About Kim Heindel
Kim Heindel has concertized widely on the organ, harpsichord, and
lautenwerk, a gut-strung keyboard instrument which he has
championed. Critics have praised his
interpretations as not only "historically informed" (Cleveland
Plain Dealer), but also "instinctive and utterly right for
each piece" (American Record Guide). In addition to
his solo recitals, he has appeared as a continuo player with other
early music specialists, such as soprano Julianne Baird, the
Renaissance wind band Piffaro, and the Waverly Consort, as well as
the Philadelphia Orchestra.
A 1994 organ recital in Cologne, Germany, elicited praise from the Kölnische Rundschau, which stated that "from the outset, his virtuoso presentation of Bach's organ version of the Vivaldi Concerto in D minor commanded attention...he let the organ sing." His organ CD, Bach at Steinfeld, recorded on the historic König organ in Steinfeld, Germany was released on the Gasparo label. The American Organist commended his playing on this CD as "clean, rhythmic, and a joy to listen to" and further remarked that "he combines an excellent sense of overall breadth with a marvelous feel for the individual phrase, and the technique to shape the music to his conception of it."
His investigation into the sources documenting Johann Sebastian Bach's interest in the lautenwerk led him to commission noted harpsichord maker Willard Martin to build the first instrument of this kind in North America in 1988. A review in The New Yorker magazine stated that Bach's so-called lute works, recorded on Mr. Heindel's second CD, Aufs Lautenwerck," suddenly make sense in a way they never have on a harpsichord or lute."
A native of eastern Pennsylvania, Mr.
Heindel has served as university organist and organ instructor at
Lehigh University and has taught harpsichord and performance
practice at Moravian College. He holds performance degrees
from Westminster Choir College and New England Conservatory, and
his teachers include Joan Lippincott and Yuko Hayashi (organ), and
John Gibbons and Albert Fuller (harpsichord). Mr. Heindel
has served as organist at Mount Washington Presbyterian Church in
Cincinnati since 2005. He continues to teach organ and
harpsichord, and is currently accepting new students.