by Simon Morley, Organist/Choirmaster

Casavant Freres built an organ for St John's Church in 1971. Of excellent quality but modest size, the instrument was very much a product of the organ building style of the time, and the growing music program soon required an organ that was capable not only of performing in an accompanimental role, but also of supporting the singing of a large congregation as well as an ability to play organ literature spanning many centuries.

The organ was therefore considerably enlarged in 1984, and areas of the specification that were lackingtonally were addressed, not least by the expansion of the Great, Swell and Pedal divisions.

Whilst the organ served well tonally in its required roles for some years, the console fairly quickly became troublesome. Not helped by a lightening strike, the piston capture system that enables the organist to set combinations of stops developed a mind of its own, and the many miles of wiring and relays that connect the console to the pipes began to fail, resulting in 'dead' notes, cyphers and, perhaps most disconcertingly, notes playing by themselves with no one at the console! Much of this increasingly occurring during services led to the realization that action must be taken, and soon, in order to keep the organ running at all.

After serious consideration, the decision was made to replace the console, relays and combination action, and to address issues of speech and regulation of some of the pipework. Of the big questions that we faced, one of the most crucial was "to whom should we entrust this important work?" We received visits and quotations from several organ building firms, all of whom had their own ideas about what should be done with the organ. Of those companies, one stood head and shoulders above the others. I had been strongly advised to consider R.A. Colby Inc. of Johnson City, Tennessee. Having been to play one of their instruments locally, I was impressed, and a visit to St John's from Roger Colby quickly confirmed in my own mind that here was a company committed to the specific needs of our music program, as well as taking a huge pride in every aspect of their work. Roger and his team have been a joy to have among us, and have bent over backwards to make sure that everything is just so, and according to our needs.

A glance at the specification will reveal some additional stops not present before restoration. I had long felt that the organ was bass light, and that the Pedal division didn't underpin the instrument as it should.
Equally, some soft orchestral colour was desirable for accompaniments and solo repertoire of the Romantic period. The opportunity arose to incorporate some carefully chosen digital additions to the specification, and these were installed and voiced by the Walker Technical Company of PA, working in close liason with
R.A. Colby.

The financial realities of such a project were daunting for our parish, and that we were able to raise the necessary funds in the current economic climate is nothing short of miraculous. We give thanks for the many parishioners and friends who have given so generously and enabled this project to come to life. We are most grateful to them all.

Specifications