The Kotzschmar Memorial Organ, usually referred to as the Kotzschmar Organ, is a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

located at

Merrill Auditorium Merrill Auditorium is a 1,908-seat auditorium located in Portland, Maine, United States. Originally known as Portland City Hall Auditorium, it is located in the eastern section of Portland City Hall. The auditorium was built in 1912 and underwen ...

in the City Hall of

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Built in 1911 by the Austin Organ Co. as Opus 323, the Kotzschmar Organ was the second-largest organ in the world at the time, and it remains the largest organ in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

today. The organ was donated to the city by Portland native

Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (June 18, 1850June 7, 1933) was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' and ''The Saturday Evening Post''.Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business ...

, founder of the

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home Jour ...

of Philadelphia, as a memorial to

Hermann Kotzschmar Johann Carl Hermann Kotzschmar (July 4, 1829April 15, 1908) was a German-American musician, conductor, and composer. Kotzschmar was born in 1829 in Finsterwalde, Germany. His father, Johann Gottfried Kotzschmar, was the town ''Stadtmusiker'' and t ...

, a close family friend for whom he had been named. Kotzschmar was a German-born musician who came to Portland in 1849, acquired a reputation as the city's most prominent musician, and lived there until his death in 1908. The Kotzschmar Organ is a prime example of the U.S. style of municipal (city–owned) organs which were once a prevalent part of American culture throughout the first half of the 20th century. It was the first municipal organ built in the U.S., and is one of only two U.S. municipal organs still owned by a municipality — the other being the

Spreckels Organ The Spreckels Organ is a pipe organ that was designed by Ernest M. Skinner. It was installed in 1924 at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco, California. Public performances are held on Saturdays, 4:00–4:45 pm. Philanthropist John ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Organists

Municipal organists

The City of Portland created the position of ''Municipal Organist'' in 1912. The position was maintained until 1981 when it was eliminated due to budget constraints. That same year a non-profit organization called ''Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ'' was formed in order to provide continued funding for a municipal organist (who would become an FOKO employee), as well as to fund maintenance and restoration of the organ. To date, there have been eleven municipal organists in Portland: * Will C. Macfarlane, 1912-1919 * Irvin John

ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Oklah ...

Morgan, 1919-1921 * Edwin H. Lemare, 1921-1923 * Charles Raymond Cronham, 1924-1932 * Alfred Brinkler, 1935-1952 * John E. Fay, 1952-1976 * Douglas Rafter, 1976-1981 * Gerald McGee, 1983-1988 * Earl Miller, 1988-1989 * Ray Cornils, 1990-2017 * James Kennerley, 2018–present

Visiting organists

A partial list of notable organists who have played the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ: *

E. Power Biggs Edward George Power Biggs (March 29, 1906 – March 10, 1977) was a British-born American concert organist and recording artist. Biography Biggs was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England; a year later, the family moved to the Isle of Wi ...

Joseph Bonnet Joseph Élie Georges-Marie Bonnet (17 March 1884 – 2 August 1944) was a French composer and organist. Biography One of the major French pipe organists, Joseph Bonnet was born in Bordeaux. He first studied with his father, an organist at S ...

Cameron Carpenter Taylor Cameron Carpenter (born 18 April 1981) is an American organist and composer. In 2009, he became the first organist to ever be nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo album, ''Revolutionary''. Biography Taylor Cameron Carpenter was born ...

Ken Cowan Kenneth Andrew Cowan (born December 19, 1974) is a Canadian church and concert organist who currently serves as professor of organ at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Biography A native of Thorold, Ontario, he ...

Virgil Fox Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heavy ...

Felix Hell Felix Hell (born 14 September 1985) is a German organist. Childhood Born in Frankenthal, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hell was a child prodigy, performing his first organ recital in Russia at the age of nine, and presenting concerts on the Pipe organ, ...

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...

Dennis James Dennis James (born Demie James Sposa, August 24, 1917 – June 3, 1997) was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other televi ...

Olivier Latry Olivier Jean-Claude Latry (born 22 February 1962) is a French organist, improviser, and composer. He is professor of organ in the Conservatoire de Paris. He became interested in the organ after listening to recordings by Pierre Cochereau. His ...

Ben van Oosten Bernardus Franciscus van Oosten (born 8 April 1955) is a Dutch organist, pedagogue and author. He is titular organist of the Grote Kerk in his hometown of The Hague and is an organ professor at Rotterdam Conservatoire. Biography Ben van Oosten ...

John Scott John Scott may refer to: Academics * John Scott (1639–1695), English clergyman and devotional writer * John Witherspoon Scott (1800–1892), American minister, college president, and father of First Lady Caroline Harrison * John Work Scott (180 ...

Frederick Swann Frederick Lewis Swann (July 30, 1931 – November 13, 2022) was an American church and concert organist, choral conductor, composer, and president of the American Guild of Organists. His extensive discography includes both solo organ works and ...

Gillian Weir Dame Gillian Constance Weir (born 17 January 1941) is a New Zealand-British organist. Biography Weir was born in Martinborough, New Zealand, on 17 January 1941. Her parents were Clarice Mildred Foy ( Bignell) and Cecil Alexander Weir. She re ...

* Carol Williams *

Berj Zamkochian Berj Zamkochian (April 20, 1929, in Boston – February 23, 2004, in Boston) was an Armenian-American organist. Biography He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and eventually joined the faculty. In 1957, at the age of 27, he was ...

External links

Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ

Official City of Portland site for the Merrill Auditorium

References

{{coord, 43.65955, N, 70.25725, W , format=dms , region:US-ME_type:landmark_scale:5000 , display=title Individual pipe organs Culture of Portland, Maine Tourist attractions in Portland, Maine