The purpose of this page is to provide regular updates regarding our efforts to raise funds to restore and install a historic pipe organ at St. Matthew's Church. These efforts have been ongoing over the last few years and we are pleased to announce that restoration of the 1867 Steere Opus 1 Organ began in earnest in March 2022 at A. David Moore, Inc., in North Pomfret, Vermont. Schedule for completion and transportation of the organ cross-country is now for May 2024. At least once a month between now and then, an update will appear on this page, such that all can follow the organ's journey home to our church! Indication will also be made as to our fundraising progress - gifts small, medium, and large, are yet encouraged and can be made here (set the fund dropdown to "Organ Fund"). For more information or any questions, please inquire of JK Leason (jk@leasonmail.com) or Chris Parrish (cparrishgeo@gmail.com).
Organ Update 02/20/2024
An open letter update from JK Leason and Chris Parrish
Dear St. Matthew’s Church Parishioners:
The purpose of this e-mail/letter is to provide an update on the status of our pipe organ project.
The David Moore Company in Vermont continues to make excellent progress on restoration in Vermont.
As of the 1/31/24 the organ restoration is over 92% complete. The organ is being assembled in Moore’s shop in Vermont which allows for testing as assembly takes place. Pipes have been put in place in both the Great and Swell Chests. Bellows providing wind for the pipes have been connected to these chests.
So, after months of restoring parts and components we are finally able to focus on assembly and hearing music. The organ was first “played” (even though only three of the organ’s more than 20 stops were operational at the time and no bass pipes were yet attached) in late December and the sounds produced were wonderful. Additionally, the keyboard “action” was reported as excellent and very responsive. Very exciting after all this time of anticipation! Two of ten videos documenting this as well as other photos and videos documenting the restoration journey are posted on the church website in the Pipe Organ Updates section.
It is anticipated that assembly in Vermont will be complete in March, and we look forward to seeing videos of our completely functioning organ!
As mentioned in earlier communications due to winter road conditions in Vermont, the organ cannot be shipped to St Matthew’s until April.
One of the traditions of Organ restorers is to have an Open House allowing local musicians to play the refurbished organ and this will occur in North Pomfret, Vermont on April 14. This event should attract well over 50 local organists to play our new instrument. If you have an interest in attending, please contact one of us for specific details.
After the Open House, the organ will be disassembled and packed and then shipped to St Matthew’s on April 26. Installation in Newport should commence on May 6.
From a financial perspective as of 1/31/2024 with your generous donations we have raised over $454,000 leaving us $66,000 short of our budget.
Please feel free to reach out to JK Leason (jk@leasonmail.com) or Chris Parrish (cparrishgeo@gmail.com) with any thoughts or questions. If desired, links to additional videos of the organ being played as well as a photo slideshow and script describing the inner workings of our tracker organ can be requested and e-mailed to you.
Thanks again for your contributions and support of the St Matthew’s Pipe Organ project!
Sincerely,
JK Leason and Chris Parrish
Organ Update 01/12/2024
We are very pleased to share the recordings of the organ included in the linked folder below. A few things to keep in mind:
We are very pleased provide video updates on the pipe organ progress. According to JK Leason and Chris Parrish, here are some details to share:
There are three stops on the Great that are represented here; 4’ Principal, 4’ Wald Flute and 8’ Clarabella. None of the bass pipes of these stops are included.
The recordings were all made from the console, with the pipes on the Great chest above and back from the console at the level of the organ platform, just as they will be at St. Matthew’s.
We think the stops sound wonderful, and will be even better We think the stops sound wonderful, and will be even better with regulation.
Listen to the recordings in the “Lubbert Gnodde.” Lubbert is an international organ competition winner who did his apprenticeship here at ADM and is out on his own now. He, like Kevin Birch at Thanksgiving, reports that the key action is excellent and very responsive.
Organ Update 09/21/2023
A Continuo organ being played at David Moore’s shop in Vermont.
It has been a busy third quarter of the year for the church’s 1867 J.W. Steere Opus 1 pipe organ restoration project. Our restoration company, A. David Moore, Inc. of Vermont, has been working diligently and as of today, the restoration project is 79% complete.
Our initial schedule was to have our organ arrive in Newport Beach on October 31. However, the recent death in the family of one of Moore’s lead craftsmen has precipitated a leave of absence. This has left the company short-handed for an as yet undetermined length of time, pushing organ completion into the Vermont Winter, a time logistically difficult for loading and delivery. This now means the organ will not arrive in Newport until April 1, 2024 with final installation being complete in mid-May.
Whereas this delay is terribly disappointing the excitement of this new addition to St. Matthew’s music program remains undiminished.
Recently a parishioner asked what we do about music during the one or two months while the organ is being installed. We plan to have a “Continuo” organ in the back of the church. These types of small self contained pipe organs allow for easy temporary installation. The sound of these pipe organs is surprisingly good and our fabulous choir and music director David Simmons will be able to provide quality music during this installation period.
Another question asked is “what is a tracker organ?”
The Moore restoration company specializes in “tracker” organs and our organ will have over 4,000 trackers. These are specially prepared and sized wooden sticks that attach to the organ keys or pedals that move through a “roller board” and then to the base of each pipe to open the pipe and allow wind to produce the sound in the specific pipe. Each tracker has special connections at their ends each individually wrapped in string and glue. Tracker organs are a traditional style of organ design and photos of the intricate tracker end connections as well as some installed trackers are posted below.
Tracker Connection Detail
Trackers in place
Organ Update 06/12/23
Restoration work continues on St Matthew’s 1867 J.W. Steere Opus 1 organ in North Pomfret, Vermont by master organ craftsman David Moore and his associates. The restoration project has been quite complex but is progressing nicely.
Another phase of the restoration project are the keyboards (manuals). The original organ had ivory keys but after a life or over 150 years these had to be repaired. This was done with water buffalo bone from India as the video above explains.
Our organ has over 1300 pipes including the 80 additional pipes we added for additional tones. All the organ’s original pipes needed cleaning but some needed actual repair and some missing pipes needed to be re-built from scratch. Most of the pipes for the additional tones we requested had to be hand manufactured in David’s shop. The pipework is complete but all need to be regulated when shop assembly takes place.
The organ will be completely assembled at David Moore’s shop to test the functioning of the organ. This assembly process is well underway. Photograph 1 shows the initial assembly of the left side of the organ case which will be visible to the congregation after installation at St. Matthew’s. Photo 2 shows one of the two keyboards (with its new water buffalo bones) along with the pedal keys which will be visible in the choir loft. However, much of the organ is “behind the scenes” and will not be visible. Photos 3 and 4 reflect this.
After complete shop testing of the organ there is a tradition by organ restorers to have an open house/concert to showcase the features of the restored organ. This will take place in mid-September and if anyone is interested in attending, please contact JK Leason (jk@leasonmail.com or 949-246-4979) for more details. After the concert the organ will be disassembled and packed for shipment to California. The organ is scheduled to arrive at St. Matthew’s the week of October 30. Installation will then begin with completion in mid-December.
Organ Update 10/18/22
The organ will be assembled as though it were at St. Matthew’s. Although none of these items are complete, the manual, roller board behind it and the Swell Chest above it are in their proper positions. In late September, 2023 the completely functioning organ will be played at the traditional Organ Builders Open House for all of David Moore’s neighbors to hear. It will then be disassembled, crated and shipped to St. Matthew’s for a complete reassembly and installation.
The Great Chest is starting to take shape.
Looking down from the Swell Chest showing the roller board and keyboard.
The Swell Chest with some of the wooden pipes in place. The Swell Chest is the volume control device for the organ. It is enclosed with walls, a ceiling and Venetian type shutters that open and close for the volume control.
Metal pipes being assembled, cleaned and organized.
Organ Update 9/19/22
Our distinguished organist-choir master, J. David Simmons, offers the following (as paraphrased) regarding the benefits of an historic organ for St. Matthew’s:
The Steere Opus 1, built in West Springfield, Mass., in 1867, will make a most suitable accompaniment to traditional worship. At the time it was built, English tradition was the prevalent influence on organ building in the United States. Later organs tend to reflect extravagance of the Post-Romantic Movement in music. Organs from the 1860’s and prior are “understated and elegant” compared to the “high pressure” organs of the early 20th Century. The wood is thicker, the metal and other materials are of the highest quality. “Old World craftsmanship and artistic integrity set the old organs apart.
Organ Update 8/28/22
Overlooking the Choir Loft at St. Matthew’s Church, behind a wooden screen, is a room designated “Organ Platform.” To venture there is to be presented with a mildly vertigo-inducing view of the church and six large speakers. The speakers are similar in appearance, if not size, to those that might go with your stereo system at home. These speakers have done wonderfully over their tenure in amplifying the notes and melodies from our electric organ. An organ with pipes will take the music to the next level. In place of the six speakers will be a panoply of pipes directly producing sound from all over the organ platform and back of the Choir Loft. There will be wooden and metal pipes, large and small. There will be pipes that appear like musical instruments from a band or orchestra, and sound like them! In short, the music will have a rich, filling and varied quality beyond what we have already come to appreciate at St. Matthew’s, all to the glory of God!
Organ Update 8/16/22
Work continues apace on our historic organ at A. David Moore, Inc. Along with refurbishing the existing pipes (metal and wooden), new pipes are being crafted from lumber cut from trees in the family forest there in Vermont. Work this past month has been focussed on the wind chests: the “boxes” that are charged by the organ blower and provide an even flow of wind to the pipes. Included are various seals to to ensure the pipes function smoothly in different degrees of atmospheric humidity. Design work is also being refined to such that the organ components are optimally situated in our space.
View of one wind chest panel with holes for pipes
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