New organ console

After an almost 20-hour journey we are excited to announce the arrival of Saint Philip’s new organ console! It was built by Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. of Warrensburg, Missouri.

The family of organ technician Joe Nielsen joined him outside Saint Philip’s on Monday morning to help off-load the console.

Then followed the laborious task of unhooking the cabling to the old organ console. Joe’s family members, who travelled from their home in Utah, and Br Ayden Carrell, helped Joe and me.

No job of this scope is without its surprises, and some ingenuity and patience were required to unravel (literally) the yards of cable under the choir stalls through a conduit up into the organ chamber. An electrician was summoned at short notice to rectify some issues that arose, and Tuesday was spent wiring the new pipe organ control modules. (The whole of the organ mechanism—keyboard action and stop action—is now controlled by computer solid-state components. This allows the player much greater freedom and flexibility.) The only connection from the console to the organ chamber is now a single CAT5 cable.

The organ console is simply gorgeous! The outer casework is fine African mahogany and matches the organ casework.

You’ll be able to hear Saint Philip’s new organ when it’s played at the Maundy Thursday service on April 1. As J.S. Bach wrote, “Soli Deo Gloria” (Alone to God be the Glory!) We look forward to sharing music from the newly restored organ for the Easter Season!

Next week: Exploring the Organ’s Sounds and Construction

Dr Jeffrey Campbell, Associate Director of Music & Organist