January 31, 2012
The console of Opus 5163 is rapidly being rebuilt. The Peterson relay recently arrived, and Mr. Quimby’s team has been working on its installation. Everything will be made as good as new. He started out by refinishing the console and rebuilding the pedalboard. Now the Swell shoes have been refinished and resurfaced, the toe studs have been replated, and the “new brain” has been installed. Given the way Kilgen relays were designed and the fact that no one could give me a firm price to rebuild one or guarantee that they would work, the Peterson relay was my only financially prudent decision. It will offer many benefits to the player in terms of more levels and a playback system.
The next decisions I have to make are what to do with the old stop keys as a few more unifications are being made to the organ. For the life of me, I do not understand why, if you have a unit chest on the Swell, do you not make the Cornopean play at 4-foot so you don’t have to super couple the entire division. The lack of an 8-foot and 4-foot reed in the Pedal also left me scratching my head. Well, if you want to add more stops, you have to find more Kilgen stop keys. This led to a scavenger hunt that in the end, did not turn up what was needed. My emails to George and Alfred Kilgen have gone unanswered, but as I have learned, the original Kilgen die molds still exist. For a very minor extra fee, we will have new stop keys made. They will be engraved to match the original. Bingo!
All in all, good progress is being made on all fronts. The console is coming along and many fellow friends of the pipe organ keep sponsoring pipes. So we are moving right along.
If you can sponsor another pipe or two, we would appreciate it.
Click here to sponsor pipes in the Our Lady of Refuge Organ
January 12, 2012
Because of the generosity of so many people in the Organ World and in the Our Lady of Refuge Parish we are making quick progress with the console. This work is being paid for by all of those people who sponsored pipes in the organ and purchased the Resurrectio CD. It is truly magnificent what is being accomplished. I hope this serves as a model for other churches that don’t have people who can write large checks to repair, restore or purchase a pipe organ for their church.
As you can see in the photos in the gallery below, the console was recently stripped, repaired and beautifully refinished. The pedalboard was taken apart and fully rebushed because the felts were all worn out. The pedalboard got new sharps and the naturals received new tops. The keyboards are being worked on right now. They will receive the same thorough treatment. Currently we are working to match the Kilgen Stop Keys. Michael Quimby believes he found something that looks almost identical to the originals, and I am waiting to receive the samples to give my approval. They will be engraved in the same font as the originals. Some of the pistons (78 year old plastic) fell apart while they were being worked on and they were replaced with identical reproductions.
Michael Quimby’s and my end goal is when you sit at this console that it looks and feels just like it did when it was brand new.
We need your help. Would you sponsor a pipe? or buying our benefit CD? Would you tell your fellow organ friends about this project and ask for their help? Your name will be added to the list of donors.
Our Lady of Refuge Church is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts are tax-deductible within the limits of the law.
Currently we just need another $56,800 to carry out the final stage of the contract with Quimby Pipe Organs – reinstallation.
Click here to sponsor a pipe that fits your budget
The benefit recital that Stephen Tharp played was a great success. Stephen said it set a record for the longest organ recital he has played. The good news is the recital made about $5200, so we are that much closer to our goal.
The OLR console has made a return trip to Missouri, not to St. Louis where it was originally built, but to Warrensburg. Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. (QPO) is rebuilding the console to meet required electrical codes. The console will look the same with no modern equipment visible. The keyboards and pedalboard will be entirely rebuilt. All of the key bushings will be replaced and the ivories repaired. The console shell will be refinished and the chrome all re-plated. The console will come back as good as the day it left the Kilgen Factory in January of 1934.
All of the work to date has been made possible with hundreds of small donations from people from around the organ world. Currently we just need another $59,000 to carry out the final stage of the contract with QPO – reinstallation.
We need your help. Would you sponsor a Swell Open Diapason Pipe or a Choir Rohr Nazard pipe? Every donation will receive a written confirmation of your gift and your name will be added to the list of donors.
Our Lady of Refuge Church is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts are tax-deductible within the limits of the law. Any gifts made before December 31, 2011 will be acknowledged for the 2011 tax year.
Please help us make sure there is one more pipe organ to spark the interest of organists of the future by sponsoring a pipe today. Just click the below link.
Sponsor a pipe that fits your budget
If you have already made a gift to the fund, thank you so much!
December 23 – Traditional Haitian Christmas Reveillon. From 9pm to 2am in the School Hall.
December 24 – 9am Mass in the Chapel, 5pm Family Mass, 12 Midnight Mass (Doors open at 10pm)
December 25 – 11am English/Spanish Mass (Doors open at 10pm)
On Sunday, December 10 our Mexican brothers will be celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Vigil, beginning with Mass at 7:00PM. Music will be provided by Los Mariachis. A cultural presentation will be held in the school hall after the Mass.
