Kent Tritle connects with his audience at the Smithfield Church

Kent Tritle connects with his audience at the Smithfield Church
Kent Tritle, an audience favorite at the Smithfield Church, performed in recital on Saturday, Sept. 9, on the historic Johnson and Son tracker organ. 
Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Bringing talent, natural musicality and engaging personality to perform in recital for the 11th time at the Smithfield Church on Saturday, Sept. 9, organist Kent Tritle captivated his audience and remained to spend time in conversation during the reception that followed.

The full proceeds of the recital would benefit the Oratorio Society of New York, which is celebrating 150 years of singing this year and is one of the performing organizations directed and conducted by Tritle. He also conducts the professional chorale Musica Sacra and serves as the organist for the New York Philharmonic and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He is also a faculty member in the graduate program at The Juilliard School.

 The Tritle annual recital was on hiatus during the pandemic, but it returned with gusto this month. This performance included works by Buxtehude, Bach and contemporary composer Charles Coleman, each carefully selected and explicated in turn. To accomplish that, Tritle bounded from the Johnson and Son tracker organ at the rear of the church to the 1866 Steinway grand at the front of the church to play key themes and patterns to listen for. Then, back to the organ, having prepared the audience for what was to come.

Smithfield’s pastor Douglas Grandgeorge had let the audience know in advance that the year 1866 was the first year that Steinways were built under that name, the company having just changed its name from Steinweg to Steinway, in a move to increase sales.

“It just goes and goes and goes,” said Tritle of one of the several Bach selections.

The 1893 organ also touts its own history as an Opus 796, two manual, seven-stop instrument, installed in the Smithfield Church in 2010, in a hand-crafted setting to match the historic architecture. The organ previously served the First Congregational Church in Kent, Connecticut.

As the reception wound down, Tritle paused for an interview to discuss the recital experience and the relationship between the performer and his audience, with many having praised the educational aspects built into the performance.

“I love the way you talk to the audience,” interjected Laura Evans, an audience member who drove up from New York City. “You talk to them,” she repeated.

“People had a sense of enjoyment, a connection with the music,” Tritle said, noting the recital’s intimacy where he and the audience members can talk. A live performance, he felt, encourages that dialogue, aligning with the familiar silent dialogue performers experience while performing. 

“Things happen with energies,” Tritle said of live performance. “Heartbeats become uniform.”

“I hope they will leave feeling they had heard something and that they connected,” Tritle said of his audience.

The subject turned seamlessly to artificial intelligence (AI) and music. “AI lacks spontaneity; the sense of the room,” said Tritle, acknowledging that there will be great applications and future benefits to society.

“But it won’t replace live performances or audiences,” he added with certainty.

Asked about his earliest years, Tritle said, “I come from a musical family,” recalling that he and his parents regularly sang around the piano. Both parents were accomplished musicians. One day, his father surprised his mother with the delivery of a home organ, when Tritle was about 9.

“I was so smitten with the organ,” Tritle said, suggesting that his mother got very little time with it.

“It started at home,” he said.

Latest News

Trade Secrets: a glamorous garden event with a deeper mission

Heavy stone garden ornaments, a specialty of Judy Milne Antiques from Kingston, at Trade Secrets 2025.

Christine Bates

Tucked away on Porter Street in downtown Lakeville, Project SAGE is an unassuming building from a street view. But cross the threshold a week before Trade Secrets — one of the region’s biggest gardening events, long associated with Martha Stewart and glamorous plants of all varieties — and you’ll find a bustling world of employees and volunteers getting ready for the organization’s most important event of the year.

“It’s not usually like this,’ laughed Project SAGE director Kristen van Ginhoven. “But with Trade Secrets just around the corner, it’s definitely like this.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Two artists, two Hartford stages, one shared life

Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo at home in Salisbury with their dogs, Petruchio and Beatrice

Provided
"He played his violin, I worked on my lines, we walked the dog, and suddenly we were circling each other perfectly."
Caroline Kinsolving

Actor Caroline Kinsolving and violinist Gary Capozziello enjoy their quiet life with their two dogs in Salisbury, yet are often pulled apart to perform on distant stages in far-flung cities. Currently, the planets have aligned, and both are working in Hartford, across Bushnell Park from one another. Bridgewater native Kinsolving is starring in “Circus Fire,” the current production of TheaterWorks Hartford, while Capozziello is a violinist and assistant concertmaster of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. While Kinsolving hates being away from home, she feels the distance nourishes their relationship.

“We are guardians of each other’s confidence and self-esteem,” she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Summer exhibition opens at Wassaic Project

Nate King, “When I Was Younger And Now That I’m Older,” 2026, Digital projection, digital animation, photography.

photo courtesy Nate King

The Wassaic Project, the 8,000-square-foot, seven-story former grain elevator transformed into a vibrant arts space, opens its 2026 Summer Exhibition, “Because, now is the time of monsters,” on Saturday, May 16, from 3-6 p.m. at Maxon Mills, launching a season-long presentation featuring 39 artists working across installation, performance, video and sculpture.

The opening celebration will include an afternoon of exhibitions and live programming throughout the historic mill building and its surrounding spaces. Gallery and Art Nest hours run from 12-6 p.m., with special presentations scheduled throughout the day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss to host inaugural International Piano Competition
Murong Yang ’08, a founding supporter of the Hotchkiss International Music Competition, helped establish the program through the Yang and Hamabata families to support young musicians and artistic excellence.
Provided

The Hotchkiss School will launch a major new addition to its arts programming with the inaugural Hotchkiss International Piano Competition, a three-day event taking place May 15–17 in Katherine M. Elfers Hall.

The competition will bring together young pianists ages 10 to 18 from around the world, with participants representing the United States, Thailand, Korea, China, Canada, and Azerbaijan. Performers will compete across multiple age divisions, culminating in final rounds that will be open to the public, offering audiences the opportunity to hear a wide range of emerging international talent in performance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Open Studios by Upstate Art Weekend invites visitors inside 240 workspaces

“Untitled” by Christine Domanic, one of the 37 artists featured in “Earthen Plot,” opening Friday, May 15.

Provided

Art lovers will have an opportunity to step inside working artist’s studios across the region next weekend as Open Studios by Upstate Art Weekend returns Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The annual event invites the public into the creative spaces of 240 artists throughout the Hudson Valley and Catskills, offering an intimate look at artistic practices across disciplines while fostering direct connections between artists and visitors.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.