Pipe Organ

The dedication coincided with the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels – an event that traditionally celebrates the pomp and heraldry associated with angels.

The dedication music was chosen by Sam Carabetta, Organist and Choirmaster at St. John’s. Works by composers Bach, Howells, Dering, Mulet and Near that celebrate and interpret God’s angelic messengers was featured.

The selections demonstrated the dynamic tonal qualities of the pipe organ, which required weeks of painstaking installation and tuning of its 2, 262 wooden and metal pipes by highly skilled workers from the Casavant Fréres Pipe Organ Co. of Quebec, which built it. The company recently installed one of its organs at the Kennedy Center.

It took about a year for Casavant Fréres organ builders to construct the instrument, which is designed specifically to fill the two-story space in the church’s chancel. The smallest of the pipes is about the size of a pencil. The largest, which produce a deep bass sound, are 16-feet long. Installation into the chancel and tuning the instrument took place between it arrival on July 3, 2012, extending into early September.

Acquiring the new instrument was a goal of the parish for more than a decade as its second-hand, century-old predecessor became virtually unplayable because of repeated water damage from roof leaks and deterioration of delicate components over the years.