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Owen Burdick, organist and choirmaster for Trinity Church, is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a unique musical addition to Trinity: a one-of-a-kind electronic organ.

Workers dismantle one of the organs damaged from the fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to make room for Trinity's new electronic organ.

Dr. Burdick, who designed the organ in association with Marshall & Ogletree, an electronic organ distributor based in Boston, described the new instrument as “a prototype; it is the very first one of its kind ever made.”

“Nothing like this has ever been done before,” he said. “It promises to revolutionize the way people think about and buy organs.”

What makes it distinctive? With a traditional electronic organ when you strike a key “you hear a digital recording of that note from a pipe organ that is about three seconds in length,” he explained. With the new design, each note is recorded for a full 15 seconds. Further, instead of having the sound emitted from two loudspeakers, the new organ will have 60 speakers, 30 for the front of the church and 30 for the back.

“The sound is so real, so phenomenal, so life-like, that I defy anybody to tell me they’re not listening to a real pipe organ,” said Dr. Burdick.

The parish currently has four pipe organs in varying degrees of disrepair from the fallout of September 11, 2001. The main organ is situated in the back of Trinity and a second smaller organ is in the front gallery. A small Tracker organ is in All Saints’ Chapel, and the fourth is housed at St. Paul’s Chapel at Broadway and Fulton Street.

“On September 11, the amount of dust and debris that fell… just blanketed the organs,” recalled Dr. Burdick. “It was so alkaline that it was like dusting the organs with Drano. This stuff has proceeded to eat into the leather, into the metal, into the wood; it’s extremely caustic and has compromised the organs.”

Anthony Meloni, Trinity's organ curator (left), discusses the dismantling of the existing organ with a colleague.

To date, Trinity and its insurance company have not finalized the parish’s claim for the damaged organs. Once finality is reached, building a new pipe organ could take five years and cost $3 million or more.

The new organ will look the same as the old one because the main pipes will remain in place, and the speakers will be placed behind them; only the console will be replaced. It is expected to arrive at Trinity in February.

If all goes as planned, the dedication will be followed by a series of recitals featuring the new instrument, which will replace the two organs now located in the front and the back of the church.

“Not permanently though – that’s the other thing I want to stress, that this is an interim measure,” he said. “As good as this electronic instrument will be, we hope eventually to have another pipe organ at Trinity Church.”

Posted on Congregational Life, December 23, 2002