Merrill Auditorium is a 1,908-seat auditorium located in Portland, Maine , United States . Originally known as Portland City Hall Auditorium , it is located in the eastern section of Portland City Hall .
6-658: The auditorium was built in 1912 and underwent a major rebuild and renovation in 1997. It features a large pipe organ, the Hermann Kotzschmar Memorial Organ , donated by Cyrus Curtis and built by the Austin Organ Company (Opus 323). It was renamed in the 1990s following a bequest which allowed the facility to be renovated. Prime tenants at Merrill are the Portland Symphony Orchestra , Portland Ovations and
12-525: A prevalent part of American culture throughout the first half of the 20th century. It was the first municipal organ built in the U.S., and is one of only two U.S. municipal organs still owned by a municipality – the other being the Spreckels Organ in San Diego, California . The City of Portland created the position of Municipal Organist in 1912. The position was maintained until 1981 when it
18-496: The Curtis Publishing Company of Philadelphia, as a memorial to Hermann Kotzschmar , a close family friend for whom he had been named. Kotzschmar was a German-born musician who came to Portland in 1849, acquired a reputation as the city's most prominent musician, and lived there until his death in 1908. The Kotzschmar Organ is a prime example of the U.S. style of municipal (city–owned) organs which were once
24-719: The Kotzschmar Organ , is a pipe organ located at Merrill Auditorium in the City Hall of Portland, Maine , United States . Built in 1911 by the Austin Organ Co. as Opus 323, the Kotzschmar Organ was the second-largest organ in the world at the time, and it remains the largest organ in Maine today. The organ was donated to the city by Portland native Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis , founder of
30-692: The Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ. Resident organizations include the Maine State Ballet, Portland Ballet and Opera Maine. This article about a building or structure in Maine is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a theater building in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kotzschmar Memorial Organ The Kotzschmar Memorial Organ , usually referred to as
36-474: Was eliminated due to budget constraints. That same year a non-profit organization called Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ was formed in order to provide continued funding for a municipal organist (who would become an FOKO employee), as well as to fund maintenance and restoration of the organ. To date, there have been eleven municipal organists in Portland: A partial list of notable organists who have played
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