Main Street United Methodist Church Abbeville, South Carolina Kegg Pipe Organ Builders Hartville, Ohio View the Stop List By Charles Kegg Working in the South has the advantage of a pleasant climate, but the main attraction is the people. Southern hospitality is real, and the folks at Main Street United Methodist Church certainly demonstrated this in great measure. When we first visited we found a handsome 19th-century Felgemaker case with ornately decorated pipes. Behind it was an ailing Möller built during the soft zinc era. Pipes were of thin metal and the zinc basses were sagging. While we are always happy to retain worthy pipes and chests from existing instruments, the only parts of the previous organ we thought … [Read more...]

Riverside Presbyterian Church Jacksonville, Florida R.A. Colby OrganBuilders Johnson City, Tennessee by Braden R. Colby View the Stop List As a company, we often find that the most fascinating part of our journey is the evolution of our projects. Rarely does the final instrument match the initial idea. Instead, the final product comes from a powerful mixture of our clients’ needs and desires, the organ’s environment, and our own expertise. Every project begins and ends with listening. From the first point of contact, we listen so that we can understand the needs, wants, and vision of the church. We also listen to the musicians and consultant about how other instruments have performed and how they would like the new one to differ. … [Read more...]

St. John's Episcopal ChurchLafayette, IndianaQuimby Pipe Organs Inc. Warrensburg, MissouriView the Stop List St. John’s Episcopal Church is a thriving parish located in downtown Lafayette, Indiana. Music has been an important focus of the parish since it was organized in 1836. Upon the completion of the present building in 1857, a secondhand 1853 Pilcher organ was first rented and later purchased. In 1889, the first paid choirmaster and choristers were engaged, and a men and boys’ choir “reorganized,” which continued until 1960. A new Pilcher was installed in 1890; this instrument was subsequently enlarged and electrified by Pilcher in the 1920s. In 1966, due to failing mechanisms and changing taste, a new two-manual, … [Read more...]

St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church Lafayette, Louisiana Cornel Zimmer Organ Builders Opus 145, 2017 View the Stop List By Kevin Martin When the final plans for St. Pius X Parish’s new church building were released, it was readily apparent that the new organ would require an enlarged specification, ultimately leading to digital augmentation. While there was ample room in the organ chamber (located in the rear of the nave) for approximately 30 to 40 ranks of pipes, the transepts were located too far away from the organ chamber and, therefore, would require organ divisions of their own to support the choir and congregational singing. The search for a pipe organ builder who would incorporate digital voices with speaking … [Read more...]

Peragallo Organ Company Our 100th Year: A Look Back View the stoplist By John Peragallo IV In the words of Ervin Drake, and as sung by Frank Sinatra, “It was a very good year.” Our centennial year 2018 was filled with so many wonderful moments that we will remember for years to come as we celebrated relationships, new and old. As the story goes, John Peragallo Sr. was installing the American Master Organ Company’s theater organ in Butte, Montana, in 1917, when he received word that the young company back home had gone bankrupt. At this point, he made the brave decision to set up his own workshop in Paterson, New Jersey, and began a journey of what would be 100 years of continual organbuilding. So, appropriately, we began … [Read more...]

Central United Methodist Church Fayetteville, Arkansas Buzard Pipe Organ Builders Champaign, Illinois by John-Paul Buzard View an enlarged cover View the Stop List   It has been a privilege and honor to have designed and built this new organ for Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Particularly humbling was that music director Frode Gundersen and organist Scott Montgomery selected our firm after lengthy auditioning tours to instruments made by many other fine organbuilders. I believe it was a combination of outstanding constructional quality, tonal sophistication, honorable business practices, and personal “chemistry” that won the day for us. In addition to selecting an organbuilder, Frode and … [Read more...]

The New Dobson Organ at St. Thomas Church In New York City By John Panning and Jonathan Ambrosino View the new case View the 1913 case View the Stop List Lovers of church music have long made St. Thomas Church, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s swank Midtown, a place of pilgrimage. Within its landmark Gothic Revival walls, the parish has forged a unique musical perspective, combining a high Anglican choral tradition with organs of French inspiration, a musical practice that strongly informed the tonal design of our recently completed Opus 93. The two basic requirements demanded by this tradition—color and discretion for choral accompaniment, grandeur and panache for solo performance—are found in few historic styles. On the face of it, … [Read more...]

Two Tales of Two-Manual Organs By Patrick J. Murphy View an enlarged cover Stop List Organbuilders dream about having the opportunity to construct fine large instruments that stunningly display their creative ethos. The realities of today’s market, however, more often challenge builders to create highly flexible instruments in very limited spaces and budgets. Many congregations give in to these limitations easily, threatening the extinction of quality music in their worship life. But there are many parishes, even small ones, that understand the value of quality music in their services and find ways to overcome the perceived limitations. Patrick J. Murphy & Associates recently had the fortunate opportunity to provide modest … [Read more...]