Buzard Opus 45

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois
Second Presbyterian Church,
Bloomington, Illinois, Opus 37
This instrument of 43 stops and 56 ranks is the 37th new organ built by Buzard Pipe Organ Builders of Champaign, Illinois. The Buzard firm had originally been selected as the church’s builder of choice in 1991, when plans were first developed to build a new sanctuary. In more recent years, when the original Victorian-era building was found to be structurally unsound, the desire to design and construct a new church building acquired a new sense of urgency. The decision to include a pipe organ in a very modern building in the context of a very modern ministry was not made lightly, nor easily. The wisdom of the church leadership held that worship styles both timeless and modern needed to be embraced wholeheartedly. The organbuilder and architect enjoyed an unusually collaborative and collegial relationship in the design of the entire building as well as the new instrument. The new sanctuary was completed in 2005, and the new organ arrived in June 2008, giving the construction dust plenty of time to settle. Although the room’s acoustics are more absorptive than we would have preferred, sound is heard evenly and in balance throughout the room.
The organ’s dramatic visual design is intended to be a stylized rendering in organ pipes of a Celtic cross. The background fields of Great and Pedal Diapason and Principal pipes are made of polished tin. The pipework elements of the cross itself are polished copper Pedal Principals and the horizontally mounted Festival Trumpets. The giant blocks of white oak that hold the Festival Trumpet pipes are clad in polished copper to emphasize the cross’s horizontal arms. The circle that binds the four arms of the cross together is a 16-foot diameter ring of Baltic birch, leafed in 24-karat red gold.
The instrument is housed in a solid white oak case standing three stories tall, 24 feet wide, 12 feet deep, flanked by walls that act as projection screens. The pipe shades are of basswood. Some of the small panels are enameled in indigo, which accent is also found in the stained glass windows. It is located on the axis of the church, above and behind the choral singers, to provide optimal projection of sound to the congregation and choir, and to be a living and integral participant in the worship service and the church’s interior design. A closed-circuit remotely operated television camera is mounted between and just behind two pedal façade pipes so that worshipers can see themselves projected on the screens(!).
The traditional portion of the church’s music program includes everything from children’s choirs through a large adult choir, small instrumental ensembles through full symphony orchestra performances. And of course the organ must support congregational singing and excel in its solo role. Therefore, this instrument had to exhibit an unusually wide dynamic range to accommodate musical needs of every size and type, but also the classic disposition that allows an organ to play the literature. The organ possesses a singularly noble and majestic tone quality. Each division is based upon sub-octave pitches, and the voicing is full and warm. The Great and Pedal feature First and Second Diapasons, and all the divisions include a wealth of warmly voiced 8′ stops to provide a rich variety of accompanimental colors at several volume levels. The design includes full couplers at 16′, 8′, Unison Off, and 4′ pitches for increased flexibility. Although the instrument sounds very big when everything is coupled, or when the high pressure Tubas or Festival Trumpets are used (excelling in its occasional role with a full symphony orchestra), the organ itself is not inherently loud—it can be as delicate as a child’s voice. Its sound fills the worship space gracefully, without having to yell to make its point.
Buzard organs have become known as exceptional accompanying organs, which is the primary use to which pipe organs are put in modern worship services. But, by virtue of an historically and nationalistically informed point of view, Buzard organs also musically render the entire solo repertory from early contrapuntal styles through the most modern symphonic transcriptions. Our principals have something to tell you. Their choruses are clear, but meaty. Flutes are singing and liquid, strings are warm and harmonically interesting. Chorus reeds add varying degrees of “clang” to their divisions: for example, the Swell 16′, 8′, and 4′ reed battery is of authentic French construction, the typically bright and bold sound tailored to this division’s classic musical character, whereas the Trompete on the Great is darker. Trombas appear on most of our Great organs as extensions of the Pedal Trombones (a Willis trick), which offers the organist two degrees of reed color and volume, depending upon the musical context. Our solo and pedal reeds take more of an orchestral approach: smooth, round, warm, and always interesting, whether soft or loud.
Our metal pipes are all made of high-tin-content pipe metal, planed and polished. The reeds use either this rich pipe metal or wood for their resonators. In this organ, the 32′ Contra Trombone resonators are white pine and full length down to low FFFF#. The wood flue pipes are made from poplar or mahogany with cherry mouths.
All Buzard organs employ slider and pallet windchests to eliminate long-term maintenance, and provide superior tonal blend and tuning stability. All Buzard organs employ wooden winding systems to reduce turbulence and noise, and schwimmer regulators at each slider chest to provide a steady wind supply.
The instrument was dedicated in public recitals by organist emerita Doris Hill, concert organist Ken Cowan, and Mr. Cowan’s student and the builder’s son, Stephen Buzard. A new CD featuring Stephen Buzard playing this organ will be released later this year on the Delos label.
—John-Paul Buzard

Buzard Opus 37
Second Presbyterian Church,
Bloomington, Illinois
43 straight speaking stops, 56 ranks,
3 stops prepared for future addition

GREAT (4-inch wind)
16′ Double Open Diapason (tin in façade)
8′ First Open Diapason (tin in façade)
8′ Second Open Diapason (1–8 from 16′)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Claribel Flute (Melodia)
8′ Principal
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
13⁄5′ Seventeenth (prepared)
2′ Fourniture V
2⁄3′ Sharp Mixture III
8′ Trompete
Cornet V (prepared)
Tremulant
8′ Trombas (Ped Trombone)
4′ Tromba Clarion (ext Trombas)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Tuba Solo melody coupler
8′ Festival Trumpets (horizontal
polished copper)

SWELL (4-inch wind)
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
2′ Octavin (harmonic)
22⁄3′ Full Mixture V
16′ Bassoon (full length)
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
4′ Clarion
Tremulant
Chimes (21 notes)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)

CHOIR (4-inch wind)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ English Diapason
8′ Flûte à Bibéron
8′ Flûte Cœlestis II (Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal
4′ Suabe Flute (open wood)
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Recorder
13⁄5′ Tierce
11⁄3′ Mixture IV
16′ English Horn
8′ Clarinet
Tremulant
Cymbalstern
8′ Major Tuba (25 inches wind)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)

PEDAL (various pressures)
32′ Double Open Diapason (digital)
32′ Subbass (digital)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (digital) (Ch)
16′ First Open Diapason (wood & metal)
16′ Second Open Diapason (Gt)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Ch)
8′ Principal (tin in façade)
8′ Open Bass (ext 16′ First Open)
8′ Bourdon (ext 16′ Bourdon)
8′ Violoncello (tapered)
4′ Choral Bass (ext 8′ Open Bass)
4′ Open Flute (ext 16′ Bourdon)
22⁄3′ Mixture IV (prepared)
32′ Contra Trombone (wood)
16′ Trombone (ext 32′, wood)
16′ Bassoon (Sw)
8′ Trumpet (ext Trombone)
4′ Clarion (ext Trombone)
8′ Major Tuba (Ch)
8′ Festival Trumpets (Gt)

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois, Opus 38
St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, is a vibrant Christian community of 5,000 families, located about twenty minutes north of the San Antonio International Airport in a new residential neighborhood on Thousand Oaks Drive. They have a well-deserved reputation for superior community outreach, building several Habitat for Humanity houses per year and operating a traveling meal program for the needy. Former organist and director of music and liturgy Lena Gokelman contacted me nearly twelve years ago to share ideas for a new pipe organ for the large church building then being planned. She and their consultant, Fr. James Brobst, traveled to Illinois to hear and play our instrument at Holy Family Catholic Church in Rockford, and were immediately convinced of the need to have the Buzard Sound at St. Mark’s.

St. Mark’s had no pipe organ in its original temporary sanctuary, and the majority of parishioners had never heard one. It was a daunting endeavor to educate the parish about the difference that a pipe organ could make in their liturgical and musical lives, and then convince them that they needed one! A long-standing parishioner was convinced, and through his anonymous generosity, made it happen.
This new organ is our 38th, and was designed to visually complement the sculpture of the Christus Rex, incised into and built out from the brick wall at the front of the assembly. The building seats about 1,000 people and is surprisingly lively in its acoustical environment. The organ itself is raised 18 feet above the floor and sounds nicely down the building’s axis. Sonically it fills the entire room whether playing soft or loud. The woodwork in the façade is solid white oak, stained and finished to relate to the church’s other woodworking. Pipes in the façade are made of polished tin and flamed copper.

Two sets of horizontal trumpets emphasize the aural excitement that a pipe organ can bring to a liturgical occasion. A high-pressure Tuba made of polished tin is in the organ’s façade; a polished copper set of Pontifical Trumpets on lower pressure is mounted over the entry doors. Lest one think that resources were squandered on an unnecessary luxury of two chamades, they were included only after the organ’s chamber space had been completely filled with the stops necessary for a full and proper classically conceived and romantically executed specification.

The choral singers are located in a “bump-out” area to the right of the building’s axis. Because the choir is effectively in another room, and cannot hear the organ clearly, we built a four-stop Choral Organ to accompany their singing, housed in a small free-standing case that stands behind them. These four stops are of sufficient tonal variety and volume gradations to support the choral singing in perfect balance. Stops from the main portion of the organ may also be used to supplement the Choral Organ’s sound.

The instrument contains 35 independent stops and 43 ranks of pipes across three manuals and the pedal keyboard. As in all Buzard organs, there is a wealth of tonal variety, even if the instrument is modest in size. At the hand of our tonal director Brian Davis, no two diapasons sound exactly alike; the flutes are liquid in tone and often take their cues from their orchestral counterparts; strings impart a warmth and keenness to the palette. The chorus reeds are spectacular, each stop having its own depth and degree of éclat; the plaintive German Romantic Oboe is a tremendously effective solo player, but also colors the Swell flues subtly. All metal pipes are made of rich, high tin-content metal of generous thickness. On-site tonal finishing took a month to accomplish.

The organ’s engineering was accomplished by our executive vice-president and chief engineer, Charles Eames. This instrument has the distinction of affording him one of his greatest challenges: designing a pipe organ with a 14-inch steel beam running through its center! Although chamber space was provided for a “future organ” when the church was built, neither architects nor contractors thought anything wrong about running a steel beam through its middle! Although the organ occupies a “chamber,” the instrument is still housed in a free-standing case. This allows the sound to effortlessly project into the church, and for us to minimize any variables while installing on-site. This also afforded us the opportunity to build a ventilation system that brings conditioned air from the church up to the top of the organ, spilling down naturally, thereby keeping the instrument in tune.

The parish is “between organists.” So, in order for the parishioners to hear what an organ could do for worship, I played for the three Sundays that I was in San Antonio voicing the organ. The first Sunday, people heard only those few stops that were finished. But by the second and third Sundays, I played the hymns, prelude, and postlude using the versatility of the entire instrument. The organ has been extremely well received by the parishioners, clergy, and the wider community. Organist David Heller will be dedicating it in a Solemn Pontifical Mass followed by a concert on Saturday, November 21.

My deepest thanks go to St. Mark’s for commissioning us to build this organ, especially to Pastor Kevin Ryan, administrator “Dot” Hamlin, our contact person Lena Gokelman, music director Dolores Martinez and her assistant Courtney Guernsey, facility manager George Wetherill, and Irene Marin, who makes the best tortillas I’ve ever tasted!

A pipe organ is far more than the sum of its parts, or the sum of the labor-hours of the tremendously dedicated individuals with whom I am blessed to work. They all deserve special recognition:

David Brown, foreman, service department and installation
Brian K. Davis, tonal director
Stephen Downes, metalworking, tonal assistant, installation
Charles Eames, executive vice-president and chief engineer
John Jordan, service technician
C. Robert Leach, cabinetmaker façade, general woodworking, installation
Stuart Martin, cabinetmaker façade and console cabinetry
Shane Rhoades, cabinetmaker, winding system, installation
Jay Salmon, office manager
Lyoshia Svinarski, cabinetmaker and wood finishing
Stuart Weber, service technician
John Wiegand, service technician and installation
Ray Wiggs, console, electrical and windchest specialist, installation
Keith Williams, director, service department
—John-Paul Buzard

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas
Buzard Opus 38, completed August 1, 2009: 35 stops, 43 ranks

GREAT – Manual II
Unenclosed, 4″ wind pressure
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt
8′ Open Diapason (polished tin
in façade)
8′ Viola da Gamba
8′ Harmonic Flute
8′ Bourdon
4′ Principal
4′ Spire Flute
22⁄3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
2′ Mixture V (breaks at octaves)
Tremulant
8′ Tromba (ext Ped 16′ Tbn)
4′ Clarion (ext 8′)
8′ Major Tuba (polished tin, horizontal)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (polished copper,
horizontal)
Great to Great 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choral to Great 16′, 8′, 4′

SWELL – Manual III
Enclosed, 4″ wind pressure
8′ English Open Diapason
8′ Stopped Diapason
8′ Salicional
8′ Voix Celeste (tc)
4′ Principal
4′ Harmonic Flute
22⁄3′ Nazard
2′ Recorder
13⁄5′ Tierce
22⁄3′ Full Mixture V
16′ Bassoon (full length)
8′ Trompette
8′ Oboe
Tremulant
Cymbalstern
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Swell to Swell 16′, UO, 4′

CHORAL – Manual I
Encased, 3½″ wind pressure
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Gemshorn
4′ Octave
4′ Flute
Tremulant
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Choral to Choral 16′, UO, 4′
Swell to Choral 16′, 8′, 4′

PEDAL – Unenclosed
32′ Subbass (1–12 digital, ext)
32′ Lieblich Gedeckt (1–12 digital, ext)
16′ Open Diapason (flamed copper and
polished tin in façade)
16′ Bourdon
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Gt)
16′ Metal Gedeckt (flamed copper in
façade of Choral Organ case)
8′ Principal (polished tin in façade)
8′ Spire Flute
8′ Bourdon (ext 16′)
8′ Gedeckt Flute (Gt)
4′ Choral Bass (ext 8′)
4’ Open Flute (ext 16′)
16′ Trombone (wood)
16′ Bassoon (Sw)
8′ Trumpet (ext 16′)
4′ Clarion (ext 16′)
8′ Major Tuba (Gt)
8′ Pontifical Trumpets (Gt)
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choral to Pedal 8′, 4′

John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, Champaign, Illinois

Opus 42, St. Bridget Catholic Church, Richmond, Virginia

From the builder

The new organ at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia, is the 42nd new organ to come from the workshop of John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois. It was completed on October 1, 2013, and inaugurated by Ken Cowan in concert on November 15.

The organ’s visual design was guided by the parish’s desire to reclaim a large stained glass window, which the former organ completely blocked. Pastor Monsignor William Carr, who began his clerical career at St. Bridget as the assistant pastor in the 1970s, remembered the beauty of the occluded window and began discussions with John-Paul Buzard in 2005 about the possibilities. The deteriorating mechanical condition and musical limitations of the previous instrument hastened the desire to proceed. The Great Recession delayed the start of the project until the parish raised all the funds to purchase the organ, as their bishop required. 

The gallery’s floor space is quite limited and the window is large. But, the church’s acoustical volume and musical needs required an instrument of a larger tonal size than that which would have been possible with a traditional design. This required some outside-the-box creative thinking, and resulted in our recommendation that the Great division be suspended over the gallery rail, and that the enclosed divisions be thought of as more a divided Swell than independent Swell and Choir divisions. Area organist Grant Hellmers was invited to consult, and enthusiastically agreed that the design met both musical and architectural requirements. The Great’s profile is kept low in order to keep this portion of the organ below the field of glass. The former heavy wood railing was replaced with a more transparent wrought-iron rail. The two enclosed divisions are located in matching cases on either side of the window. The cases’ designs utilize shapes and details found elsewhere in the Tudor-revival building. The result is that the organ cherishes the window, and the gallery and organ are architecturally integrated into the entire worship space rather than being set apart.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Engineer Charles Eames created an instrument whose physical essence truly flows from the building, therein creating room for a larger instrument than the space would have otherwise held. With the new organ in place, the gallery has an additional 100 square feet of usable floor space for the choir and other musicians, which it did not have previously.

This is indeed a three-manual organ. The three-division design evolved from the original two-manual divided Swell concept. The introduction of the 8′ Claribel Flute into what became a somewhat untraditional Choir division allowed the instrument to take on its three-manual identity. The organ exhibits a far greater variety of tone colors and pitch ranges than is typical of many instruments of its size. And it has the uncanny ability to take on the appropriate tonal characteristics of various historical and national styles to fit the character of the musical composition. All of history informs and directs us in the evolution of our singular “Classically Symphonic” tonal style.

The engineering, mechanical systems, and pipe-making all support the artistic end result. The main manual windchests are all electrically operated slider and pallet chests. The chests for the unit stops have expansion chambers built into the very thick toe-boards, to replicate the winding characteristics of the slider chests. All of the pipes are made of high tin content pipe metal, even in the bass, rather than zinc. The large pipes play promptly without having to use beards. The result is fullness and warmth without any hardness or inelegance of tone quality, all the way to the bottom of the compass.

The church’s acoustics change drastically when the room is filled with people, and the church is nearly full every time the organ is used. Tonal Director Brian Davis ably met the challenges that this condition presents by scaling and voicing the instrument for optimal performance when the room is full. The result is that the organ is never too loud, but it fills the room with sound even when played softly. An entire congregation can be supported in its singing with a single 8′ Diapason; the strings are voluptuous and shimmering; the haunting Flute Cœlestis provides an air of mystery; the Choir reeds provide some of the most beautiful cantabile colors imaginable; the smooth and stately Tuba soars above full organ. Nearly every stop can be used with any other to create a new musical color.

Superior tonal design, sensitive voicing, and painstaking tonal finishing result in the exquisite blend and balance of the individual stops and their choruses, relating to both themselves and to the room. And, as Ken Cowan demonstrated to the delight of his audience, there are many ways that this instrument can render seamless dynamic changes. As is the case with all Buzard organs, symphonic color and romantic warmth never sacrifice sprightly clarity and transparency of tone for rendering polyphonic music. 

The church’s growing music program is under the direction of Allen Bean. The children’s program, which Bean instituted and includes both boy and girl choirs, has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

Thanks to the staff of Buzard Pipe Organ Builders whose professionalism shines forth in all the work we undertake!

John-Paul Buzard, Artistic Director

Brian K. Davis, Tonal Director

Charles Eames, Vice President and Chief Engineer

Keith Williams, Director, Service Department

Shane Rhoades, Foreman, Production Department and Cabinetmaker

David Brown, Foreman, Service Department

Christopher Goodnight, Master Cabinetmaker

John Jordan, Service Technician

Michael Meyer, Cabinetmaker

Dennis Northway, Chicago area representative and Service Technician

Jay Salmon, Office Manager

Stuart Weber, Senior Service Technician

John Wiegand, Service Technician

Ray Wiggs, Console and Windchest specialist

Jonathan Young, Tonal Department Associate

—John-Paul Buzard

As a first-time voicer on any project, let alone one of this size, the installation of the St. Bridget’s organ was an eye-opening experience for me. The tonal design of the instrument was set before I was brought onto the Buzard team, but I had the opportunity to voice several stops under the tutelage of Tonal Director Brian Davis. Because of the acoustical characteristics of the room, the organ had to have plenty of treble ascendancy while still maintaining warm foundations and good blend. Thus, the higher pitches “sang out” a bit in the voicing room, but the effect in the church is a lively sound, not at all top-heavy but not dark or muffled.

The organ proved an overwhelming success—clear choruses and the proximity of the Great case to the seating area mean contrapuntal music can be rendered quite effectively; the variety of reed colors available lend themselves to solo work as well as forming a striking Swell reed chorus; two contrasting strings in separate boxes add variety to the foundations; and the presence of two cornets, one in the Great, enables the organ to reproduce French Classical music particularly well. However, it is equally adept at handling more modern literature and orchestral transcriptions, as was demonstrated by Ken Cowan at the inaugural recital. 

Throughout the process of voicing and tonal finishing, I was struck by how each installed stop expanded the ability of the organ as a vehicle for improvisation and interpretation of literature. The body of music this instrument will render is indeed large, and with that in mind I went back to Richmond at the beginning of November to record enough music to demonstrate some of its capabilities, including pieces by Guilmant, Langlais, de Grigny, and several major Bach works. All came off admirably, a testament to the versatility of the instrument and the integration of colors not usually found on American organs, such as the large Pedal 4′ open flute.

The St. Bridget’s organ represents a tremendous outlay of time, energy, and planning in pursuit of an instrument that will handle repertoire of any period with a clear but rich sound, and one which I hope the congregation will treasure for years to come.

—Jonathan Young, Tonal Associate

Buzard Pipe Organ Builders

From the director of music

St. Bridget Parish, a Roman Catholic parish of about 7,000 registered members, is among the largest in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Established in 1949, with the building completed and consecrated in 1950, the parish has thrived since its inception. 

The church building is Tudor style with Gothic elements. Seating only 500, the church provides five regular Masses every weekend to accommodate parishioners. Four Masses are led by organ and cantor, with assistance from choral ensembles. The Sunday evening Mass is led by piano, guitars, and a contemporary choir.

I became Music Minister at St. Bridget in October 2005. The primary accompanying instruments at that time were a transplanted E. M. Skinner organ, which was ¼-step flat and in need of restoration, and a mid-1920s Steinway M, also in poor condition. The Parish Adult Choir of about 20 singers sang for one Mass on Sunday morning, and the other Masses were led by volunteer cantors.

Since then, the music ministry has grown. The Parish Adult Choir has grown to 35 voices, and choirs for children (absent from the music ministry for more than 30 years) include a Boy Choir of 11 singers, and a Girl Choir of nearly 30 choristers. The Boy and Girl Choirs, using the RSCM Voice for Life Program, have established themselves as important and valued ensembles, and distinguished themselves in performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

As the parish’s music ministry has grown, so has the need for an organ that could accompany an ever increasingly diverse music ministry, in a church whose acoustics change dramatically depending on the number of worshippers in the church.

The installation of our new instrument evolved out of conversation between Monsignor Carr and me in August 2005. The 1920s E. M. Skinner organ that so nobly served this parish since the 1970s, brought here from the now deconsecrated Monumental Church in downtown Richmond, was in need of restoration. Conversation quickly turned to action. Within a few months we had explored restoring and enlarging the Skinner organ, with additions that would give it the flexibility required for our growing program. We also received from John-Paul Buzard a proposal for a new instrument, one that would be tonally designed for our acoustical space, give us the flexibility we need to support choirs, cantors, and congregation, and uncover a great west window that is an architectural feature of the church.

The original design proposed by Mr. Buzard underwent several modifications over the following months. The stoplist was refined, as the organ became slightly smaller in scope than we originally envisioned, yet considerably more flexible. Mechanical components were also addressed in this process (another nod to flexibility), including independent swell shades on two sides of each enclosed division. The design process of this instrument was a delight for me as parish musician. The parish is forever grateful for the work of our Organ Project Consultant, Grant Hellmers, whose wisdom and experience helped define the parish’s needs in an instrument, and brought clarity to the process as St. Bridget personnel and I worked with the Buzard shop in the design phase.

Once the design was finalized, the Buzard shop began to plan the physical design of the instrument, and, under the direction of Tonal Director Brian Davis, began to envision the tonal color of each and every stop in the instrument. Mr. Davis’s ability to take the numbers that represented the (ever-changing) acoustical properties of the church, and to determine scale and timbre of each of more than 2,000 pipes in 38 ranks, producing more than 48 stops, proved to be remarkable. Charles Eames also worked magic, engineering the organ that John-Paul and Brian envisioned to fit into a relatively small space.

Several weeks of voicing accomplished by John-Paul Buzard, Brian Davis, and Jonathan Young brought St. Bridget Parish’s organ to completion. The instrument’s design, its pipes, its mechanicals, the construction of the instrument’s beautiful casework, its installation, its voicing, the work of St. Bridget Church’s own organ project committee, building committee, and staff, altogether required more than 20,000 hours of labor. I believe that even when it was labor bought and paid for, it was a labor of love, and that the Buzard shop always acted with a sense of vocation.

St. Bridget parishioners gave freely of their time to make sure the church was ready to receive the instrument. John McCulla coordinated our efforts with the Buzard shop. Richard Lewis designed the mechanical and electrical components the church provided. Terrence Kerner arranged for the addition of HVAC for the organ gallery. Patrick Ross and the St. Bridget maintenance staff were always on hand to help subcontractors and the Buzard crew with whatever they needed. These parishioners have remained involved even after the organ’s completion to assure the project is truly complete and in keeping with the church’s beautiful architecture.

Several enabling gifts allowed this project to move forward. In all, some 265 parishioners, a relatively small number of our many parishioners, made this instrument a gift to the parish. Additionally, still more parishioners have contributed to the Friends of Music Fund at St. Bridget, to enable an inaugural concert series, so that we can make it a gift to the Richmond community.

Because this platform is here for me to do so, I want to express my special gratitude to our Pastor, Monsignor Carr, who began this conversation more than eight years ago. He envisioned a pipe organ for St. Bridget Parish. He let the donors to the project know of our need. He guided Parish Council, Parish Finance Council, and all who made decisions about the organ throughout the process. And, if there is anyone who delights more in this instrument than I do, it is Monsignor Carr.

—Allen Bean

Minister of Music, St. Bridget Parish