Wesley Memorial

The Chapel Organ

In 1960, when the Chapel was completed, the Schlicker Organ Company of Buffalo, New York installed a six rank organ.  The organ served the congregation for the past 47 years.  In June 2007, the Schlicker organ was replaced by a new organ designed and built by the Schoenstein Organ Company of San Francisco, California.  The Schoenstein Organ, Opus 155, was installed with tonal finishing by Jack Bethards, President of the Company, and Louis Patterson, Vice-President.

The organ was built with electro-pneumatic action with six ranks of pipes including an 8 foot trumpet that is double enclosed.  Designed to match the woodwork of the Chapel, the case contains a symbol of a music lyre located on the center panel, finished in gold leaf, surrounded by façade pipes of the 8 foot diapason.  Twelve of the Lieblich Gedeckt pipes are mounted on the outside of the casework.  The manual keys are made of bone and ebony, and the draw knobs are made with bone faces with brass and walnut shanks.

This organ was a gift from the Jack Campbell family and the chime and harp stops were given by June and Lloyd Taylor.  The Schoenstein organ is given to the Glory of God and in Honor of Wanna McAnally, former organist of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church.
 

Sanctuary Organ

The Sanctuary Organ was built by Austin Organs, Incorporated, of Hartford, Connecticut, a respected firm building fine instruments for the churches of America since 1899.  Austin was also the builder of the pipe organ in Wesley Memorial's Main Street location, Opus 529, an instrument that served that church faithfully for forty-five years from 1915 to 1960.  Dr. Robert Baker, then Dean of the School of Sacred Music at Union Seminary, New York City, served as the consultant for the selection and design of opus 2467.  The organ was installed in 1967 when the sanctuary was completed.  The antiphonal organ was added eight years later in 1976. On March 24, 1968, Robert Baker performed the inaugural recital.  Dr. Alec Wyton, who was the organist of St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City, performed the dedicatory recital on April 16, 1973.

The tonal design of the organ incorporates the best of the traditionally classic instrument augmented by those stops designed for accompanying the service of worship.  The instrument was designed especially to meet the musical requirements of services of worship in Methodist churches and is capable of the correct interpretation of all organ literature.

The original installation of the organ is in two open chambers, one on either side of the chancel with tonal egress to both nave and chancel.  Covering the openings are panels of acoustically transparent material which screen the organ visually while allowing the sound to flow though with minimal interference.  The Antiphonal division is located in the balcony and hangs from the East Wall.

The console is a three-manual, self-contained draw-knob console. It is located among the choir pews on the east side of the chancel, but is not fixed in position.  When playing of the organ is featured, the console, permanently mounted on a dolly, may be rolled to the center of the chancel where the congregation has a full view of the organist.

The completed organ, including both main and antiphonal organs, contains six divisions including sixty-five ranks. The number of pipes totals 3,828.  In 2007, the J. Allen Farmer Organ Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina upgraded the console with solid state components, installed new drawknobs and couplers and re­wired the entire organ. In addition, a Peterson Module ICS 4000 was installed.  This module allows for multiple memory levels, programmable tuttis and crescendos, and a MIDI control interface.  The Spearman-Hawkinson Company of Charlotte, North Carolina re-actioned the organ with parts supplied by the Austin Organ Company.