Felix Hell organ recital marks Dwight McBean’s 50 years at Church of the Ascension, Mona

On the first Sunday in May, a full house at the Church of the Ascension in Mona heard German organist Felix Hell deliver a demanding anniversary programme at the console. The concert marked host organist Dwight A McBean’s fiftieth year on the organ bench and drew a crowd eager for a showcase of skill on the church’s 35-year-old instrument.

Hell’s appearance carried personal resonance: he had played the same organ a quarter-century earlier, in 2001. On Sunday he worked the presets that govern its 59 stops and 21 couplers with ease, shaping a wide palette from the pipes.

Trained in Germany, Amsterdam, Russia, and at the Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute in the United States, Hell comes from a musical background and has built an international profile. He is widely associated with four full “Bach Marathons,” each presenting Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete organ output—roughly 250 works across nearly 20 hours of music.

Before the opening number, Hell asked the audience’s leave to shed his jacket from his all-black attire, a practical response to the warm afternoon air. He began with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, familiar to many listeners from film and broadcast use. Its bold themes and rapid figuration held the room; he played much of it with eyes down or closed, his physical motion adding theatrical weight to the reading.

A gentler contrast followed in Bach’s Air on the G String, in an arrangement by Harvey Grace—lyrical, unhurried, and finely voiced. Later first-half selections included César Franck’s Pièce héroïque, Florence Price’s Retrospection, and Franz Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H. Together they moved from forceful declamation to singing lines and decisive cadences, with firm rhythm and nimble passagework. In several spots Hell played pedals alone, underscoring the instrument’s range. Listeners applauded generously at each pause.

After the interval, the programme turned to Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster, op 54, No 6; Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings in William Strickland’s arrangement; and Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No 1, op 42. Passages often began quietly and swelled in volume and colour, illustrating the organ’s capacity for contrast. When Strickland’s arrangement ended, the room sat briefly still before applause broke out. Calls of “Encore!” brought Hell back; he showed little fatigue after a long, technically exact set.

The evening also honoured McBean, who took up organ study around age thirteen and is now Jamaica’s only factory-trained, certified piano and pipe organ technician—a distinction he speaks of with pride. A video tracing his career and tributes from the congregation preceded the presentation of a commemorative plaque. Rector’s warden Dr Georgiana Gordon Strachan made the presentation, with people’s warden Wayne Salmon alongside. Rector Rev Canon Michael Allen, who could not attend, left a programme note: “Many congregations have had their worship experiences convey a taste of Heaven because of the ministry of Bro Dwight at the organ.”

McBean then took the bench to lead Noel Dexter’s O Praise Ye the Lord, closing a concert that doubled as tribute and fundraiser. Ticket proceeds will go to the Ascension New Organ Fund as the parish plans to replace the aging instrument.