Shreveport, Louisiana...

[KB7DQH]

Local church gets 3,000-pipe, $1.2 million custom organ

Amanda Crane/Press-Tribune |

SHREVEPORT - Like a proud new father of a new baby, Justin Ward stood in awe looking at the new delivery made to St. John Berchmans Cathedral Thursday morning.

However, this precious gift has more than 10 fingers, weighs in at a little over 24 tons and took a lot longer than nine months to make its arrival.

After two years of planning and construction, Ward, Director of Sacred Music, was finally able to welcome home the 3,000 plus pipe organ he has anxiously awaited.

"We are very excited to have this instrument here at St. John's Cathedral," Ward said. "It's really impressive."

The organ was designed from scratch with the help of a consultant in Birmingham, Ala., and built by Parkey Organ Builders in Duluth, Ga.

Phil Parkey, President of Parkey Organ Builders, said the organ was constructed to fit the needs of the Shreveport Cathedral.

"Everything we do is completely custom. An organ can be as small as one set of pipes or can be as large as 450 sets," Parkey said. "An average church set has 30 and this one has 55 pipe sets."

According to Ward, the total cost of the project is $1.2 million, which includes acoustical renovations to the Cathedral.

To fund the project, Ward said they relied on the generosity of parishioners, pledges and funds donated in honor and memory of loved ones.

Parkey and his team will spend the next four to six week assembling and installing the organ in the Cathedral. Once assembled, Parkey said they will do a tonal finishing on each pipe on the organ.

"We will go through every pipe rank and completely tone it, voice it and make sure it fits the space," Parkey said.

Due to its size, only the console was revealed for the Thursday morning blessing ceremony on the steps of the Cathedral. The instrument will be officially dedicated during the last weekend of October.

"The catholic church holds the organ in high esteem as the principle instrument of the church," Ward said. "As the cathedral church in the diocese of Shreveport, we are proud to finally have an instrument that will really lead the congregation."

St. John Berchmans Cathedral is located at 939 Jordan Street.

http://bossierpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4006:musical-masterpiece&catid=1:local-news&Itemid=134

Eric
KB7DQH