Project 61
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Hampton, Virginia
Info coming soon.
Parsons is pleased to announce that we have entered into an agreement with St. John’s Episcopal Church, Hampton, Virginia to revisit the tonal and mechanical disposition of the existing three-manual and pedal, 46-rank tracker organ originally built in 1981 by Blakely Organbuilders and subsequently rebuilt and enlarged in 1993 as Parsons Opus 7.
Founded in 1610 by a small group of settlers attempting to escape the famine and disease which had decimated the residents of Jamestown, St. John’s is recognized as the oldest continuously existing English-speaking congregation in the United States. Since its inception, the parish has worshipped in four different locations. The current church building dates back to 1728!
The 1981 Blakely organ was unique in that it introduced a decidedly neo-baroque tonal pallet and beautiful baroque casework into a very traditional English setting. Although much of the organ’s quirky mechanical characteristics were necessarily left intact during Parsons 1993 partial rebuild of the organ, Organist Choir Master John Siderius used the organ in a masterful fashion to bring a fresh perspective to the worship experience and to offer the parish and the community an abundance of opportunities to experience the neo-baroque revolution!
The work being accomplished today seeks to create an instrument whose purpose is more closely aligned with supporting congregational singing and accompanying choirs. Focus is squarely placed on foundational tone and on the ability of the organ to move from quiet undulating strings and beautiful flutes to the force of full organ, all of which is intended to occur in a seamless fashion. Along with the organ’s newly defined tonal attributes, construction of the organ will move from mechanical to electric action but still with pallet and tone channel windchests. This, in tandem with a slightly smaller specification, allows our company to retain much of the existing casework while ensuring that everything in the organ is accessible for service and tuning.
