Cleveland, Ohio, presented a dedication recital at St. Martin's Lutheran
Church. The dedication recital was held in St. Martin’s newly restored
sanctuary at 156 South William in Marine City. The sanctuary renovation
work was finished only days earlier, a wooden box had been fashioned to
protect the organ during the plastering work overhead. Scaffolding and
caution tape were still evident in the church's balcony. The church is
beautiful both inside and out.
A reception in the church fellowship hall followed the concert. The concert
was well attended, and Mrs. Kempke played a wide variety of selections from
Bach to "jazzy" versions of well known hymn tunes. Her virtuosity at the
organ was very much appreciated by those in attendance. She gracefully
showed off the versatility and scope of stops available on the Rodgers 927
organ.
The church installed the digital three manual organ a couple of years ago,
but chose to postpone the dedication, until it was completely paid for.
Reverend Troy Waite, Pastor at St. Martin's, presided over the blessing of
the organ. During the recital portion of the proceedings, Wesley Fishwick,
Organist and Music Director at St. Martin's provided page turning assistance
to the grateful organist.
Linda Kempke holds degrees from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of
Music (Berea, Ohio) and Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, Ohio) and
studied early music performance at the Oberlin Conservatory (Oberlin,
Ohio). She is the cantor at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in
Cleveland, Ohio where she is the organist and director of choirs. Mrs.
Kempke is a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church
Musicians and is currently the web editor for the association. She is the
chairperson of the worship committee of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the
ELCA. Linda Kempke has performed both in solo and organ duet recitals and
has been a workshop presenter on the psalms in worship and the use of
handbells in the liturgy.
This concert was long in coming, but certainly worth the wait. We hope that
Linda Kempke returns to Michigan again, bravo!
Pastor of St. Martin's - Linda Kempke, Guest Recital Organist
Location CLICK HERE