The Bad Kissingen city cantor Burkhard Ascherl has made numerous appearances at various international organ festivals in the past few weeks. His concerts on the Schuke organ of the St. Matthias Basilica in Trier, the Eule organ of the town church in Bad Hersfeld, the Vleugels organ of the parish church of St. Johannes in Kitzingen and the Schuke organ of the St. Moriz Church in Coburg with, among others, Marco Enrico Bossi’s Scherzo in G minor, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Fantasy in F minor KV 608 and Naji Hakim’s Variations on a Lebanese peace song were well received not only by the audience but also in the press.
In mid-September he and his wife Brigitte Ascherl (soprano) organized a highly acclaimed concert for soprano and organ with works by English and American composers in the Heilig-Kreuz parish church in Würzburg. The highlights of last season were certainly Ascherl’s concerts on the four-manual Schmid organ of the parish church of the Assumption of Mary in Landsberg am Lech, the Walcker organ of the Holy Spirit Church in Frankfurt am Main and, above all, on the organs of the Cathedral of St. Salvator in Bruges / Belgium.
Fully occupied cathedral
In the latter, he first interpreted the second suite by the French baroque composer Louis Nicolas Clérambault on the historic Van Eynde organ, and later he thrilled the numerous listeners in the packed cathedral on the large Klais organ with, among other things, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata , Adagio and Fugue in C major, Charles-Marie Widor’s Allegro vivace from the 5th Organ Symphony and the overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s last opera, William Tell. red
