A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia, has built a new organ for Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, Brookhaven, Georgia: four manuals and pedal, 64 ranks, 93 stops, 3,630 pipes.
The case is built of red oak, finished to match the pews and other furnishings in the church. The four-manual terraced drawknob console is low profile, allowing sightlines for an organist/choir director. The Syndyne 8400 full-featured console control system allows 5,000 levels of memory divisible by 50 organists. It features all of the technology expected on a modern pipe organ including piston sequencer, transposer, MIDI, playback/record, programmable ventils/crescendos/sforzandos, USB memory backup, and a host of other controls. The console is built of solid oak with a contrasting mahogany interior; drawknobs are turned from African Blackwood with inset engraved faux ivory faces. The console is moveable to allow it to be placed forward of the altar for concerts and other special occasions.
Located behind the right façade, the Great division is placed in a very forward position that allows it to blossom into the center of the room and more easily transit into the crossing to provide acoustic support to the transepts. This division was designed with a large number of 8′ registers.
Located directly behind the Great is the Choir/Positiv division that is designed as a tonal foil to the Great.
The Swell is located behind the left façade.
The Fanfare division on the fourth manual features the 8′ Festival Trumpet in the chancel and an 8′ Trompette en Chamade in the rear of the church. The chamade is built of polished copper and is located over the baptismal font. There are also additional solo registers, including the 8′/4′ Harmonic Flute and color and solo reed voices from the String, Choir/Positiv, and Great divisions.
The shape and size of the room made consideration for an Antiphonal division important. This division includes a supportive chorus, a mutation for coloring the 8′ and 4′ registers, a lyrical solo/ensemble Cromorne, and a three-rank string register.
The Pedal division was designed with a number of independent registers that find their home in the façade. The organ façade is very large with over 151 pipes in its design. This gave us the space for independent resources from the Pedal, including the 16′ Principal, 16′ Violone, and 8′ Octave. Behind the façade are additional Pedal resources including the 16′/8′/4′ reed, 16′/8′ Bourdon and 4′ Choral Bass.
The organ was dedicated to worship on May 13, 2025, to a full congregation with a concert by Jake Mappes. director of music and liturgy, and Nick Johns-Cooper, director of music at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church.
The new organ is featured on the cover of the September 2025 issue of The Diapason:
https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-e-schlueter-pipe-organ-company-our-lady-assumption
For information: https://pipe-organ.com/
Richard Morris playing the A. E. Schlueter pipe organ at First Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia: March on Handel’s "Lift Up Your Heads," op. 15, no. 2, by Alexander Guilmant.
