UPDATE! The best laid plans. . .
But no volcano can stop our organ dedication!
After months of careful planning for the arrival of our English dedication recitalist, Clive Driskill-Smith, from Oxford, England, we awoke to news of the Icelandic volcano and the closing of British Airports. We went to work on finding someone else to help us inaugurate our organ and were lucky enough to discover that Janette Fishell was available and willing to step in on very very short notice. Dr Fishell is a distinguished recitalist and organ teacher, currently a member of the music faculty at Indiana University. Even volcanic clouds have silver linings, at least for us.
Inaugural Organ
Recital
April 18th, 2010 at 4 p.m.
Everyone is invited to a
festive reception following the recital. For more information, please
call 314-832-3588 or click on "Visit Us" above for directions.
The new pipe organ, by the young Canadian Firm of Juget-Sinclair Organbuilders is their first instrument in Missouri and only their third instrument of over 20 ranks. In the (admittedly small) world of organ builders, the firm, headed by a French immigrant to Canada, Denis Juget and Canadian Stephen Sinclair, has a lot of buzz. The new organ's case complements the design of the church. Images of the organ (Opus 32) and a complete stoplist may be found here.
If Juget-Sinclair represents a new era of pipe organ building, their methods are ancient ones: almost every piece of the organ is made by hand, including the "trackers" or thin strips of wood which have been used since medieval times to link the notes on the keyboard to the pipes to make them sound. The organ is an exquisite piece of craftsmanship, created by builders with a love of music and a commitment to excellence.
The instrument sounds much larger than its 20 stops in the resonant acoustics of St. Mark's and is equally suited to concert repertoire and accompanying the liturgy. Dr. Fishell's program will include Bach, Vierne, Howells,Bolcom and Petr Eben, illustrating the versatility of both instrument and organist.
The Quebec firm of
Juget-Sinclair works as a team to listen to and respond to the needs of
churches and other clients.
They collaborate on solving problems and honor one another's gifts, talents and perspectives. So we were delighted to see the new photograph on their website: They are creative and meticulous crafts people who make almost every piece of their instruments from scratch and they are excellent to work with: prompt, responsive and fun to have around during the weeks of installation and voicing.
You can see a video about the installation process, including interviews with Denis Juget and our Organist and Choirmaster, Robert S. Mullgardt and slides of the building of the instrument on the same page, click here
You can also see the old instrument, Aeolian Skinner, Opus 979 of 1938 and its removal here(thanks to Quimby Pipe Organs for this! QPO's site is here.)
Click on their logo, below, to read more about Juget-Sinclair.
