Union Sunday School Concert – 7-23-2023
Union Sunday School concert performance continues in Clermont July 23
Concert Organist Matt Gender to Perform
CLERMONT – The 1896 Kimball Pipe Organ at the Union Sunday School will again grace an audience with its beautiful notes for the 43rd annual Union Sunday School Concert Series. Montauk Historic Site, in partnership with the Clermont Historical Society, is excited to announce that Matt Gender, new to the Union Sunday School Series, will be performing at this month’s concert.
Matt Gender, DMA, is a concert organist and church musician currently living in Mason City, Iowa. He holds degrees in organ performance from the University of Florida and the University of Kansas, where he studied with Laura Ellis, James Higdon, and Michael Bauer. Matt is an award-winning improviser, having taken prizes in the AGO NCOI and the University of Michigan’s Organ Improvisation Competition.
Matt is an active recitalist and has performed throughout the country, specializing in improvisation, especially to silent films. He is a specialist in modernist organ repertoire, and organ literature of France post 19th century. He is also a practiced electroacoustic composer and sound engineer, and has his own music studio. When he’s not playing organ or making music, he is a student pilot and avidly enjoys flying airplanes!
Following the concert, the Clermont Historical Society will provide refreshments at the Clermont Opera House – one block from the Union Sunday School.
If you’ve never been to one of our concerts, come check it out! The annual Union Sunday School Concert Series features performances by trained musicians on the largest Kimball Pipe Organ in the United States. Built in 1896, the organ was a gift presented by former Iowa Gov. William Larrabee to his daughter, Anna, who was the church’s organist for more than 60 years.
If you go:
What: Union Sunday School Concert featuring Matt Gender
Where: Union Sunday School, 406 Larrabee St., in Clermont.
When: July 23. Recitals begin at 2:00 p.m. and are followed by a free reception at the nearby Clermont Opera House.
Admission: Free and open to the public.
Hannah Frederick
Montauk Historic Site Coordinator
montauk@iowa.gov | 563-423-7173 | iowaculture.gov
26223 Harding Road, PO Box 372, Clermont, Iowa 52135
Iowa Arts Council | Produce Iowa | State Historical Society of Iowa
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs