This is an archive of news articles from January 2006. Current news articles can be found here and an archive index can be found here. Information in this archive may no longer be valid.

• New pipe organs in the United States
  St Stephen's Lutheran in Monona, Wisconsin has received a new 30 rank organ which is a collaberation between Manuel Rosales and Parsons Pipe Organ Builders. Although tonal finishing is still underway, organist Dennis Douglas describes the organ as a "truly outstanding" instrument and "an incredible gift to the congregation and the community as a whole". The new organ replaces a 1970s electronic instrument, and represents the culmination of a ten year pipe organ programme started by a substantial legacy from two of the church's founder members. Douglas hopes that it will be used not just by the congregation but by the whole Madison area, and a recital programme is proposed.

  Although not the first collaberation between Rosales and Parsons, the choice of a suspended action and a single wedge bellows for wind supply meant the learning of new skills. Richard Parsons commented that the qualities brought to the sound by the use of wedge bellows, with optional wind stabilisers, have convinced him to use them again on at least one future project. The pedal design also presented challenges, as it consists of three 44 note ranks (Bourdon, Principal and Trombone) each speaking at two pitches. The Prestant is an independent 61 note rank shared between Great and Pedal. Parsons designed a new tubular chest for the pedal where two primaries share a valve stem, which implements the pedal extensions while permitting good service access.

  Voicing is currently underway with Duane Prill of Parsons and Manuel Rosales working together again; they worked together on some of the voicing of the Disney Hall organ. Dennis Douglas commented on their remarkable partnership as they create the organ's final sound - "it's almost as if they are able to read each other's minds". The comparatively broad Voix Celeste sits in scale between the Geigen Principal (which is slotted and narrow scale, almost a Viola) and the narrower Great Gamba, and is designed to be used with either. The Swell Mixture starts off at a lower pitch than the great, but breaks higher in the compass. This means that in the bass it works well coupled to the Pedal, and in the treble adds something to the full ensemble. The distinctive asymmetrical casework was designed by Chuck Clancy, who has been involved in the design of other Rosales projects. For more details, visit the websites of Parsons and St Stephens. Thanks to Dennis Douglas, Ric Parsons and Duane Prill for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak to your web editor about this exciting new instrument. Photograph © Dave Dohler.

  Specification: St Stephen's Lutheran, Monona
  Great		Swell
  Prestant Principal Harmonic Flute Chimney Flute Gamba Octave Spire Flute Octave Quint 22/3 Super Octave Mixture 11/3 Trumpet	16' 8' 8' 8' 8' 4' 4' 22/3' 2' IV (11/3') 8'	Geigen Principal Voix Celeste Gedeckt Principal Rohrpipe Nasard 22/3 Doublet Tierce 13/5 Mixture Hautbois Cromorne	8' 8' 8' 4' 4' 22/3' 2' 13/5' III (2') 8' 8'
  Pedal		Accessories
  Prestant Bourdon Flute Octave Super Octave Trombone Trumpet	16' duplex 16' 8' 8' 4' 16' 8'	Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Flexible Wind Cymbelstern

  Meanwhile St Andrew's Episcopal in Wellesley, Massachusetts has received Montreal organbuilder Juget-Sinclair's largest organ to date at 34 ranks. The organ has two manuals and is currently undergoing tonal finishing, although it was used for some Christmas services. The organ will be dedicated on February 26th by James David Christie of Oberlin College. Pictures of the organ being constructed can be found here.

• St Paul's Cathedral Organ Spectacular
  Aled Jones presents the organs of St Paul's in conjunction with the cathedral organists and a large screen projector to help everyone see how an organist plays the instrument. St Paul's have rescheduled their cancelled event from July last year to January 26th 2006. Ticketholders from July will be able to use their tickets, and others are of course very welcome! Tickets are 10 (concessions 7) and the presentation begins at 6:30pm. More details and reservations on 020 7236 6883.
  
  
• Royal News
  We don't often have the chance to feature royalty on our website, but two news items this month have a royal connection. Hereford Cathedral's Perpetual Trust celebrated its tenth anniversary in December at St James' Palace in the company of HRH The Prince of Wales (pictured right, meeting choristers at the event) and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Prince Charles is the patron of the trust, which provides financial support for the cathedral's choir among other projects and organised a successful "Sponsor a Pipe" scheme in support of the recent restoration of Hereford's Willis pipe organ. Hereford have also recently announced that the Cathedral Choir will be touring California in October 2006, so our Californian readers can look out for them at a venue near you. And congratulations to former Sandringham organist Tony Fitt-Savage, awarded a Royal Victorian Medal in the New Year Honours.
  
  
• New Archbishop of York to dedicate Bridlington Priory organ
  The 600,000 restoration by Nicholson of Bridlington Priory's 116 year old Anneessens et al. organ will be celebrated by Dr John Sentamu, newly appointed Archbishop of York, on Sunday April 2nd 2006. The organ is one of only a few surviving in the UK by the Belgian firm and originally featured some of the largest windchests ever seen in the UK. Its 32' pedal reed is also said to be have the largest scale resonators in the UK. The rebuild will include 16 new and replacements stops, with some stops and derivations removed to facilite a rationalisation of the action and structure, resulting in 72 stops over four manuals. The appeal fund has passed three-quarters of the required total, but over 100,000 still needs to be raised.
  
  
• Organ Calendar for 2006
  If you're short of a calendar, or looking for a gift idea, NZOrgan.com have produced a calendar for 2006 featuring organs from all over the world, including England's Chester Cathedral. You can preview the calendar on their website, and order copies here.