Music resurrected: How we captured instrument's rebirth at Glendale church
It's a story that doesn't come up often, though − every 100 to 150 years, give or take. I was the Enquirer reporter who volunteered to bestow a merited spotlight on this generational story. And now, looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to have done so.
The way we caught word of this story was simple. The staff of Christ Church Glendale, a quaint and historic congregation in suburban Cincinnati, contacted The Enquirer via email in late January. They informed us that the Episcopal church would be getting a brand new, handcrafted organ because their old one, which the church had used for over 110 years, had run its course.
How did the church decide it was time to retire its old organ? Well, it was because some of the organ's facade pipes collapsed onto the sanctuary floor, narrowly missing the church's music director on the way down.
The incident left church staff a little shaken up, but it was the concrete proof they needed to sway the church vestry into approving a project for a new organ.
To add icing on the cake, the church planned for the new organ to make its debut on Easter Sunday, giving parish members a two-fold celebration of resurrection on a sacred day for Christians worldwide.
'A divine blessing': New organ at Glendale church makes Easter debut, revitalizes worship
I followed up with Nancy Macenko, a church commission member who had sent the original email. We set up a time for me to see the installation of the new organ at the church and to interview music director Tyler Robertson and a worker from Casavant Fréres, the Canadian company hired to build the organ.
I was impressed with Christ Church Glendale on my visit in late February. The chapel is small, but like I mentioned earlier, it's also quaint, elegant and historic, much like the village of Glendale itself.
Macenko and Robertson showed me and our photographer Cara Owsley the progress of the installation in the church's main chapel, which was filled wall-to-wall with the materials and a ton of scaffolding. There was hardly any room to walk.
I observed how three Casavant workers crammed into the very compact organ chamber to install the parts of the new organ. It was fascinating to see the bare bones and inner machinations of such a grand instrument, and it almost gave me chills to imagine how its sound will echo throughout the church nave.
The workers even allowed Owsley to climb atop some of the scaffolding so she could shoot photos of the under-construction organ from different vantage points.
More: Which churches in the Cincinnati area have classic organs?
Then I interviewed one of the Casavant workers, who was well-experienced in the field and told me about his own background and the challenges in this specific assignment. I also spoke with Robertson, who recounted the day the pipes fell and the history of their old organ.
We also touched on President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs, which, if they weren't delayed, could have raised the price of the $1.5 million organ since all its materials were imported from Quebec, Canada.
Rev. David Pfaff, the church rector, was out of town the day of my visit, but I connected with him over the phone the following week. He was excited about this new era in the church's history and described why Christ Church Glendale values the organ and its traditional sound so much in the first place.
He got a good chuckle as we agreed that thanks to this new organ, the church's community will experience a "resurrection" of its musical operations on Easter, coincidentally the same day Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead.
I grew a newfound appreciation for classic instruments and church music in my reporting and in my research into the history of organs. Maybe in the next 150 years or so, when the church needs a new organ once again, the next reporter can look back at my story and discover where it all began.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Christ Church Glendale got a new organ by Easter
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