We are happy to announce the signing of an agreement with Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport, Connecticut for the construction of a new pipe organ, our Opus 7.
Trinity was established in 1725 as an outgrowth of the colonial Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, erecting its first building just outside of Fairfield. By 1856, growth and fire had seen Trinity build four more buildings, constructing the present church closer to the home of most of the parish’s members in Southport. The carpenter gothic structure, with its slender steeple reaching 150 feet into the air, sits just two blocks from Long Island Sound.
Organs in the church have included instruments by Hook, Müller & Abel, and Möller. In 1972, a large 3-manual mechanical action instrument by Karl Wilhelm was installed in the gallery, displacing a major portion of the previous Möller, whose chancel divisions were reorganized in an attempt to make a sensible instrument up front. A new Austin console was installed in the 1990s, playing the Möller chancel sections, and the Wilhelm through solenoids placed over its keyboards and pedalboard.
In the ensuing years, the Möller remnants, even with further alterations, have proved inadequate to support Trinity’s choral program, with the choir singing from the front of the church, and to lead hymns. As part of the 300th anniversary of the parish, Trinity has elected to replace the chancel organ. Our new instrument will be placed in expanded and newly-created organ chambers allowing for a substantial 3-manual organ suited to accompanying the Episcopal liturgy. The Wilhelm will remain in the gallery, its electric excrescences long since removed.
Working together with Rector Rev. Matt Linderman, Music Director and Organist Robert Kwan, as well as Trinity’s fantastic organ committee has already been a joy. We look forward to the next few months as we hone the instrument’s design, and then, of course, the next few years as it is built in our shop. Opus 7 will be installed in 2027.