Concert series helps maintain historic organ at Lexington church

The melodious chamber music filling the sanctuary at First Parish in Lexington every Friday is helping to ensure the sounds of the churchs historic organ continue to fill the space every Sunday.

First Parishs Friday Noon Concerts are free, but donations from concertgoers go to restore and maintain the churchs Hutchings organ. Built in 1897 by George Hutchings, one of Bostons finest organ builders, the instrument was installed at First Parish in 1898.

Carolyn Bruse, chairman of the organ subcommittee at First Parish, said the 115-year-old organ has a replacement value of $750,000 to $1 million.

You have to do routine maintenance all the time, she said. Its quite expensive, and there are bigger things that come up every 30 years or so that you have to be prepared for.

Bruse said money raised from the concert series serves as a cushion for the churchs annual organ maintenance budget. Last summer, the concert series raised about $3,000 in donations. This year, the fundraising goal is $10,000.

The church contracts the Andover Organ Company to perform any maintenance on the organ. Recently, the church hired organ consultant, Barbara Owen, to help develop a maintenance schedule for the future. Owen suggested restoring the organ to its original form but First Parish Music Director Suzanne Jubenville did not feel it would be suitable for the congregation.

We decided not to restore it to its original state because musically it is more usable and versatile the way it is, Jubenville said. Were not interested in maintaining an antique. We want to keep a historic organ going rather than have a museum piece.

The organ contains 1,900 wooden and metal pipes, of which only 27 are visible to the congregation. The remaining pipes are concealed in the organ room, located behind the instrument. Each set of pipes is a different size and construction, which determines the tone.

According to Jubenville, whose husband Jeffrey plays the organ at church services every Sunday, the organ is a tracker organ, meaning it uses mechanical rather than electrical functions to produce sound.

Tracker organs are all really different, she said. Every organ is unique. It takes a little bit more action to work it, and there might be a small delay between your finger pushing the key and the actual sounds.

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Concert series helps maintain historic organ at Lexington church