Inspired by the waterways and rugged beauty of Maine, Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ opens its season with Sound Waves—a bold, immersive concert exploring both the elemental force of water and the expressive energy of music. Performed on the iconic Kotzschmar Memorial Organ by Portland’s Municipal Organist James Kennerley, the program combines water-inspired music, lighting, staging, and projections to create an evocative, multi-sensory experience. It is a striking start to the season that is designed to transport, delight, and fully surround the audience in sound and atmosphere.

In celebration of the Kotzschmar Organ—a world-renowned instrument that calls Portland home—the music program itself is a voyage. It begins with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, evoking windswept shores and open seas, followed by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade: The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship, rich with fantasy and movement. Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite shifts between calm and chaos, wonder and mischief, tracing an emotional and musical journey.

After intermission, Debussy’s Clair de Lune offers a moment of moonlit reflection, while Philip Glass’s Mad Rush builds in hypnotic, tidal waves of sound. Saint-Saëns’ The Swan and Aquarium shimmer with delicacy and charm, and Kennerley’s own Meditation on Deep River reflects on water as a vessel of memory and spirit.

The evening concludes with a cinematic flourish: Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt’s Pirates of the Caribbean Suite, a stormy, swashbuckling finale reimagined for the mighty organ.

More than a concert, Sound Waves is a full atmospheric experience and an invitation to drift, dive, and be carried by music and transformed by an immersive environment. Whether you are a longtime listener or a curious newcomer, this opening night promises to be truly unforgettable.