Violinist Anatole Wieck and organist Kevin Birch will perform a series of early Baroque sonatas from Italy, Austria, and Germany, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, at 7 p.m., at Broad Bay Congregational Church, 941 Main Street in Waldoboro. 

Some of the composers the duo will play are Dario Castello, Giovanni Pandolfi Mealli, and Isabella Leonarda, who composed in ‘stylus fantasticus,’ a free and unrestrained way of composing that greatly influenced subsequent generations.

“These are rarely heard sonatas and are very special,” says violinist Anatole Wieck.

These sonatas will be accompanied by Broad Bay’s E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings Organ, Opus 793 (built in 1875) historic organ.

Alongside the organ, Kevin Birch will perform on an Italian virginal, a keyboard that sits on a table or stand, in which the strings are plucked in such a way that produces dark and mellow tones.

He has selected works inspired by a popular song of the day called “la Monica.” The virginal is sometimes called the cembalo da chiesa and was popular in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries.

As Kevin Birch says, “This is music of rare beauty: inventive, rich in color, and full of variety and expression.”

Anatole Wieck was born in Latvia and studied at Julliard in New York City. He has performed and conducted in Europe and North and South America and participated in numerous music festivals. Since 1986, he has taught at the University of Maine and conducted the Maine Orchestra.

Dr. Kevin Birch studied at the New England Conservatory, then in Amsterdam where he earned advanced degrees and since, performing solo recitals in the US, Europe and South American. One of his passions are the old organs of Maine. He was key to helping restore Broad Bay’s E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings Organ built in 1875. As such, he shaped this series of concerts to celebrate the Waldoboro organ’s 150 th anniversary.

The concert is free to everyone, 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