Adam Brakel plays Buxtehude Praeludium in D Minor

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.

Died in Evanston, Illinois, on January 30

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois; Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Carmel, Indiana, Opus 45, 2017; Central United Methodist Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Opus 46, 2018–2019

Opus 45

“What have you done here!?,” asked Todd Wilson as he leapt off the organ bench to greet me the day before Opus 45’s dedication. Hoping this was a friendly question, I asked to what exactly he was referring. “This organ just about plays itself!” Yes, it was a very friendly question and a complimentary one—even better.

Covering all the basses

I remember the first time I went to Fenway Park in Boston with my father to see a Red Sox game. I had watched many games on television, but those of us “of a certain age” remember what televisions were like in 1965 with foil-wrapped rabbit-ear antennas, bulbous black-and-white picture tubes, and fuzzy pictures. When Dad and I came out of the tunnel into the sunshine at Fenway, the outfield grass was the greenest I had ever seen. I was dazzled.