- March 8, 2026
-
-
Loading
Loading
Anne Symanzik was visiting Sarasota with her family, who are from the north, as they often do.
However, with the 91st birthday of her father, Bob DeGraff, they wanted to celebrate in a fun way.
DeGraff is a fan of organ music, and they were pleased to discover a concert featuring Olivier Latry, one of four principal organists of the Notre-Dame de Paris since 1985, which served as the dedication of the pipe organ installed at St. Armands Lutheran Church.
“I thought, he loves organ music, and it just sounded like a really great event,” she said.
Installed in 2025, the organ features approximately 2,200 individual pipes, 29 stops, 35 ranks of pipes, and four keyboards including the one operated by foot.
Bringing it into the church was a six-year process from beginning to now, said Michael Bodnyk, minister of music and director of operations at the church.
He said the concert featuring the organist, who has performed at renowned venues around the world, felt like an exciting culmination to that process.
“It is super exciting for us,” he said. This is a wonderful moment in the life of our church."
Bodnyk had previously heard Latry perform in New York City over a decade ago, at another dedication. When it came time to choose the artist for the organ dedication at St. Armands Lutheran, he says Latry was the first name that came to mind.
“I'm just thrilled that he made time for us in his busy schedule, to be with us,” Bodnyk said.
The musician has been booked for almost two years, before construction on the organ had even been completed. The last time Latry says he visited Sarasota was around 25 years ago.
Latry performed selections for the audience that included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, André Raison, Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Jehan Alain, Maurice Duruflé, Gaston Litaize, and Olivier Messiaen, as well as a few minutes of improvisational work.
“I'm sitting on the aisle where I can see his using his feet, his hands and everything,” said attendee Larry Garberding. “He's phenomenal. The coordination is unbelievable that you need to play that.”
The organ was created by Schantz Organ Co., an Ohio-based business founded in 1873 that managed its design, building and installation.
Latry said that while practicing alone on the organ for six or seven hours, it had been difficult to understand what the instrument’s acoustics would be, for the church was empty at the time. He said the way the sound changes with an audience present in the room is fascinating for organists.
He said he also enjoyed the fact that the sound traveled throughout the room, which he said made the organ “a bit special” in that regard.
“Meeting an organ is like meeting people… and I love to meet people just to share music and the spirit of God somewhere, and I think it’s also nice to have that kind of adventure because each time, an organ has something to teach us, and so the organ is reflecting the personality of the organ builder,” he said. “And so with my personality, we try to match together and to make something musical, maybe more, I don't know.”
Bodnyk said while the instrument helps enliven the worship services of the church, it is also intended for the community, as the concert demonstrated.
“One of our main focuses is making it a community instrument, and being able to bring in world class programming, like artists like Olivier, that are open to the community, and this event is open to all,” he said. “We look forward to a whole year of programs of chamber music, solo concerts, choral concerts, all featuring the instrument.”
