Inspirational Evening with André Knevel

An Inspirational Evening with André Knevel, hosted by Naples United Church of Christ, will be held on Friday, February 27, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. Ticket sales proceeds from the organ concert will benefit St. Matthew’s House. The church is located at 5200 Crayton Road, Naples. Knevel will perform on the Naples United Church of Christ’s three-manual, sixty-one rank Schantz pipe organ. Each of the organ’s 3,359 pipes have been designed, crafted, and voiced for the worship space.

André Knevel is an internationally famous organist. He was born in the Netherlands and studied organ under Rutger Van Mazijk, Willem Hendrik Zwart, and Dr. J. Van Stokkum. After immigrating to Canada, his organ studies in performance and church music were completed with Dr. John Tuttle at the University of Toronto.

Presently, he gives recitals throughout Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands. In 2025, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal, commemorating the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, awarded to those who played significant roles in coronation events.

An Inspirational Evening also will include live testimonials by St. Matthew’s House program graduates. In addition, guests will have the opportunity to view the new Faces Beyond Homelessness exhibit of moving charcoal and red chalk portraits of 10 St. Matthew’s House residents by Naples-based artist Wendy Wagner. Those featured in the portraits volunteered to tell their stories about their personal journey from homelessness to hope for the future. Wagner has sensitively captured the evocative expressions she observed during each participant’s telling of his or her story.

General admission for the concert and exhibit viewing is $30 per person. A $75 per person ticket includes a private reception, from 5:30-6:30 PM, catered by Delicious by Design, the St. Matthew’s House commercial catering social enterprise. It also includes reserved seating for the performance and a special meet-and-greet with André Knevel. Tickets can be purchased at stmatthewshouse.org.