After today’s concert in the Temple of the Third Order on Calle San Francisco, the maestro David Soteno Jimenez from Metepec in the State of Mexico had nothing but praise for the nearly 150-year-old pipe organ on which he performed.

“It is magnificent,” he enthused. “You see that it has only one keyboard and yet it has such a range of sound.” His one observation was that the stops that provide the keyboard its range take a bit of muscle to pull out — not an easy feat when your fingers are rolling a glissando down the keys.

He laughed as he mimicked a tug of war with the instrument, then showered it with more love.

Soteno Jimenez is the first artist from outside of San Miguel de Allende to “kick the tires” so to speak on the recently installed organ.

He won’t be the last.

There will be four more free concerts at the temple this month, each featuring a different artist at the keyboard. After which, the newest jewel in San Miguel’s cultural chest of treasures will have been properly christianed.

The organ was purchased in Massachusetts where it was disassembled, refurbished and fully restored before being shipped to San Miguel in hundreds of pieces. (IKEA, eat your heart out.)

The organ was inaugurated on November 21 at a two-hour fund-raising concert.

Sotero Jimenez chose a diverse set of compositions for the festival’s inaugural performance today.

He began with the stately first Concerto for Organ by George Frederic Handel, first performed in 1736, and followed with Johann Pachelbel’s expressive Chaconnes in F minor. The composer’s affinity for organ music is evident in this piece as it truly tested the range of the Johnson & Sons’ instrument. Then again, Pachelbel wrote around 200 compositions for the organ, so who better to inaugurate this handsome instrument?

Sotero Jimenez lept into the modern era for the second half of the concert with compositions by revered Mexican composers — “Paisaje” from Jesus Villasenor (1936) and three compositions from Ramon Noble — “Danza Espanola,” “Scherzino Mexicano,” and “Moto Perpetuo.”

The next concert will be Thursday, Dec. 7 at 6 pm and will feature Malcolm Halliday, the man who “godfathered” this organ into existence here, with Macedonio Perez Matis from Guanajuato on trumpet.

On Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m., Felipe Adrian Rojero from Guadalajara will perform on the organ.

On Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., Rodolfo Ponce Montero from Guanajuato will be featured.

And finally, on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 1:30p.m., San Miguel’s own Josue Martin Morin will be seater at the organ.

All concerts will be free as a way of introducing San Miguel music lovers to this beautiful instrument and to thank the community for its continued support of music.