Niagara organist landed his dream concert
‘Would have been the pinnacle of my career,’ says Andre Knevel after fire at Notre Dame
As an elite concert organist, Andre Knevel has performed around the world — Russia, the Czech Republic, South Africa and all over Europe.
But there was one place he still dreamed of playing, and last year he learned his dream would come true. He was booked.
On July 25, 2020, he would play the organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, France.
And then …
“I was on the computer, sorting through my emails, and someone from Holland asked me, ‘Do you know about the fire at Notre Dame?’” he said, recalling the moment he got the bad news last Monday afternoon.
“So I started looking. I was shocked. I could not have imagined that a fire there would affect me over here.”
His first concern was for the 800-year-old church and, more specifically, the magnificent pipe organ inside.
At that point, said Knevel, 69, of St. Catharines, “I thought well, I might play there someday. I don’t know.”
He adds: “It would have been the pinnacle of my career.”
As the world watched on TV and online, the historic French cathedral was badly damaged in the catastrophic fire officials said Thursday might have been caused by an electrical shortcircuit.
Firefighters found the organ, which dates to the 1700s, intact, though it might have sustained water damage.
The investigation into the blaze is expected to take months to complete, and experts predict it could take 10 to 15 years to fully restore the church.
For Knevel, playing there would have been extra special in that it would have coincided with his 50th anniversary as a concert organist. His wife, Willi, their son Andrew and his wife Tracy and their three sons had planned to be there with him.
“Andrew and Tracy actually got engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to come back with their children,” said Willi.
“They would be old enough to appreciate seeing their opa playing on the organ. That would have been really cool.”
For Knevel, who immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1975, landing the gig at Notre Dame was no simple matter.
After a friend suggested he apply, he sent a biography and copies of some of his CDs to church officials two years ago. Then he waited.
“We’d actually almost forgotten about it, it was almost a year,” said Willi.
Last year he got a letter officially confirming his acceptance and the date he would play. It would be a Saturday night, but he could practice inside Notre Dame two nights before, after the tourists had left.
He would have had the cathedral to himself, basically.
“It is disappointing,” said Knevel, who is the regular organist at the Heritage Reformed Congregation, in Jordan.
“But the main thing was I hope they can save the church and the organ … and they did. As for playing, well, someday. I don’t know when.”
He still performs about 60 times a year, either solo or as an accompanist. He’s planning a European tour this summer, and in May will play at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The massive organ there has more than 11,000 pipes, bigger even than Notre Dame’s which has about 8,000. Knevel’s career has allowed him and Willi to see much of the world while he tours.
“I always think, people work to make money to go on vacations,” said Willi. “We do it the other way around — we go on vacation to earn money and enjoy.”