A new, custom-made pipe organ is being installed at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Tulsa. It's a process that will take three weeks for installation alone, then another few weeks to get it fine-tuned before it can be played.
Organist Joseph Arndt says there's nothing like going to a church and hearing an organ play.
"When you hear a wonderful organ in a space like this, there's something that evokes the past and sacredness that you can't any other way," says Arndt.
The new instrument will replace one of the church's organs that dates back to the late 1960s.
It'll boast of more than 2,200 pipes, made of wood or metal, and ranging in all sizes from a few inches to 16 feet tall.
"We're really excited about this because this instrument has been custom-made for the church, and it was designed to play the most expressive range of dynamics and has a lot of orchestral colors," says Arndt.
The pipe facade was also made to match the colors of the church. It'll include a navy blue color from the church's stained glass, the rose color from the ceiling panels and the gold leaf found above the altar.
"I've got goosebumps right now with you talking about it, and we've waited a couple years," says Kaye Owens, a member of the church who's excited about the new addition.
It's a project that took about two years to come together from fundraising about $1.5 million in private donations to meeting with the makers of the pipe organ, Schoeinstein & Co.
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