For the fourth consecutive year, DePaul University’s School of Music will host the Charles E. McGuckin Harpsichord Recital Series celebrating the early keyboard instrument. Distinguished harpsichordist Peter Watchorn will perform a program of musical offerings titled “Bach and His Mentors” at the April 17 recital, which begins at 8 p.m. in the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. The concert will be followed by a reception. Both are free of charge and open to the public.

Because the harpsichord is infrequently played in modern times, the event affords concertgoers an opportunity to experience this keyboard instrument, which was widely used between the 16th and 18th centuries. The harpsichord differs from its descendent, the piano, because its strings are plucked, and not struck, by the key mechanism.

Marie McGuckin of Palos Heights, Ill., established the recital series four years ago with a donation to the School of Music of a double manual Martin harpsichord in honor of her late husband, Charles. Both Charles and Marie have close ties to DePaul: he was a 1956 graduate of the university’s School of Education and a former Chicago public school principal; she is a 1964 alumna of the music school. The harpsichord was unveiled at an inaugural concert in April of 2001.

Watchorn has devoted himself to the study of harpsichord repertoire for more than three decades.

He has received numerous awards and honors for his own musicianship, and as co-founder of the award-winning record label Musica Omnia, he has sought to promote awareness of historically informed musical performance from all eras. Since 1998, he has served as the organist and music director of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Milton, Mass.

The concert program will open with works by Johann Jacob Froberger, considered the pre-eminent German composer of keyboard music in the mid-17th century, and George Boehm, who exerted a strong influence on the young J.S. Bach. The concert’s second half is devoted to the works of Bach, whose creativity and inventiveness changed the course of music history. Selections include the Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E flat major, BWV 998; Preludes and Fugue in G major, BWV 902/884, and the Sonata in D minor, BWV 864.

For more information, call the DePaul School of Music: (773) 325-7260.