Organ Sounds is our popular concert series started by our own former Music Director Natasha Ulyanovsky. The concert series highlights our historic 1934 Austin organ and often features special guest soloists. The concert series is supported by CBI congregants; organ music lovers who helped to completely restore our historic organ and wish to continue to keep this majestic instrument sound alive. All concerts are free and open to the public.

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2023 – 2024 Organ Sounds Concert Series celebrates the
90th Anniversary of our Historic Austin Organ

Join us for the upcoming season with special musical guests to mark this momentous anniversary. Built by Austin Organ Company in 1934 as its Opus 1853, the four manual, three thousand pipes organ was especially crafted to match the acoustics of the magnificent Beth Israel sanctuary. Our Austin organ was the last 4 manual instruments built by the original Austin company. In 2004 representatives of the American Historical Society presented to CBI its Historical Organ Citation plaque, declaring the CBI organ to be of significant historical importance. 

All concerts will be held at Congregation Beth Israel (701 Farmington Ave., West Hartford). The concerts are free, open to the public and both in person and livestreamed. 

Our next concert:

LIUDMILA MATSYURA is internationally acclaimed concert organist, pianist and teacher with prominent career of more than thirty years. She started her career in Russia and has held Spanish citizenship for many years. She graduated from M. I. Glinka Conservatory (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) with the distinguished diplomas of organist and pianist under the supervision of famous Russian concert organist and professor G. I. Kozlova, the Moscow school. Matsyura started her professional career at the Irkutsk Philharmonic, Russia. Apart from her performing career, she was a piano teacher at the Conservatory and at the State Academy of Music in Irkutsk. Throughout her career Liudmila Matsyura has perfected her skills at the International Academies of Innsbruck, Zurich, Haarlem, Florence and Salamanca, with the great masters like organists Leo Kremer, Piet Kee, Ewald Kooiman, and more. She also has received a speciality in: harpsichord with the professor Z. Ruzichkova; in choir conducting with the professors L. Sivukhin and V. Schipunov. Her current repertoire includes works from the fifteenth century to the present day. It also contains complete catalogs of J. S. Bach, F. Mendelssohn and C. Franck. Bright performances of Liudmila Matsyura in International Organ Festivals are widely recognized in fifteen European countries, Russia and Israel. Matsyura had a chance to play in the most famous European Cathedrals and Concert halls, such as Notre-Dame de Paris, Salzburg Cathedral, Edinburgh Cathedral, and more. As the conductor and artistic director of the Lyrical Choir “Miguel de Cervantes” she presented a large number of memorable concert programs. In 2015 Liudmila Matsyura was granted a prestigious award “Fernando VI” as an outstanding citizen of San Fernando de Henares (Madrid). She participated in numerous radio and TV programs; is the author of the program cycle “The universe in organ sounds” at the National Radio of Spain; professionally recorded numerous CDs and DVDs; acted a member of the jury of international competitions. From 2006 this prominent international organist holding the position of the titular organist of the Cathedral-Magistral of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. She also is the promoter and artistic director of the International Organ Festival “Cathedral of Alcalá” and the Organ Cycles. Please visit her website to learn more at: www.liudmilamatsyura.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/LiudmilaMatsyura
https://www.youtube.com/user/CayetanoCL

Past Concerts From Our 2023-2024 Season:

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Past Organ Sounds Concerts include:

Click HERE to view the recording of our concert on March 17, 2023 featuring Beth Israel’s organist Natasha Ulyanovsky.

Click HERE to enjoy our December 16 concert featuring clarinetist Alexander Kollias and organist Natasha Ulyanovsky.

Click HERE to enjoy our April 22, 2022 concert featuring Virginius Barkauskas.

Click HERE to enjoy our March 11, 2022 Organ Sounds Concert featuring The Birk & Hoke Duo.

Click HERE to enjoy our February 11, 2022 Organ Sounds Concert featuring Michelle Horsley.

Click HERE to enjoy our January 14, 2022 Organ Sounds Concert featuring the Shir LaShalom Duo.

Elena Udras performs on our organ.  Click HERE to listen.

Scott Lamlein performs. Click HERE to listen. 

Christa Rakich on our organ; click HERE to listen.

Songs for Valentine’s Day. Click HERE to listen.

Ms. Ulyanovsky’s exquisite performance from January 2020 on our organ. Click HERE and enjoy.

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Music helps elevate and energize spiritual engagement at Congregation Beth Israel.

Members participate in Adult Choir, our Shiranote youth choir, our multi-generational Klezmer Band, our annual Purim Shpiel, and much more. Our Music Committee organizes performances of exciting guest artists. Recent concerts include the American Baroque Orchestra in a performance of Sephardic music from 18th-century Amsterdam, and musicians from Nava Tehilah, a contemporary Israeli spiritual community noted for creating groundbreaking worship music. 

Our sanctuary includes a historic Austin Organ with 3,000 pipes, 93 stops, and two expression engines, enabling a wide spectrum of sound colors. You can hear the organ at traditional High Holy Day services, festival services, and in our Organ Sounds concert series.

Natasha Ulyanovsky