Music Ministry - Organ
1967 CASAVANT PIPE ORGAN
Glennes Garlick Memorial
Casavant Organ
Celebrate the glorious sound of our newly restored 1967 Casavant pipe organ at Trinity Episcopal Church. Spencer Organ CO. of Boston undertook a phased restoration in excess of $400,000 that returned the instrument to “better than new condition.” The organ now boasts 48 ranks of pipes, and includes stops that were omitted from the original design.
“Mr. Higgs outstanding virtues are three: very secure finger work, an unusual sense of tempo that is at once buoyant and rock steady, and an imaginative judgement of organ registrations that subtly exploits a wide range of effects, but never insists on showing us the whole range within a single piece…”
The New York Times
Mr. David Higgs, Chairman of the Organ Department at the Eastman School of Music, one of America’s leading concert organists.
Organ History
Trinity’s Casavant organ was conceived in the American Classic design by Lawrence Phelps, Tonal Director of Casavant, and Robert Town, organ professor at Wichita State University, in collaboration with Glennes Garlick, Trinity’s organist. Dewey Layton of Layton Organs supervised the initial phase of the organ installation. During the first installation, the organ was left incomplete as funding was not available to purchase the Choir division. On Sunday, February 26, 1967, the organ was played for the first time at all three services by Mrs. Glennes Garlick.
In April, 1970, the Vestry approved a contract for the first addition to the organ, which comprised the addition of four stops, thereby completing the Swell and Pedal divisions. Memorial funds were used for this addition, which was installed in November, 1970. A major concern of the vestry in 1972 was setting priorities pertaining to the completion of the new building complex, the organ, and church furnishings after the devastating explosion and fire of 1964. Plans were made to raise funds through private donations in order to complete the last phase of the organ. Thanks, in part, to the donation of the proceeds from the private sale of the Lindou Memorial organ at the St. Chad’s Chapel property and the generosity of many private donors, the Trinity organ was completed in January, 1974.
The completed Casavant organ was dedicated at an afternoon evensong service on Sunday, April 24, 1974 by Father Middleton. The guest organist was the designer of this instrument - Robert Town, Professor of Organ at Wichita State University. His program was selected to showcase the full range and capability of the organ.