One of Ottawa's best-kept cultural secrets is about to get a lot more attention. The Casavant organ at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, a massive, century-old instrument with 5,000 pipes spread across four manuals, is the centrepiece of a new spring recital series that brings some of North America's leading organists to the capital.
The Instrument
The Dominion-Chalmers organ was built in 1930 by the St-Hyacinthe firm Casavant Frères, the same company that built the organs at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal and dozens of other landmark Canadian churches. It was fully restored in 2016 and is now considered one of the finest instruments of its era in the country.
Hearing it live, in a room that seats 1,100 and was specifically designed for musical resonance, is an experience you can't replicate anywhere else in Ottawa.
The Spring Series
The four-concert recital series runs on Sunday afternoons from April through June. The opening recital features Winnipeg-based organist Mark Goodrich playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, a Buxtehude prelude and fugue, and a contemporary work by Canadian composer Alexina Louie.
Subsequent recitals include a two-organ concert (with a portable instrument brought in alongside the main organ), a silent film accompaniment evening, and a closing recital focused entirely on 20th-century Canadian organ music.
Tickets and Access
Tickets are $20–$30 per recital, or $70 for the full series. Dominion-Chalmers is located at 355 Cooper Street in Centretown, a short walk from City Hall and easily reachable by bus.
The venue also doubles as Ottawa's most impressive mid-size concert hall for non-organ events, look for it on the Ottawa Chamber Music Society and Ottawa Bach Choir calendars throughout the year.
Source: Ottawa Life Magazine / RSS
