Thank you for attending my recital today either live or via Facebook Live! Here are the program notes...

Here are the interactive program notes. Enjoy.

Aeolian-Skiner/Casavant

The rebuilt console

The console was gutted, refinished and rebuilt. New drawknobs, new keyboards, rehabbed pedal board, new layout of divisions, additional expression pedal, new multi-level memory system...but the same dear carving on top from the 1920's.

That was then

E M Skinner, Opus 408, console 1923

The console after we got it...in a car garage!

This is now...

Many drawknobs are in preparation for the gallery organ

I had to throw in a shot of the Aeolian-Skinner console at The Mother Church in Boston
The Johns Creek console compares very favorably

The console carving before restoration

And after a job very well done

Installation Progress at the Church September 2016

15 years ago this pipe organ didn't have a home and its future was to be taken to a dump or something. Now it is being reinstalled in a church, Johns Creek UMC. Here are pics as the organ arrives at the church.

Each crate is carefully marked with project ID, stop name and pipe number

Reed pipes in their tray

Just wait until they have to stand this pipe up!

8 men to manage this ONE pipe! The King of Instruments indeed!

Pics of the installation progress

Many thanks to the folks who are taking pictures as Opus 408D is being installed at Johns Creek UMC. These include Jeremy Rush and Mark Rainey.

Preparing the space...

Painting the chambers

Fresh coat of paint!

Building the blower room

Well insulated blower room

Loading a truck at Casavant. The organ was delivered in 3 different trucks spaced at intervals to prevent back-up of materials stored in the sanctuary.

In the loading dock at Casavant

The first load waiting to be put on trailer 

The first truckload of organ parts has arrived and they're beginning the installation. So far scaffolding has been assembled, I see some open woods on the chancel floor perhaps getting ready to go in, and they're off and running.

You can watch the work in real time at this link. Johns Creek UMC installation link. This is a live stream that will be available 6 days a week. Details are on the page. Enjoy!!!

This link will take you to the Johns Creek Methodist Church Music Facebook page where you'll find out about the latest progress in preparation for the arrival of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 408D later this month.

An interesting connection to the project will occur through a meeting of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and I'm not sure anyone realizes this yet! David Enlow, Organist & Choirmaster of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in New York City will be performing for the chapter and guests at their September 13, 2016 program.

When I began investigating the possibility of acquiring a used pipe organ for Johns Creek, John Bishop of the Organ Clearing House suggested that I visit NYC for the dedication of the newly renovated Casavant Organ that OCH had installed in Church of the Resurrection. So I went, enjoyed the program and met David. I hope he takes the opportunity to run up to Johns Creek and check out the project. His warm hospitality certainly made this southerner visiting the north feel comfortable. 

He will be performing at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Briarcliff Road in Atlanta. This is presented by the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO). Go here for information. Anyone may attend either opportunity but notice that the Saturday part is a workshop (intended for organists to learn how to better improvise), the concert on the 13th is a full organ concert. Tickets are only required for the meal part of each event.

A photo from Canada

Simon Coture, vice president of Casavant Organs and project coordinator for the rebuild of Opus 408D at the Casavant shop is in town this week. He and Ken Axelson (organist at Johns Creek UMC) and Jeremy Rush (music staff at JCUMC) worked on preparations for the organ's arrival. These pictures were taken by Ken on February 24 and posted on his Facebook page.

The console is beginning to take shape in the Casavant shop.

This is console in storage in New England.

And remember to "measure twice and cut once?"

Simon on left, Jeremy on right.

I'm not sure what they're measuring but I assume it's details for the facade. I'll find out today if they are still using the design, or something like it, that we came up while I was still at JCUMC. Whatever it's going to be, it will be grand!!!

Here are some important dates for your calendar

August 26, 2016 plan for organ to start arriving (several tractor-trailers full) at Johns Creek UMC

November 20, 2016 plan to start using the organ in services the Sunday before Thanksgiving

2017? Dedication celebrations

The latest news!!!

A new date for installation has been announced. In a letter from Nathan Frank to the donors of the organ fund he announced installation to begin August 23, 2016 and the first Sunday of use to be "Thanksgiving" Sunday 2016.

Delay...typical on a project this big!

I recently learned from Dr. Nathan Frank, director of music at Johns Creek UMC, that Casavant has let him know that there will be a six-week delay on installation of the organ. 

Never fear...this is to be expected in a large project like this. Can you imagine having to propose a contract on the reconstruction of an existing piece of equipment/art this size, stored for over 10 years in unconfirmed condition?

Parts!

Storage!!!

Read the marking. It's the real deal!!!

Any time-line agreed upon in the contract for rebuilding between the church and the organ company was an educated guess at best. And my leaving the organist position put a kink in things for a while. So bravo to Casavant for their work on this monumental project, a feather in everyone's cap!

Once this organ is complete and in it's new home it can stay forever. It's surely worth the wait.

It's time for more information on my beloved Opus408d. 

Since I left the post of organist at Johns Creek United Methodist Church to be Director of Music at Virginia Highland Church in midtown Atlanta, I've not had day-to-day contact on the organ project. Graciously the music staff has kept me in the loop.

The contract for rebuild of Opus 408d that was signed with Casavant Organs of Canada calls for installation to begin in the summer of 2016 with completion in September. The Johns Creek UMC music department hopes to have the dedication concert in September and has invited me to perform.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the transition following my departure from Johns Creek Church is who they have hired as organist. 

Ken Axelson was the interim director of music at Johns Creek UMC while we completed the search for a new music director. The new music director hired was Dr. Nathan Frank. Nate was a chorister in Ken's choir when Ken was director of music at First United Methodist Church in Houston, TX! 

As Ken's "retirement job" he has accepted the post of organist at this Johns Creek United Methodist Church.

Ken Axelson, organist 
Johns Creek United Methodist Church 2015-present

Ken is a graduate of the famous School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in NYC. At Union Ken studied organ with Robert Baker and thoroughly absorbed the tremendously vibrant church music scene in NYC. When he speaks of grad school the characters he speaks of are a who's who of sacred music. 

Ken went to under grad at Illinois Wesleyan where Marilyn Keiser was a student as well. Dr. Keiser was my undergrad organ teacher and a major influence on my career and vocation. They both went on to Union following their undergrad degrees and continue to be close friends.

Ken has taken the lead on the Opus 408d organ project and has made some exciting revisions to the specification as it stood when I left.

As I left Johns Creek, the organ was being moved to Casavant's shop in Canada for evaluation and rebuilding. Casavant found that several of the chests and other parts required significant repair that wasn't in the budget. This meant back to the drawing board for the specs to make everything come in at about $1.3 million for the chancel organ.

Opus 408d Console

It was further discovered that the console had been the secondary console. The secondary console worked off of the primary console and it's stop action was less complicated and smaller. This meant that the amount of space required for draw knobs within the workings of the console was less. 

At Johns Creek the console will be the primary console requiring new draw knob mechanisms which are larger. With space already at a premium, creativity is required.

Also, the console has only 3 swell shoes - one for Swell expression, one for Choir expression and the "gas" pedal (crescendo pedal). 
With the separation of the Solo division into its own expressive enclosure another expression pedal was required. 

At this point I should mention the interim organist who served before Ken could start the JCUMC job...the ever-talented Jeremy Rush. A former assistant organist at Peachtree Presbyterian, Jeremy had a previous connection with Ken Axelson. Since Ken's arrival back at JCUMC to be organist, Jeremy has remained in the employ of the church in several ways including consulting on the organ project - especially mechanically.

Back to the problem of the expression pedals. Casavant's position was that there isn't enough room for an additional expression pedal meaning no separate Choir enclosure. Jeremy developed a solution for the pedals and negotiated with Casavant to use it. Now there will be Swell, Choir and Solo under expression, each having it's own expression pedal. This really is important for the organ to be the best accompanying church organ it can. It won't hurt it for being the best orchestral, classical and theatre organ as well.

The stoplist has been tweaked, redone, etc. Even the nomenclature has been "argued out." (I don't have the stoplist in my possession to share.) When I get the stoplist and it's ok to make it public, you will see it here!

As I have lived with this project over the years I have come to the realization that the tradition at Trinity Wall Street was to remake their organ as their worship needs evolved. Reading the information on the New York City AGO chapter's site was very helpful for arriving at this conclusion. Starting with E.M. Skinner's initial involvement with the Trinity Church, we can trace the remaking of whatever organ Trinity had in 1923, 1928, 1958, and 1968. Following the closing of the Aeolian-Skinner shop in 1972 there were still more changes. Now, 50 years after the last Aeolian-Skinner rebuild, there will be a new version - in an Aeolian-Skinner tradition accomplished by Casavant. 

The big changes to the organ are:

    Combining best stops from Trinity Church gallery and chancel organs to create the JCUMC chancel organ

    Changing name of Bombarde division to Solo division and putting all of the appropriate solo stops in one expressive chamber

  
There have also been plans to address

    Replacing the 32' and 16' stops retained by TWS

    Adding a few vintage solo color stops to round out the Solo division

I am requesting photos and the specification from the church to update and will post when I get them.

Moving an enormous pipe organ in mud season

The next step in this organ project is moving Opus408D from storage in New England to the Casavant Bros. shop in Saint-Hycinthe, Quebec, Canada.

I've heard from John Bishop that the components would fill 3 53' semi trailers. That's not how it's been moved in the past due to limitations of truck use in lower Manhattan and limitations getting into the organ shop in New Hampshire where part of the organ is stored.

To get the organ out of Trinity Wall Street's storage space in lower Manhattan the Organ Clearing House crew had to use box trucks, work during the overnight hours and I believe it took about 4 days.

A committee from Casavant will travel to the current storage sites after Easter to determine how this will be done. I (Randy Elkins) will go to represent Johns Creek UMC. I have been told to go prepared for mud...lots of mud. We will look at everything, take pictures and videos and then a plan will be made.

Organ Clearing House workshop in New Hampshire. The driveway is dirt/mud.

Parts of the organ stored in a self-storage unit in Maine.

Pipes stored in trays on the left in New Hampshire. I believe the tall pipes are new ones from another project that was in the shop when I visited.

The markings that will help Casavant know which parts belong to Opus 408D. Notice this was from an earlier time, when it was just 408A.

Completing the organ for Johns Creek UMC

The contract signed on March 12, 2015 is for the Chancel Organ only (104 ranks, 4 manual console). Plans for the Antiphonal Organ (balcony) are underway and will complete the project. We have not raised those funds yet.

The Contract is Signed

March 12, 2015 is an historic day in the life of Johns Creek United Methodist Church. At 9:45 a.m. church officers signed a contract with Casavant Organs of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, to begin the rebuild of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 408D for our church. The work will take just short of a year and a half with installation at the church expected to begin in the summer of 2016.

Church officers signing the contract for Casavant Bros. to rebuild the organ

Facade of the Chancel Organ

I am off to Texas for a week of pipe organ saturation.

First I perform on the large new Reuter organ at Christ United Methodist Church, Plano, TX where longtime friends Pat Messick and Bart Ghent are the musicians.

On Monday I will travel from Dallas to Kilgore, TX for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. This festival celebrates famous organ designer and voicer Roy Perry and the Aeolian-Skinner organs he designed in that region.

With such a gathering of Aeolian-Skinner enthusiasts I hope to hear people’s memories of Opus 408D. It will also be educational to hear the these "Roy Perry" Aeolian-Skinners.

First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas

We are happy to welcome Nathan Frank as the Director of Music and Worship at Johns Creek UMC effective August 1, 2104. Nathan holds the DMA from the University of North Texas and came to us from a position at Pacific Lutheran University. Among his first tasks is raising the money for the restoration and installation of Opus 408D.

Under new leadership the organ project is back in gear. The organ fundraising committee is meeting, calendars are being consulted and creative juices are flowing.

There will be important announcements made in the next few days so check this blog for updates.

Console of the largest Aeolian-Skinner in captivity!
The Mother Church, Boston, MA

It's been 2 months since my last real post. We have  been deep in the design process with Organ Clearing House and John Bishop for the rebuild and installation of the organ. The picture below is an initial drawing of the facade. I like it and am anxious to see what the pipe shades are actually going to look like. 

The prices being talked about for the project range from $2 million to $2.7 million depending on whether we simply rebuild and install the organ as it was, reconfigure some divisions to make it more versatile, or turning it into a more symphonic instrument.

The organ committee will meet on Oct. 11, 2012 to go over the proposals and come up with a recommendation. Once a specification is finalized I will post it here.

Anyone wishing to donate to the project may do so by visiting the Johns Creek UMC website and follow the link for Opus 408D on the front page. A brochure with opportunities to donate will be published and released within the month. Wouldn't the gift of the console or a pipe or the facade be perfect in memory or honor of a loved one.

The steeple has arrived - in pieces. The pieces will be put together and the steeple raised to the top of the tower on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Check the church website for time schedule if you want to watch them finally "Raise the Steeple!"

Sanctuary with brick and concrete accents

Base of the steeple will go on top of tower.

Base of steeple sitting next to tower.

Cross for top of steeple waiting to be added.

Construction update Aug 11-12

Today I found much of the sanctuary closed in. The next time I take pictures I'll have someone with me who can stand next to the building to give persepctive to the size. It's massive!!!

View from the North

 In the coming week the steeple should arrive and be put on top of the tower making it the highest point in Fulton County! Watch the JCUMC website for information on date and time of the steeple's installation.

View of tower without Steeple, from South Side

 The tower is already pretty impressive!

View of the tower without Steeple

The next two pics are of the mock-ups of the exterior finishes. Notice the detail around the windows and the roof line.