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News & Events
St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Muncie, IN
Martin Ellis to Perform in Concert at St. Lawrence, Muncie
Martin Ellis, concert organist, will perform on Friday evening, February 12, at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Muncie, Indiana. The concert, which will begin at 7:00 pm, will feature music of J.S. Bach, Louis Vierne, Jehan Alain, Henri Mulet, and others on the church's new 26-rank Reynolds Associates pipe organ. For more information about this new instrument click HERE.
The event will be jointly sponsored by St. Lawrence Church, the Muncie chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and Reynolds Associates, Inc. Admission to the concert is free. MARTIN ELLIS is a concert artist that bridges the boundaries between traditional classical and theatre organ. Equally proficient in both playing styles, Mr. Ellis performs on organs of distinction in the United States and abroad, offering a contemporary perspective to music enthusiasts of all genres. In his home town of Indianapolis, Indiana he appears frequently with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and was the featured organist for the premier concerts on the newly-installed pipe organ in the Hilbert Circle Theatre, including performances of Saint-Saen’s “Organ” Symphony and ISO’s very popular “Yuletide Celebration.” This busy musician continues to perform numerous classical and pop concerts that feature organ and symphony, fostering new and innovative ideas in the use of organ with orchestra. Mr. Ellis has performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the American Theatre Organ Society, and the Organ Historical Society. In addition to concert activities, Mr. Ellis serves as Organist and Associate Director of Music for North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, where he presides over the church’s IV manual-76 rank Kimball/Reynolds organ. For over a decade, Mr. Ellis has worked as an arranger and keyboardist for the renowned Indianapolis Children’s Choir. Many have also heard him perform as a member of “Trio con Brio,” a unique collaborative effort with artists Donna Parker and Jonas Nordwall, that adapts classical and popular music for performance on three organs simultaneously. St. Lawrence Catholic Church is located at 820 East Charles* Street in Muncie, IN.
*(WHOOPS! I briefly listed the address incorrectly above. Thanks to the kind soul who called me right away to let me know. It IS Charles Street!)
Read more about this Reynolds organ See the Specification of this Reynolds organ
New Ellis CD in Production
Pope Benedict XVI on the Organ "Music and Song are More than an Embellishment of Worship"
Traditional music and traditional liturgy have gained a new appreciation recently in almost all Christian denominations. Even the Roman Catholic Church, which since the Second Vatican Council has seemed inclined to throw the baby out with the liturgical bathwater (to borrow an aphorism), has shown new interest and a new appreciation for older established worship formats.
Pope Benedict XVI visited his home country of Bavaria in September, 2006, and dedicated a new pipe organ in the Atle Kapelle in Regensburg.
According to an online article of the Catholic News Agency, the Pope recognized the unique place the pipe organ holds in Christian worship. His words are worthy of Balzac, and are reminiscent of the French writers lofty comments about the King of Instruments:
"Benedict, a piano player himself, has
been vocal about his deep appreciation for music, particularly
sacred liturgical music. After a brief description of the
process of restoration, which took eight years and almost one
million dollars to complete, the Holy Father arose and spoke to
the importance of music in the liturgies of the Church
emphasizing the “king of musical instruments,” the organ.
Read the Catholic News Agency
article in full
here.
Read the entire text of the Pope's remarks
here. We couldn't have said it better!
St. John Cumberland United Church of Christ New Organ Completed!.
The new Reynolds Associates pipe organ for St. John Cumberland United Church of Christ in Indianapolis has been completed. Following final voicing and regulation of the new instrument, it was used in worship for the first time on June 28, 2009. This fine new instrument includes tonal material from the church's 1936 Kilgen organ, along with new pipes, all carefully voiced and regulated to blend seamlessly. Although only 16 ranks in size, the new organ has a very well-developed ensemble, and a wide variety of tone color in its specification.  While the pipes of the old Kilgen organ were hidden behind a lattice screen, the new organ boasts an elegant new case front and facade designed and built in our shop. For an in-depth article about the new Cumberland organ, click HERE. View the specification of the new organ.
January 27, 1978 started out as an unusually quiet day in Muncie, IN. The city was in the grip of the worst blizzard anybody remembered – probably the worst in a century. For three days, High Street United Methodist Church, a cavernous limestone building in the middle of the city known as “Middletown, USA,” had been empty and silent.
Nobody was around to smell the gas that was slowly filling the building from a leak in the basement. At any other time or in any other circumstances, the disaster that was about to happen would have been averted, but this day, High Street was becoming a bomb. Maybe it was a spark from an electric motor. Perhaps it was a pilot light. Whatever it was that ignited the gas, the devastation was immediate. A lesser building, without High Street’s massive stone walls, would probably have simply ceased to exist. As it was, the overpressure of the explosion was enough to lift the roof completely off the building and set it back down again on the walls. Windows were blown out, doors demolished. It all happened in a few seconds. In the sanctuary, the damage to the congregation’s cherished pipe organ , E.M. Skinner’s Opus 803, was severe. The 4-manual console was nearly ruined, as were many of the pipes and mechanisms, especially in the Swell division. As soon as the building was deemed safe, work began removing the splintered and sodden parts of the instrument. Almost immediately, the congregation picked itself, resolving to restore both their building and their ministry. This required a leap of faith, since, at the time, they had no idea how much it would cost to save the building, nor even if it could be saved. Extensive engineering studies showed that, despite the heavy damage, the structure of the building was sound. The restoration that followed renewed the English gothic magnificence of the building, while at the same time modernizing it for the future. The leap of faith paid off. During the months of rebuilding, the congregation actually grew in size, and the new mortgage was paid off only four years after the disaster. Along with saving the building, the congregation also resolved to save the Skinner organ, initially leading to perhaps the saddest chapter in this tragedy. A local individual who contracted to rebuild the organ apparently engaged in a bit of skullduggery, depleting the church’s funds for the project, and resulting in the loss of several ranks of Skinner pipes, which were probably sold. Finally, almost two years after the explosion, High Street contracted with the Indianapolis firm of Goulding and Wood to put the Skinner organ back into operation. By this time, funds were very limited. G & W did a workmanlike job of reassembling the organ, and attempted to revise the tonal design. Parts of the Skinner organ that had not been damaged were reconnected, but not rebuilt because of lack of funds. Many stop knobs, including those for about half the Pedal stops, did nothing, but represented “prepared” voices to be installed in the future. The organ remained in this state for thirty years. Organists had to struggle to avoid the important stops that were missing, and also to cope with an increasing frequency of mechanical failures. When we assumed responsibility for the care of the organ in 2003, it was with the understanding that a new plan was needed for the instrument’s rehabilitation. The process of studying, preparing, submitting, and approving a workable plan took nearly five years, during which time the organ committee interviewed a number of organ companies and considered plans from each. I had had a long experience with the High Street organ, going back to my college days at Ball State University. There, when I was an aptly-described sophomore, I had one day expounded (pompously, as I recall… pomposity is part of the sophomore experience, after all) to my organ teacher, Fred Binckes, about the obvious advantages of tracker action, low windpressures, unnicked pipes, etc., etc., all of which I had read about, but about which I really knew practically nothing. With a phone call to Jane Church, High Street’s beloved music director, it was arranged for this young college student to spend a few practice sessions at the four manual console of the great Skinner organ. While I missed a conventional ensemble (and still feel that this is a weakness of most of these instruments), the experience of warm flutes and diapasons, powerful, dark reeds, and the deep, rumbling fundamental sound of the Pedal (all three ranks), was an epiphany for which I remain grateful. The High Street organ almost single-handedly brought me to an appreciation of the American Romantic organ, an appreciation that has held through the renovations of many Kimballs, Esteys, Möllers, and Kilgens. The ideals of the Romantic, including sweetness of tone, color, and warmth have also helped me as we have redesigned later organs that had ensemble, but lacked these essential tonal elements. In January, 2009, thirty years to the week after the disaster that nearly destroyed High Street and its Skinner organ, the congregation signed a contract with Reynolds Associates to begin the renovation process. The project looks toward a finished product that preserves all the existing Skinner pipework, but also includes a more workable ensemble. When the organ was built in 1930, Skinner had already begun the alliance with Englishman G. Donald Harrison. It was an alliance that would revolutionize the American organ, but would ultimately force Ernest Skinner out of the company he started and that bore his name. Harrison would eventually dub his new style of organ design, “The American Classic Organ.” In its best form, this design would essentially be a Romantic organ with a more classical ensemble structure. Over time, though, ensemble would win out over color, and for many years the pendulum would swing far to that direction. Now, as with all things, “what goes around comes around,” and high Romantic organs, such as the High Street instrument, are again cherished. It would be impossible and probably unwise to attempt to “restore” Opus 803 to its original Skinner form. About 25% of the original ranks are now gone, and others have been repurposed in the organ. Still, much of the elegance of the original remains, and the thirty or so Skinner ranks remain the tonal heart of this instrument. Possibly, our tonal design would be more recognizable to Harrison than to Skinner. Each division will have a fully developed principal ensemble, scaled and voiced appropriately to the period. The Pedal division, instead of being just a bass presence will have a more developed palette that will allow the performance of a wider assortment of service music and organ literature. The first part of the process will include rebuilding many parts that have not seen daylight since 1930, as well as parts that were patched up in 1980 due to lack of funds. The tonal design of the Swell will be improved, and the existing Great I division will become a Positiv. New additions to the Pedal will include a 16’ Ophecleide and a 16’ Violone (both venerable Hook& Hastings ranks), as well as a much-needed Pedal Principal. The completion of the project will include additions to the Choir and Pedal, and an exposed addition to the antiphonal division that includes a new Principal and Chimney Flute. The console will be completely rebuilt, including new keyboards, stop jambs and drawknobs, toe studs, music desk, and lighting, as well as a completely new state-of-the-art control system. One part of the project of which I suspect Skinner would have approved (although nobody can be sure!) is the Peterson ICS4000® integrated control system, fitted into the existing Skinner console cabinet. This system will offer musicians a wealth of new possibilities as they manage services and recitals. Skinner was a tinkerer and inventor, and would likely have been intrigued by what is possible when modern technology is applied to the organ. (Anyone who is familiar with EMS might suspect that he would, of course, claim to have invented the ICS system, and would have followed up his claims with hotly worded letters to the editors of the various organists’ journals!) For more information about this system, which we use exclusively on all our projects, please visit, www.ics4000.com. The organ at High Street United Methodist Church has a unique story, from its design and installation by one of the organ world’s most prolific and irascible geniuses, through near-destruction, to a bright future in which its noble and elegant sound will continue to uplift and inspire. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with High Street United Methodist Church on this exciting project. Lilly-Thompson Organ at Gobin Memorial UMC Historic Kimball Organ to be Renovated
The congregation of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church in Greencastle has entrusted the renovation of its magnificent 4-manual pipe organ to Reynolds Associates. The project, which will begin in early 2010, will preserve this impressive example of twentieth-century American organ building to inspire and uplift future generations. The instrument, on the campus of DePauw
University in Greencastle, is one of the most historic organs in
Indiana. Built by the Kimball Organ Company in 1929,
expanded by G. Donald Harrison of Aeolian-Skinner in 1947, and
rebuilt by M.P. Moller in 1957, the instrument was used for
decades as a teaching instrument for DePauw University under Van
Denman Thompson - the noted composer who was also the organist
for Gobin Church - Dr. Arthur Carkeek, and others.
Many of the twentieth-century’s greatest organists have
concertized on the big Kimball, and literally hundreds of
organists have learned their art at its four keyboards. In recent years, the great organ has fallen
on hard times, as the effects of age and wear and tear have made
many of its resources unusable, and the whole instrument
generally unreliable.
Still, even in its present state, it is a wonderfully
impressive instrument.
We have attempted to maintain it and keep it in tune, but
clearly the congregation needed to make some basic decisions
about its future. We approached this project from a variety of
different perspectives – historical, financial, and musical –
looking to put together a project that preserved the great
instrument at a cost this small congregation could manage. The proposal that has been accepted by
Gobin’s hard-working organ committee and the church’s Trustees
preserves most of the original Kimball-Welte windchests, along
with tonal material from both the Kimball and Möller
incarnations. The
concentration will be on mechanical renovation, along with some
tonal restructuring that is necessary to correct existing
shortcomings. In
this project we will build on projects that have been done in
the past to preserve the congregation’s investment made over the
decades. We anticipate that the project will take
approximately 12 – 18 months to complete, although the organ
will not be out of service for that entire time.
We will publish the final specification of the organ in
the coming weeks, so watch this site for more!
Read more about central Indiana’s three great Kimball organs,
HERE. Organ Design Workshop in Michigan City, IN Pipe Organ Design: A "Conservative" Approach On Saturday morning, April 18,2009 the Northwest Indiana Chapter of the American Guild of Organists hosted a workshop featuring Thad Reynolds, President of Reynolds Associates. The event was held at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Michigan City, IN. During the workshop, we discussed the artistic, economic, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of conserving older pipe organs. The discussion included working definitions of restoration, renovation, and rebuilding, as well as ways in which older tonal material can be incorporated into a new instrument, where appropriate. We also discussed care of the King of Instruments, including the advantages of thorough twice-annual service visits that include a full tuning of the instrument, instead of the "touch-up" tunings that many organs receive. We also reviewed the original and finished specifications of a recent Reynolds project, considering the many issues that contribute to the successful redesign of an instrument. If your AGO chapter or church is interested in hosting a similar event, please contact us at reyassoc@reynoldsorgans.com.
Richmond, IN Project Completed A New Brain for an Old Organ
Last fall, we received a request to examine the pipe organ in historic St. Andrews Catholic Church in Richmond, IN. The church had been struck by lightning, and the 15-year-old control system on the church's 1947 Wicks pipe organ had been badly damaged.
St. Andrews is typical of the beautiful worship edifices built in the early twentieth century. As is the case with many of these buildings, the beautiful architecture is matched by a lively acoustic that is perfect for organ music.
The Wicks organ appears to contain tonal material from a previous instrument, and many of the pipes are quite fine.
Instead of trying to repair the old control system, we recommended a rebuild of the console, and complete replacement of the controls systems with a Peterson ICS4000 Integrated System. Installing the new system allowed us to remove all vestiges of the original Wicks mechanical relays (the presence of which may have contributed to the lightning damage), as well as the previously-installed solid state equipment, and to replace it with a new, compact, and much more functional system.
The new Peterson system carries a 10-year warranty against the kind of damage the ruined the old system, and, perhaps more importantly, can be quickly repaired in the unlikely event that damage should occur. We are also able to easily reconfigure the new system to accommodate changes when the remainder of the organ is finally renovated.
Among the features of the new system are plenty of memory levels for all the church's several organists, programmable crescendo and tutti functions, full MIDI interface, and built-in record/playback capability.
There remain a number of mechanical and tonal challenges to be faced to bring this organ up into good condition, but St. Andrews has taken a very major step along that road!
Renovation of an Antique Pipe Facade Flora Organ Sounds Swell... Now Looks GREAT, Too!
The 1914 Pilcher Case, following our restoration.
After months of work, the restoration of the 29 organ pipes that make up the facade (pipe fence) of the organ at First Christian Church in Flora, IN, has been completed. Along with the pipe facade restoration, we also restored and refinished the lower case of quarter-sawn oak. The case had looked so bad that it had been covered by a curtain for fifty years!
The facade was part of an organ built in 1914 by the Pilcher Organ Company of Louisville. In about 1960, E.H. Holloway Corp. built a new organ for the church, retaining the display pipes of the old facade, and covering the lower part of the case with a velour curtain. The zinc pipes had been repainted repeatedly, and had numerous dents.
In 1998, Reynolds Associates rebuilt the Holloway organ, and have subsequently made several tonal improvements to the instrument. The visual restoration is the latest improvement to the instrument, and one that gives a new elegance and character to the craftsman-style sanctuary.
In our shop, we carefully stripped and repaired the pipes, primed and basecoated them, and applied decorative elements designed for the organ by Michael Lenhart, who worked for the firm at that time. Missing elements of the oak case, including a new center panel to fill in the space where the original Pilcher keydesk had been, were created in our shop by David Reynolds.
Along with the restoration work, we also built and installed new expression shades, replacing the old hollow shades that were loose and noisy.
To see a photo gallery of this project, click HERE.
Upcoming Concert Information. Martin Ellis, St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 820 East Charles Street, Muncie, IN. Friday, February 12, 2010. 7:00 pm. .Click HERE to go to top of News & Events
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