of the Kotzschmar Organ. South Portland, Maine: Casco House Publishing, 2005.

Parkinson-Tucker, Janice. Hermann Kotzschmar: An Appreciation. South Portland, Maine: Casco House Publishing, 2006.