Blessed Sacrament Organ Project
“The organ is the primary instrument of the Catholic Church as laid out by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council. With its huge variety of sounds it gives life and color to the sacred texts, in its strength and subtlety it supports volunteer choristers and congregational song, and, in its physical grandeur, glorifies God in our church.”
By the grace of God and the generosity of many in our parish we have reached the fundraising goal for the installation of the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ!
The next step will be to begin work on the loft itself, so that it can support the 9-ton organ. This work is slated to start in mid to late January and will take approximately 15 weeks. This means that, if everything goes as planned, the organ itself will be installed in June, with completion in late June to mid-July. We thank everyone for your financial support of this project and for your prayers.
The 112-year-old Church of the Blessed Sacrament has never seen the installation of a permanent pipe organ . . . until now.
With a long history of music and liturgical excellence, and emerging from COVID-19 pandemic restriction, a renewed vision for the music department was envisioned. Critical to this new vision, which seeks to engage substantially with volunteer singers of all ages, is the installation of a substantial, fully equipped pipe organ. Though the church has housed two organs for many decades, they are both too small to serve their purpose, and in the case of one, have become mechanically unreliable.
Working collaboratively, the staff, the friars, an independent third-party consultant, and a group of volunteers have proposed a two-phase plan to both support our already bourgeoning music program and plan for its future expansion. This plan also completes the major architectural vision for our church to house magnificent instruments. The first phase – to install a neo-classical organ in the loft and commission the building of a small portable organ for use wherever needed – is well underway, with an appropriate instrument found, tested, and purchased with existing funds, and a builder for the small organ selected. The second phase – to install a larger organ in the chancel chambers – will be triggered by agreed upon metrics for performance growth, likely in the next 10-20 years.
A message from Fr. Dominic David, Pastor, and Michael Plagerman, Director of Sacred Music
After many months of pandemic restrictions, Blessed Sacrament is more actively revitalizing its liturgical music. Our program of sacred music now includes 20 adult volunteer choristers and will be further supplemented by a children’s choir program with nearly twenty young singers in choir camp this summer. Yet, such growth and further music activity is severely limited by the inadequacies of the 1961 Vermeulen organ still at our disposal.
Realizing that previous efforts were not appropriate to our needs, a new approach to this problem was needed; the staff, friars, consultants, and organ committee volunteers developed the first part of a two-phase plan which will first add a new organ to the loft and a small portable organ which can be used in the choir of the nave and elsewhere. Both new and permanent instruments will better support congregational singing, a wider repertoire of choral and organ music as well as public concerts without redundancy, compromises, or future alterations. Our two-fold first phase is moving forward.
Fr. Dominic David and Michael Plagerman unloading the organ!
1. It is our great blessing that Blessed Sacrament will be the new home for the “Ruth and Paul Manz Organ.” Built in 2004 in American Fork, Utah by Bigelow and Co., Organ Builders for the former chapel of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, this 2-manual organ of 31 ranks fits beautifully in our loft and duly meets our substantial requirements. In January, we purchased this magnificent organ for a small fraction of its replacement value. It was recently dismantled, shipped, arrived at Blessed Sacrament and was unpacked by volunteers the weekend of June 4 and is being stored in our north transept. Once the loft is reconstructed to support its weight and the required seismic upgrades to the windows are completed, this glorious instrument can be installed in its new home at Blessed Sacrament.
2. A smaller, portable organ will accompany liturgical choral singing and allow us to reestablish concerts by our own musicians and outside groups in addition to supporting more intimate liturgies such as small weddings, funerals, or divine office. Though smaller in size than the Vermeulen organ now found in the south transept, such a “portative,” or “continuo” organ will provide us with more tonal resources. We have selected C.B. Fisk Organ Builders to build this organ. The Fisk firm has an illustrious history with notable instruments around the world, including Benaroya Hall and Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle. Our organ will be a sister instrument to one newly built for Oberlin Conservatory of Music, is fully constructed, and will be finished to match our pews before being delivered in September. We are particularly grateful to the couple who donated this organ’s cost in its entirety. The instrument will be named in honor of their family, and that naming will take place when the organ arrives in September.
We have brought on Chris Maddock – former interim Director of Sacred Music – to help with the public phase of our fundraising campaign. Chris has an extensive background in both music and fundraising, and we are blessed that he is willing to donate this portion of his well-earned retirement to this effort.
Gratefully Yours in Christ,
Fr. Dominic David Maichrowicz OP, Pastor Michael Plagerman, Director of Sacred Music
Organ Installation Project
Project Goal $595,000
Organ Installation in Loft: $156,000
Loft Retrofit: $120,000
Removal & Transport to Seattle: $119,000
Loft Organ Purchase: $100,000
Continuo Organ Purchase: $100,000
