First United Methodist Church gets new $750,000 pipe organ

Patrick Scott, one of three choir masters and organists at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Phillip in Atlanta, Ga., plays the new $750,000 organ in the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Wednesday April 8, 2015. The final touches were completed on the organ Thursday April 2. On Sunday April 11 at 3 p.m. First United Methodist Church will hold a consecration service, Death and Resurrection, open to the public for the organ and the new grand piano. Scott will be one of two guest organists at the service. The second organist is Dr. Will Young, the director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C. staff photo | Erin Nelson

First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa was without an organ for almost two years as it awaited the construction of a custom-built, 2,580-pipe organ. It took almost two months to install, but the church will celebrate its new $750,000 organ on Sunday afternoon with a public concert featuring the organ, a new grand piano, a 25-piece orchestra and the church's 50- member choir.

For James Seay, director of music and worship, the new organ has been a labor of love. The former organ, built in 1929, had been rehabilitated once in the 1970s, but certain parts no longer worked, and it had a pierced sound to it, Seay said. Although some of the original pipes were re-scaled and reused, the organ itself is a new instrument.

"With the old organ, there were things that were no longer functioning the way they were meant to function, and it was designed for a style of music that we no longer celebrate in traditional music," Seay said. "We wanted a more romantic sound to it, one that had more of a warmth to it."

The original organ was removed in September 2013. The new organ was custom built in Tennessee using pipes from around the world and an organ blower that was once used at the Kennedy Center, Seay said. The new organ, a Randall Dyer and Associates Inc. Opus 98, has 45 ranks, and more than two-thirds of the organ is encapsulated in giant wooden shades that open to make the sound larger or softer.

"Typically, it takes years for an organ to be built," Seay said. "All of the wooden construction, all the carpentry was done in house, the facade, the electrical work, they do everything by hand. It is a massive undertaking."

Installation of the new organ began in February and was finished last week in time for Holy Week services.

"We are so excited to have the organ back," said the Rev. Ken Dunivant, senior pastor. "The piano has been great, but the organ fills the whole sanctuary with energy, joy and excitement."

Sunday's celebration concert will feature three works, including "A Joyful Son" which was commissioned by world-renowned composer Rene Clausen, Seay said. The text for the anthem was Psalm 98, which is perfect for the church's new Opus 98 organ, Seay said. Another work, Requiem by Maurice Durufle, was selected to display the organ's capabilities.

"It is a masterwork that highlights the capabilities of the organ and the beauty of the instrument, and uses every color that our organ has," Seay said.

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First United Methodist Church gets new $750,000 pipe organ