St. Agatha Catholic Church - St. Agatha, Ontario

, Canada

The pipe organ of St. Agatha Catholic Church has been in place since the 1960’s. As far as is known, this organ was relocated from a different church. It is believed that this organ was a mechanical action instrument prior to its relocation to St. Agatha. The present installation likely provided the electric action, detached console, and the divided casework we see today.

The organ was comprised of 4 ranks of pipes that were heavily unified and extended to provide a specification of about 13 stops. It is also presumed that at that time of installation the wind pressure was raised significantly to assist the small organ to fill the rather large room with sound. This resulted in some of the ranks being on the verge of over blowing.

In 2009 it became apparent that the organ console was in need of replacement. The church’s organ committee began to research their options which included going with a new all-digital instrument, a replacement pipe organ console, or a combination instrument incorporating the existing pipes with new digital ranks.

After a careful assessment of the pipe organ in consultation with Pole & Kingham Pipe Organ Builders of Chatham, Ontario, Rodgers submitted a proposal that utilized the existing pipe ranks interfaced with a new Rodgers Allegiant 658 console. Upon hearing another combination instrument by Rodgers utilizing a pipe organ of similar vintage, the committee made the decision to go ahead with the Rodgers proposal.

The installation, completed in August of 2010, was a collaborative effort carried out by Pole & Kingham and Bob Gray Music Ltd. It involved performing minor repairs and tonal regulation to the pipes as well as lowering the wind pressure, resulting in a more stable sound from the pipe work. The Rodgers pipe interface, designed to easily work with a wide variety of stop and key-action systems, was an appropriate choice for the St. Agatha organ. In addition, temperature-sensing circuitry from Rodgers was also incorporated to adjust the pitch of the digital ranks as the pipe metal temperature changes within the room, ensuring that the pipes and digital ranks are always in tune with each other.

The Organist at St. Agatha is Angela Straus. The Chair of the organ committee is Jim Gehl.