Organist Laurent Jochum from Paris, France presents a program Tuesday, July 29, at 7 p.m., at Broad Bay Congregational Church. It is the first of three concerts in the coming months to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings organ.

Organist Laurent Jochum will play works by J.S. Bach; Felix Mendelssohn whose work for the organ reflects both the Baroque and the Romantic; Theodore Dubois who wrote music of the Romantic period both for church organists and concert performers; and Denis Bedard, a modern French-Canadian composer who writes both organ and choral works.

Laurent Jochum serves as the principal organist at Saint Jean-Baptiste Church in Belleville, Paris. As winner of several prestigious international competitions, Jochum performs regularly in festivals and concerts in France and abroad, gracing such venues as Notre-Dame Cathedral, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, La Madeleine, and Saint Clotilde in Paris, among others. His repertoire runs from baroque to contemporary masterpieces, and in between, romantic and symphonic music of the 19th century, and his recordings have received critical acclaim.

As one of Maine’s premiere organists Kevin Birch says, “Laurent Jochum has delighted audiences throughout Europe and the United States with a dazzling technique and dynamic programming. I am thrilled that he will be performing on the historic E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings organ at Broad Bay UCC Church in Waldoboro. I think it will be a memorable concert.”

E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings Company built the Broad Bay Church organ in 1875. It was one of the company’s later organs which were distinguished by their powerful, majestic sound while not sacrificing the softer, deeper tones, according to reviewers at the time.

In 2008, Broad Bay Church started the process of restoring the organ. For the next 15 years, the Church’s congregation fully funded the organ’s restoration, contracting David E. Wallace & Co. LLC Pipe Organ Builders to restore it. In Oct. 2023, they inaugurated the restoration with a concert.

Two more concerts will follow in the “Celebrating the Sequicentennial Anniversary of the E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings Organ, Opus 793 (1875)” series, next with “An Evening of Music for Violin, Viola d’amore, Organ and Virginal,” on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m., with organist Kevin Birch and violinist Anatole Wieck, and concluding with “An Evening of Music for Harpsichord,” Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, at 7 p.m., with harpsichordist Tatjana Vrobjova from Cologne, Germany.

This concert, celebrating the community organ, is free to all, with donations accepted.

Broad Bay Congregational Church United Church of Christ is an open and affirming congregation. “No matter who you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” United Church of Christ