Free organ concert June 1 at St. John's, Lafayette Square

Roderick Demmings, Jr./Double Treble

Wednesday will be the last chance this season to hear another free noontime performance at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square.
 
Organist Roderick Demmings, Jr. will play works by Bach, Wammes, and Widor, beginning at 12:10 p.m. at St. John's in the last presentation of the church's 2016-16 concert programming. The show lasts about 35 minutes.

Mr. Demmings, a student at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2006 and has played at the Vatican with the Vatican Choir and at the Kennedy Center's Organ Showplace.  With pianist Karl Van Richards, Demmings is the other member of the duo, Double Treble, which plays across the nation, always ending performances with George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
 
St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 

St. John's is known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square and is often called the “Church of the Presidents” since beginning with James Madison who was president from 1809 to 1817, every president has been a member of St. John's or has attended services at the church. A plaque at the rear of the church designates the pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War.

This year the church celebrates its bicentennial, and its history and stained-glass windows are described in books and booklets available at St. John's.

First Wednesday concerts begin at 12:10 p.m. and last about 35 minutes. Food trucks are located two blocks away at Farragut Square.


Who: Concert organist Roderick Demmings, Jr., will play  works by Bach, Wammes, and Widor.

What: First Wednesday Concerts

When: 12:10 p.m., June 1, 2016

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16th, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square (White House exit), Farragut North, or Farragut West

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico at 202-270-6265.

patricialesli@gmail.com