The new pipe organ at St James’
Visit The St James’ Organ Replacement and Restoration Appeal website for further information on how to can become part of this historic project.
I was delighted earlier in the week to hear from John Panning, President of Dobson Pipe Organ Builders. Following their devastating factory fire in June of
2021, they recently broke ground to lay foundations for their brand-new factory, which is set to be built where the old one stood, in Lake City, Iowa.
John was equally pleased to report the meaningful strides being made with the assembly of our new organ, the Opus 99 for St James’ King Street. He reports, “at this point we are finishing up the assembly of the right-hand (liturgical south/decani) part of the organ. This side contains the unenclosed Great facing the nave, with enclosed Great immediately behind, sharing a Swell box with the Choir pipes.” Furthermore, we’ve been reassured that everything is on track for a January 2024 arrival, after which we’re on the home straight. Here is the rough expected timeline of events:
• The organ arrives in shipping containers
in early January, 2024.
• Dobson crew to begin work on the 8th of
January; a team of around 7-9 people will
work in the church during the assembly
phase. Scaffolding goes up for the last
time.
• Pipework and organ case to be fully
installed by early February, after which the
voicing can commence. The working group
will then be reduced to 2 people: a voicer
(John Panning), and a note holder. During
this phase, the scaffolding will remain
up for a further week to allow access to
façade pipes, which will need to be voiced
first. Voicing is done from the mouth of
the pipe, and since the façade pipes face
outwards, these can only be accessed via
the Sanctuary.
• By the end of February, the scaffolding
will come down, and the rest of the internal
organ pipes will also be individually voiced.
This is the final phase, and it is expected to
last between 3-4 months.
• Handover and commissioning—likely
to be in time for the St James’ Patronal
Festival in July, 2024.
-Marko Sever, Excerpt for August/September St James’ Connections