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 06/05/2024

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

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.

Organ Update 10/18/22

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.

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