Charles Leech Gulick was at Old First for such a short period with few mentions in the Brooklyn papers, I thought that I would need to include his story together with another organist, for lack of information. I was wrong – his life after Old First was a rich one. Gulick lived entirely for music – studying, composing and performing – and was well-known nationally […]
Curious who wrote the Polytechnic Institute alma mater? Our fourth organist, William Gardiner Hammond, was a highly successful musician and composer, well-connected and well-known during his lifetime. William Gardiner Hammond, was born Melville, Long Island, August 9, 1874, to parents George Tillinghast Hammond and Mary Elizabeth Shipman. His father was from an old Rhode Island family with Quaker ties, his mother from Long Island City, […]
A true man of the world, Navarro navigated the music scene as conductor, organist, composer, director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music – all while still serving his country of origin. This is the third part of an ongoing series. Rafael Navarro: Musician and Revolutionary First Reformed stepped up its game with the hiring of Rafael Navarro in May of 1893. A news item at […]
As the congregation eagerly anticipated moving into a grand, new building, the 1891 Easter service was held in our upper hall, with the sanctuary still under construction. This is the second part of an ongoing series (read Part 1 here). The first mention of an organist that I found for our church was in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which named H. C. Meserole, a local, […]