In order to celebrate the restoration process, Cathedral Director of Sacred Music, Nathan Knutson played a selection of compositions written for the organ from a variety of sources.

The concert included works from American composers Gordan Young and Christopher Uehlein to reflect the instrument’s American origins, but also included selections from Holland, German and French-born composers such as Jan Bender, Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck and Louis Vierne.

The Holtkamp Organ is 64 years old and was original built by the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It was original built for the Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Rutz Organ Company completed the restoration process earlier this year. Several members of the Rutz Organ Company attended the concert to hear the instrument in action.

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt The new organ console at St. Mary’s Catholic Church is the only part of the instrument visible to churchgoers. The pipes are all hidden behind screens.

Rutz CEO, Roland Rutz, said the organ itself was in good shape with the correct sound even after several decades. The purpose of the restoration was to ensure the organ was acoustically correct for the space it occupied.

Unlike the organ at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the pipes on the Holtkamp Organ are not on visible to the congregation. Only the console is visible, but the pipes can be easily accessed for maintenance.

The St. Mary’s organ was modified to have its pipes tonally opened. The pipe sets were added to and expanded to give the instrument more versatility and enable it to play a broader range of music.

Russell Draeger was responsible for the pipes, voicing and tuning of the organ. He said every time an organ is placed in a new chamber there is fight with the re-voicing effect. Different surfaces may absorb or reflect sounds in unpredictable way. The trick is to make it acoustically consistent throughout the space.

Draeger said St. Mary’s was fortunate that the church has many hard surfaces that spreads the sound well, giving the organ a great chamber voice.

Knutson said it was a pleasure to just practice on the organ.

Sunday will be one of Knutson’s last performances as Director of Sacred Music. In two weeks he will take on a new position at the St. Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia, PA.

Organ concerts will continue at Cathedral of the Holy Trinity over the next year. Knutson said he will return to perform in a concert next March.