Photo 1. Carl gives the Children's Sermon on the first Sunday in the first service and pointed out the importance of music in worship.
Photo 2. Carl shows the four basic types of pipes in a pipe organ and blows on each.
Photo 3. In the sanctuary, the children get an overview of the work that had to be done in order to make the organ possible.
Photo 4. Halie illustrates the various voices in the organ for the children as Carl looks on.
Photo 5. Organist Seung Min Oh from Portland played the Friday evening concert.
Photo 6. Church organist Sung Joo Kim.
Photo 7. The organ accompanies the handbells, directed by Ron Ebbers.
10th Year Anniversary Celebration
of the Pipe Organ at the
Mercer Island Presbyterian Church
11/06/15
Sunday, October 11, 2015 through Sunday, October 18 was a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the installation of Pipe Organ Foundation Opus 2 in Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Mercer Island, Washington. A brochure was prepared which gave the history of the organ and its design, the Organ Committee, a list of the donors who made the organ possible, and a list of 52 people who contributed more than 5,000 hours rebuilding and installing this instrument. The brochure also presented a series of photographs which showed the organ as it was being built and the final product. (See the Brochure here)
The celebration began on October 11 with Carl Dodrill, Foundation President, giving the Children’s sermon in two of the worship services. Carl began with Psalm 150 which lists several kinds of instruments to be used in praising God and which specifically mentions “pipes.” He then showed an example of each of the four different types of pipes in a pipe organ, and he blew on each pipe to illustrate the sound. As reported by both children and adults, blowing on each of the pipes was among the most helpful things he did in getting across the sounds that actually come from a pipe organ.
The children were then taken to the sanctuary where they could actually hear the organ. An overview was first given of how the organ works and how it was built. Then Halie illustrated the various types of sounds coming from the organ as well as the highest and lowest sounds it can give. Pipes were also played at the front and the back of the sanctuary as well as at the sides including the Harp. Finally, Carl took the children on a tour of the organ, walking underneath some of the huge pipes which were more than 100 years old.
On Friday evening, October 16, an organ concert was given which featured Dr. Seung Min Oh, Principal Organist at St. Mary’s Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Portland, Oregon. Originally from South Korea, Dr. Oh holds two master’s degrees in organ performance as well as a doctorate which was awarded to her by Indiana University. Her top notch technical skills were obvious as she played a varied program of music from the works of Bruhns, Bach, Haydn, Buck, Lemare, Boellmann, Guilmant and Demessieux.
On Sunday, October 18, MIPC organist Dr. Sung Joo Kim presented special music on the organ throughout the service including accompanying the handbell choir led by Ron Ebbers as Praise to the Lord (arranged by Albert Zibel) was played. The service ended with the truly dramatic Finale from Symphony No. 6 by Charles-Marie Widor, and the ovation that followed was testimony of the continuing appreciation of the congregation for music played in such a fine way on the Pipe Organ Foundation instrument.