Kilgen Pipe Organ
Our magnificent pipe organ was built by the Kilgen Organ Company in 1950. The specification and design of the organ was overseen by the great Belgian-American organist Charles Courboin.
The organ is on high wind pressure and the entire instrument is enclosed, making it extremely flexible. It has seven reeds, nine mixtures, six 16’ ranks, and almost all of the 8′ ranks are extended an extra octave (73 note ranks). Wind pressure for the flue pipes is 7 1/2 inches and 12 inches for the reed pipes.
Our organ was spared the lobby fire of 2010, but was damaged when a cleaning crew entered the organ chambers in an attempt to “clean” the organ as part of the fire soot removal the rest of the church was undergoing at the time.
Thankfully, we were able to repair the damage, as well as rebuild the console, which was virtually unplayable after 60 years of use.
The console is now equipped with a state-of-the art computer system that allows us to take full advantage of the pipework. The specification has been enlarged with the help of the computer. Our organ had no mutations, but now has a 2 2/3 and a 1 3/5 drawn from the Swell Scharf IV. Several other enhancements were made (see specifications).
New keyboards from Italy were also installed, as the original keyboards were worn beyond repair. All damaged pipes were repaired. To hear our Kilgen pipe organ, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Kilgen Organ Company
St. Louis, Missouri
Opus 7517 (1950) Designed by Charles Courboin
Console renovated 2012 (Peterson ICS-4000, with enlarged specification *)
GREAT
Manual I or II
enclosed with Choir/Pedal
7" pressure (8' Trumpet on 12")
SWELL
Manual III
enclosed with Pedal
7 1/2" pressure
CHOIR
Manual I or II
enclosed with Great/Pedal
6" pressure
PEDAL
divided between two chambers
7 1/2" pressure
(16' Bombarde on 12")
Couplers
Memory, Generals & Pistons
Console before
Console after
Kilgen Pipe Organ
Op. 7517
Restoration Photos from 2011-2012
Our Director of Music and Organist, Daniel Kirk-Foster performs on our Kilgen Pipe organ, a work composed for him by Italian composer Grimoaldo Macchia.