Pasi Pipe Organ Builders, Inc., Roy, Washington; Saint George’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia
From the organ builder
When all the stars line up as they have for this project, a happy outcome is almost a sure thing. Right from the beginning, several years ago, when I was invited to submit a proposal for a new organ at Saint George’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, all the different components of a good chance were there.
A. Thompson-Allen Company, New Haven, Connecticut; Derry Presbyterian Church, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Editor's note: Click on the link above to view the front cover of the April 1951 issue of The Diapason and announcement of Opus 1132 for the Church of the Redeemer, New Haven, Connecticut.
The organ’s first career
In 1951 New Haven’s Church of the Redeemer, founded in 1838, moved into a neo-colonial structure designed by prominent local architect Douglas Orr. The new church was located in the city’s East Rock neighborhood and quickly took its place among Orr’s other distinguished buildings that remain popular to the present day.
Muller Pipe Organ Company, Croton, Ohio; Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Toledo, Ohio
Quite understandably, the Muller Pipe Organ Company is sometimes mistaken for the now defunct M. P. Möller Organ Company. We have answered countless emails and phone calls from across the country that begin with “We have one of your organs from . . .,” and we very politely explain that we are not the same company. It is possible the confusion may have been magnified had our ancestors decided to keep the umlaut over the “u”!
Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, Hartville, Ohio; Little Flower Catholic Church, Saint Louis, Missouri
When we were first approached by music director Chuck Chauvin of Little Flower Catholic Church, the conversation was long and rewarding. I immediately felt we were kindred spirits, so close were our thoughts and goals for the organ project. These boiled down to a new organ that would best address the musical needs of the parish, using what pipes were appropriate from the existing organ, and moving the organ pipe location into the room as much as possible.
Emery Brothers, Allentown, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Our installation of this organ was scheduled to commence on March 16, 2020. As stay-at-home orders and other government measures came into effect, these plans changed. However, this was hardly the first detour for the mighty Möller on its path to Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral.
Historic First Presbyterian Church of Clarkesville, Georgia, was built in 1848 by Jarvis Van Buren, a first cousin of President Martin Van Buren. The first pipe organ in the building was installed in the rear gallery by the Greenwood Pipe Organ Company in 1983.
Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc., Warrensburg, Missouri; First United Methodist Church, Athens, Georgia
First United Methodist Church of Athens, Georgia, is home to the newest instrument by Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc., of Warrensburg, Missouri. The four-manual, 68-rank pipe organ, Opus 77, was created through the collaboration of Michael Quimby, president and tonal director, and T. Daniel Hancock, former president and designer, Quimby Pipe Organs; James F.
A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Co., Lithonia, Georgia; St. Simons Island Presbyterian Church, St. Simons Island, Georgia
St. Simons Island is a coastal community with roots that include coastal Indian tribes, the Spanish occupation, pre-Revolutionary War America as part of the original American colonies, and John and Charles Wesley preaching on this island under the majestic oak trees. In more recent years it has developed into a coastal retreat that is known colloquially as part of the Golden Isles. As a point of reference, this part of Georgia has been a place of retreat and reflection for the Schlueter family for years.
Orgues Létourneau, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; First United Methodist Church, Lubbock, Texas
Even when measured by expansive Texan standards, First United Methodist Church in Lubbock is extraordinary in scale. The church’s Gothic bell tower is visible from just about anywhere in downtown Lubbock. The church campus sprawls over two city blocks and includes spacious wings for music, Christian education, youth, and even physical fitness. Completed in 1955, the sanctuary seats over 1,800 people, and its spectacular rose window is reportedly among the eight largest in the world.
Goulding & Wood Pipe Organ Builders, Indianapolis, Indiana, Fortieth Anniversary; Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Knoxville, Tennessee, Opus 52
The year 2020 was indeed an historic year for many reasons. As the calendar page turns to another year, it has become somewhat easier to see in retrospect that 2020 contained reasons for celebration even amidst a time of pandemic and stress. For Goulding & Wood Pipe Organ Builders of Indianapolis, 2020 marked forty years of operation and afforded a chance to look back at the arc of the company’s history. The capstone of this anniversary year was the completion of the firm’s Opus 52 organ for Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Fate, luck, and surprising interactions with others fascinated with the pipe organ were the impetus for the founding of Quimby Pipe Organs, Incorporated, in August 1970. The same scenarios have continued over the years until the company reached its fiftieth birthday this past August 2020.
Parsons Pipe Organ Builders, Canandaigua, New York, 100th Anniversary
This year, Parsons Pipe Organ Builders celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding and five generations of Parsons family members who have made pipe organs their vocation. Although the manufacturing workshop was established later, the family has been involved in the trade since the late nineteenth century.
Auburn is a modest-sized city of just over 2,000 in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan, nearly equidistant from Midland to the west, Bay City to the east, and slightly farther from Saginaw to the south. As a result, the churches in this region draw members from a rather diverse culture, comprising everything from chemical engineering to manufacturing to agriculture.
Peragallo Pipe Organ Company, Paterson, New Jersey; Saint Leonard of Port Maurice Parish, Boston, Massachusetts
A long time ago, a young John Peragallo, Sr., made his way up to Boston from what was then a much smaller New York City—a fraction of the size we know today. He served as an apprentice and installer with the notable Ernest M. Skinner Company and had been recommended by his superiors to go up to Boston to gain experience at the big plant.
The work of Arp Schnitger was the inspiration for the new Flentrop organ in Dypvåg kirke, best suited for seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music and with a warm and colorful sound. The organ has two windchests, positioned one behind the other—a seventeenth-century solution—to save space, two wedge bellows, a stable but flexible wind supply, and a small pedal division behind the main case.
David E. Wallace & Co., Pipe Organ Builders, LLC, Gorham, Maine
Canadian Reformed Church, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
Early in 2011, members of the Canadian Reformed Church in Ancaster, Ontario, contacted David E. Wallace & Co. Pipe Organ Builders about providing an instrument ideally suited for their worship space. When the building was constructed the plan had been to acquire a pipe organ at some point in the future.
