Christ Church, Episcopal
Eureka, California
This new organ was installed in April of 2008 and tonal finishing was complete on May 24, 2008. With the client's strong desire for a 3 manual organ and with limited space, we have provided an instrument of remarkable color and versatility for this room of 300 seats. We have here a very well developed two manual organ with a portion of the Great enclosed separate from the Swell. A large two manual organ allows complete choruses of principals, flutes and reeds including many color and special effect stops which would be impossible in a traditional three manual organ of the same 31 ranks. By virtue of the Kegg chest design and control system, we provide a third manual which we call Solo. This manual has no pipes to call its own, but consists of stops borrowed up from the Great and Swell which might be used alone. The Solo manual thus has softer stops as well as solo melody stops. This design concept provides much of the three manual versatility while maintaining the integrity of a complete two manual design. The Kegg system allows this to be done economically.
This organ also features a Solo Diapason III, which is another example of a Kegg Ensemble stop.
The unenclosed Great and part of the Pedal are located in a new case under the fine trio of windows. The Swell is in an expression box behind the left grill. The enclosed Great expression box and Pedal Diapason are located behind the right grill. The center case is of native California redwood, designed to match the style of this 1939 building. There were no visible pipes before our installation.
This wise congregation decided to do extensive work to their room prior to the installation of the new organ. Soft, sound absorbing material was removed from the ceiling and replaced by hard, painted wood. The chancel carpet was replaced with ceramic tile and the nave wood floors were refinished. The result is a very fine acoustic which will greatly benefit congregational singing and the choir, in addition to the new organ.
On June 8 during the first Sunday public use of the new organ, the 15 member Eureka chapter of the American Guild of Organists presented a gift of $5,000.00 to the church for the new organ and the concert series. We join Christ Church in hearty thanks for this generous gift.
When you are exploring northern California and the giant redwoods, please stop in to see this instrument!
