 The Kochmar Organ in Merrill Auditorium will be a hundred years old this year. Leslie McVane spoke with Kathleen Grammer, the executive director of Friends of the Kochmar Organ, about their upcoming events that will celebrate this monumental birthday. Kathleen, the Kochmar Organ is in the news all the time on its 100th anniversary year. And I just heard it played at the last symphony of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and it was fantastic. Wasn't that a wonderful concert? Oh, everyone just leaped to their feet at the end. It was so wonderful. It was thrilling. It was just thrilling. Well, there's a lot more happening. There is. There is. We have our Meet the King of Instruments Youth Concert Tuesday, May 22nd at 10.30. We bring in some school children and Ray treats them to the sounds of the Kochmar and we give tours afterward. And this year, because of the centennial, we did a composition competition and Robin Dinda, who lives in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, won the competition with his piece, Casey at the Bat for organ and narrator using the Thayer poem. So it should be really fun. He's going to be here and we have a student from Breakwater interviewing him on stage. Oh, wonderful. Not only fun for music lovers, but for baseball lovers as well. Yeah, exactly. So it is the 100th of Fenway Park too this year. I know. And L.L. Bain's 100. Right. I mean, there's a lot happening. So then after that, we have more to look forward to. We do. In June, we're celebrating our scholarship recipients in a concert on June 19th at 7.30 at the Hall. And this scholarship trust was started by Mrs. Kochmar, Herman Kochmar's wife, in 1908. And it is a trust that's held by the city for deserving music students in the greater Portland area. And we're featuring some of our past recipients who have made it in the world of music, as well as some of our more recent recipients who are still students. Now are these, these recipients do not necessarily have to play the organ? It can be any musical instrument. No, no. It's any instrument or voice. Preference given to an organ. Well, we kind of have to do that with it. Now tell me, are they, how far back does this go? Is it every year this scholarship is awarded to a student? Well, it was started in 1908 and we, we took it over, it used to be that they would submit tapes in the day of cassette tapes. And when I started with Friends of the Kochmar, I said, we really need to make this an educational piece. So we had, we held live auditions and three judges with comments going to the students so that they would get some feedback. How wonderful. So, yeah. So now you have several past recipients who've actually gone on and made music their career. Yes, we do. How exciting. And they're coming from distances. They are. One is a former student of Reyes, Brittany Haskell, who's coming from Cape Cod. Another is a wonderful mezzo, Sarah Sturdivant, who still lives in the area, but went on to do her masters in New York. Oh, terrific. And then we have some other recipients that are local who are younger. So we're showing off the gamut. It sounds wonderful. And this will be at Merrill Auditorium. Yes, it will. In June. In June. And it's a free concert. Oh. We're asking for donations to the Scholarship Fund. Oh, how wonderful. And now which day is that and what time? It's Tuesday, June 19th at 7.30. Well, that's it. I want to go to that. Sounds wonderful. And then, to cap it off, is the big festival. The big festival in August, yes. We're still taking registrations for the festival. We're extending our early bird deadline to June 15th. And we have a full festival of five days, a pops, a classical. And we also have five concerts that you can sign up for at Merrill Auditorium through Portix. Oh, my goodness. So this will take place over a week or? August 17th through 22. And August 22nd to the day is the 100th anniversary. And that will be the final concert, the Gala concert with Peter Richard Conte from the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, Macy's, and Ray Cornel's and the Festival Brass. Well, it's so important. I mean, we are one of the very few organs of its kind in the country. We are indeed. And it deserves the recognition it's getting. And I'm just thrilled to be a part of the celebration. Well, we feel very proud to have it here in Portland. And how can they contact you for more information? For more information, they can contact me at info at fokio.org or call 5534363. Terrific. Lots of fun coming up. Thank you, Kathleen. Thank you, Leslie.