By JAMES H. LEWIS

The penultimate concert of the Petite Organ Summer series of Westminster Presbyterian Church featured a selection of liturgical music from the Reform Christian repertoire by Dr. Michael Kerney. The assistant professor of communication at Dordt University is one of the foremost advocates of psalms set to music. His website, URC Psalmody, includes over 600 recordings of psalms, hymns, and organ music, and it provides sheet music used by musicians worldwide.

A graduate of Duquesne University, his passion for these works was on full display at his afternoon concert at Westminster’s Galbreath Chapel on Thursday, July 9th. Opening with Fantasie en koraaal Psalm 48.6, the transcription of an improvisation by Dutch organist Klaas Jan Mulder, Dr. Kerney presented works by composers from the 17th through the 20th centuries. 

In Psalm 119 by Anthony van Noordt, he demonstrated the full range of sound produced by the chapel’s continuo organ. Unlike the massive pipe organs found in church sanctuaries, these smaller, portable pipe organs were developed to provide the harmonic foundation in Renaissance and Baroque music. While the first models contained only one keyboard, this instrument, built for Westminster by Taylor and Boody Organbuilders of Staunton, Virginia, features two keyboards plus bass pedals. The nature of the sounds, from high woodwinds to thundering bass, is varied by 14 stops. Dr. Kerney was assisted by a student from Geneva College, who helped to program the stops throughout the concert, avoiding the awkward pauses common in organ recitals. 

The 40-minute concert concluded with a rousing presentation of Los lil de Heer by Andrew Knevel, the melody Presbyterian and Reform churchgoers know as ”Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.” The bass notes reverberated throughout the chapel, showcasing the instrument’s impressive quality and bringing a fitting close to Dr. Kerney’s display of virtuosity.

TICKETS AND DETAILS 

The four-concert series at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2040 Washington Road, Upper St. Clair, concludes on July 16, 2026, at 5 p.m., with a recital by Jacob Gruss of the Yale School of Music, named by The Diapason magazine as a “Top 20 under 30.” Admission is free, but a free-will offering helps defray the organists’ travel costs, who perform without charge.

James Lewis is a former public media professional and consultant who now writes fiction. Many of his 11 novels are set in Pittsburgh, his adopted home. Lewis is joining onStage Pittsburgh’s team of reviewers covering the PSO & Chamber Music Pittsburgh at the start of the new season.

Categories: Arts and Ideas