"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." (Psalm 100:1-2)

Serving the Streetsville and Meadowvale communities since 1836.

Phoenix Organ Installation Diary at Streetsville United

At a special congregational meeting held December 15, 2002 the congregation of Streetsville United Church approved the purchase and installation of a Phoenix PD-351 Digital Organ to replace its current Keates Pipe Organ with some components dating back to 1920. This diary will attempt to log the progress of the organ's construction and installation during the spring of 2003.

Sunday, May 25, 2003

Organ Dedication Sunday

With our donor's family present, today we dedicated the organ to our worship and to the Glory of God. The service featured well know hymns, a Healy Willan anthemn and preludes and postludes that demonstrated the versatility and presence of the organ. Also in attendance was a former Music Director, Al Johnson. For the first time I sat in the center of the lower sanctuary; what a difference in the "presence" of organ sound in an area where the former organ's sound used to die.

At the dedication, we acknowledged the vision and leadership of Gord Lessard in initiating and executing on his vision to replace all the accompaniment instrumentation within the church, mentioning that we had pianos that could not hold a tune and an organ that often could only hold a whistle. Thanks were also expressed to the Tolton family; Alma Tolton is shown in the picture. From my post-dedication commentary:

"Today we have a concert quality piano and the most modern of church organs; the latter being one that takes advantage of the same technologies that bring us many of today’s modern miracles as diverse as magnetic resonance imaging and CT scanners, enhanced neurological diagnostic techniques, complete collections of music on a single MP3 CD, personal computer multimedia capabilities and smoother riding, quieter vehicles. For over thirty years I have had the personal pleasure of being involved in these technologies and watching them develop. The design and architecture of our organ brings together many aspects of these technologies incorporated into an instrument that will not only support our current music ministry but also serve to challenge our musicians and this music ministry going forward.

"One could say that the development of church organs has been the world’s longest ongoing technology development program, with Greek roots going back to 300 B.C. You can find out more of this history, including a chance to listen to a reconstruction of the original wind-driven keyboard pipe instrument, from some links placed on the Installation Diary website."

We acknowledged the leaders at Phoenix Organs North America: Don and Jim Anderson, who provided the organ not only on schedule but also slightly below budget. "Don, as Chief Organist, can only be described as an organ geek. Not only is he a fully trained and experienced church organist, but also an electronic music engineer who puts his heart into delivering a quality instrument. Jim ensures that everything comes together, including the console with especially selected high quality woods and finishes. As the delivery date approached they found a couple of small deficiencies that needed addressing before shipment – they stayed up until 3 a.m. the day of delivery to replace a defective roll top cover. We all have to agree that not only is it delivering an authentic pipe organ sound but also enhances the décor at the front of our sanctuary."

We also expressed thanks to all those, named elsewhere in this Installation Diary, who assisted with the installation over the past two months. Following the service, presentations were made to the four members who provided leadership in various renovation projects associated with the installation: Rob Butterworth, Gary Clipperton, Les Cunningham and Peter Mara. Our post-service event was climaxed by the virtual Don Anderson of Phoenix playing Gordon Young's Prelude in Classic Style using the sequencer with yours truly pushing the master thumb pistons (about as far as he will ever get towards actually playing this instrument). Don's "performance" was greeted with sustained applause as it demonstrated the power and versatility of the organ. A most moving and successful day at Streetsville United!

(At right, the author along with our organist Robin Dalgliesh following the service)
Posted 5/25/2003 05:05:00 p.m. by Jim Courtney