St. Joseph’s music director Gregory Hamilton to perform free harpsichord concert

When is the last time you attended a harpsichord concert?

Maybe it’s been a while?

That can be remedied Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when Gregory Hamilton presents “Bach and the Wannabees” at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 830 Poplar St.

The concert is free and features works of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel, titans of the Baroque period, and their lesser-known contemporaries Pieter Bustijn, Louis Couperin and Johann Jacob Froberger as played by Hamilton.

Hamilton is a composer, travels widely as a performer and is an educator, having spent the last 12 years in Dallas on the faculty of Holy Trinity Seminary (University of Dallas) where he was director of sacred music.

Six months ago, Hamilton moved to Macon and is now music director at St. Joseph’s parish.

“I was certainly attracted to Macon in part due to its musical history,” Hamilton said. “Despite the fact I play classical now, I grew up playing in garage bands and was very familiar with the Allman Brothers and other well-known performers from here. I’m really enjoying downtown and the revitalization that’s obviously happening as well as what’s happening nearby at Mercer University and the Townsend School of Music. I’ve made many wonderful connections there.”

Hamilton said he was happy to locate near downtown and, as a lover of the city’s architecture, he was delighted to find a house to live in that was built in the 1880s.

“I’m enjoying downtown shops, area bookstores, and I often find myself at the Ocmulgee Brew Pub enjoying a burger or at the other great downtown spots to eat.”

But the St. Joseph parish won his heart.

“When I came to interview I was super impressed with the hospitality in Macon and especially at the parish,” he said. I can’t say enough about our pastor, Father Winchell, and after 12 years in academia I’m enjoying being in a parish and working with its people.”

And when Hamilton moved to Macon, he brought one particularly important item with him: his harpsichord.

“That’s right, I own a harpsichord which I bought last year and the concert will feature it,” he said. “It was built in 1991 and modeled after what’s called the Flemish harpsichord built around 1680 in the Netherlands. As far as design, materials and how it was built, it’s almost exactly like an instrument played during that period. Harpsichords require a lot of precision and planning and a fair amount of mathematical calculations to make. It’s really a harp laid on its side using very ancient technology to bring out its beautiful sound.”

Of course, harpsichords are antecedents of modern pianos but, among the differences, strings are plucked rather than struck by hammers as they are in pianos. Hamilton said early harpsichords used bird quills – well more than 200 of them – to pluck the strings where his modern instrument uses a plastic-like material.

“I could change them to quills,” he said, “but I’d only have to change the quills again and again every six months or so as they wore out. I think the modern material is better, I don’t have that kind of patience.”

Hamilton’s highly decorative harpsichord is about seven feet long and requires three or four people to move.

He said its sound in St. Joseph’s is magnificent and well suited to the baroque pieces he will perform.

“The building is truly magnificent and anyone who hasn’t seen it should come in and do so – the concert would be an excellent opportunity though folks may visit any time and for any service,” he said.

“As for the music Saturday, the idea of the program is centered on Bach and composers he knew or was connected to,” Hamilton said. “Or ones who imitated him. The performance will be quite enjoyable, I believe, and not overly long. It’s a great chance to hear music not so often heard, especially on an instrument such as this harpsichord.”

Hamilton’s website is at www.gregoryhamilton.org where there is further information on him, links to his YouTube channel and others items of interest. St. Joseph’s site is at stjosephmacon.wordpress.com.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.

This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 7:00 AM.