PORT ANGELES — The sweet sounds echoing through Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in several weeks will contain more depth than for the past 50 years.
The church began installation of an organ double the size of the former one on Monday, said Don Corson, chairman of the “Air, Panes and Pipes” campaign committee.
New brass-fired pipes will line the front of the sanctuary, but those are only the beginnings of what goes on behind the wall.
The organ will have about 2,000 pipes, a revamped console and a new electronic system to control the air.
“Most simply, there will now be a whole new array of colors and lights and a whole new crayon box of colors of sound,” Joy Lingerfelt, music minister and organist for the church, said.
About 50 years ago, when the organ was first added to the sanctuary, it was only built to half the size it was intended, Corson said.
“So when we began, we thought, why not restore it to the size it was intended to be,” he said.
With the help of members of the congregation — such as engineer Gene Unger — and many who helped with the manual labor, the church was able to save about $150,000, Corson said.
The total budget was $200,000, and so far, the committee has raised $140,000, he said.
“We’ve really been mindful about making our dollars stretch,” he said.
“One way we did that was Joy found the pipes that we needed from an organ they were taking out of Trinity Lutheran College in Issaquah for just $6,000.”
Although Lingerfelt said many people equate more pipes with louder sound, she said it wouldn’t necessarily be more decibels.
“It will be a richer, more depth of sound,” she said.
She went on to say that the Lutheran church has a rich background for organs; Johann Sebastian Bach was Lutheran and wrote many of his pieces for the instrument.
Corson said there will be many opportunities to hear the new organ — which he said was the largest on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“It will be an amazing piece for concerts and many other events open to the community,” he said.
Fred Beal, service manager for Bond Organ Builders, oversaw the process of combining the church’s old organ with the organ from Trinity College.
“They did a great job selecting organs to combine, because there wasn’t a lot of overlap,” he said.
A dedication concert will be held Dec. 6 for the new organ.
For more information and for donation information, phone the church at 360-452-2323.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
