Organs have been at St. George’s since the 1790s
The current organ was dedicated in 2011, the last step in our church renovation from 2007-2010. The organ committee decided to replace the existing 1875 organ, with a custom-built instrument. After a review of organ builders, the committee settled on Parsons Organ Builders of Canandaigua, NY.
During the design process, Parsons worked closely with our architect to incorporate design elements of St. George’s architecture into the organ case. The goal was to create an organ that blended well with the interior of our nave and looked like it had always been there.
These elements include: 1) Three large arches that reflect the Ascension window over the altar, 2) Columns with carved capitals similar to those in the sanctuary, 3) Lower case grillwork to match the grillwork in the gallery rails, and 4) A rich walnut case built in the Italianate style, with polished tin facade pipes.
The details of the organ, Parson Opus 29, are as follows: 3 Manual and Pedals, 44 ranks, 47 Stops and 2,667 pipes. The 2,667 pipes are controlled from three mechanical action keyboards and one pedalboard – Great, Swell, Positive and Pedal – and range in length from ½” resonators to 16’. The stop list is designed to create a worship instrument with a broad tonal and dynamic range. The console is walnut and bloodwood with accents of wenge wood and incorporates state of the art digital technology with 200 levels of combination action memory.
The organ sits majestically in the rear balcony with choir seating on tiered risers to the front and sides of the case. The organ was reinstalled in St. George’s in late 2010 over two months and was ready for Christmas of that year and finally to be dedicated in 2011.
Three pictures inside the organ case showing pipes and the blower:
3. The following is 3 minutes time-lapse showing the completion of the organ in 2010 from Oct 2010:
4. Here is a sample of the organ’s sound – Mark Laubach playing “J.S. Bach, Prelude in D Major, BWV 532” in 2011:
Look around you! We consider architecture next