Addendum to Report

Summary Report of the work of the Organ Committee for purposes of the renovation and renewal of the Cathedral.

The Organ Committee was organized to make a recommendation regarding the following questions such that the final result will be an organ in the Cathedral at least as good as the present one:

1. Can we move our present organ?

2. If we can move the organ, do we need to make any tonal changes to it in the process?

3. Would a better option be to sell the present instrument and purchase an all new organ?

Those agreeing to serve on the committee are: Bud Baechler, Erik Brom, Mary Burrichter, Dan Goltz, Donald Guidinger, John Mulrooney, David Rowekamp, Barbara Tristano, Kathleen Turner, Tara Welch, Mark Wilant and Cathedral staff members Jim Ballard, Fr. Sauer, and Jim Stolpa. The committee had two general meetings plus two meetings for visiting other churches to hear and observe their pipe organ installations.

The process involved in arriving at a recommendation was a learning process for all members of the committee. Research was done, consultants were engaged, organ companies contacted, and organ company representatives visited the Cathedral and shared their ideas,. All this provided information for the committee to study and to learn about our organ project so as to arrive at a recommendation.

Kim Kasling, organist at the Basilica in Minneapolis and member of the music faculty at St. John's University, was the first consultant contacted. He advised that in his opinion there was more than enough room in the present balcony to move the organ to one side. He also recommended the Fenris Pipe Organ Company as a possible builder.

The following organ companies were contacted: Dobson, Holtkamp, Buzard, Wicks, Fenris, and Bedient. All except Dobson submitted proposals. The Wicks Pipe Organ Company agreed, somewhat reluctantly since they did not see any great savings in their work, to make use of the pipes from the present organ. The Fenris Company agreed to make use of almost all the pipe work from the present organ.

No organ company was interested or willing to simply move the present organ, with no changes to its tonal design. That decision was made for us. Reasons for this choice have to do with the inadequacies of the present instrument and their unwillingness to put their name to an installation they see as ultimately unsuccessful.

Records show the Gress-Miles pipe organ now located in front of the Christ the King window in the balcony was purchased and installed in 1981 at a cost of $172,000.

Criticisms leveled at the present instrument by all the organ builders include:

1. The scaling of the pipe work in the organ is too small and results in the shrill sound quality the instrument has.

2. The instrument lacks as a consequence of its scaling, foundation stops that give an organ more presence in a room the size of the Cathedral. Presence does not equate to volume, but more to projecting sound that surrounds everyone present in the room.

3. The instrument lacks color stops used for solo and accompaniment work.

4. Voicing of pipe work in the present instrument is not adequate. For example, pipes in the facade could have a bigger sound just as they are if they were voiced properly.

The first general meeting of the organ committee was March 9th, 2004, at the organ. Much information was presented and discussed at this meeting. A variety of ideas and opinions were shared. It was determined that the next move for the committee was to visit other churches. Committee members visited Central United Methodist Church in Winona to hear the Moller organ and observe its tonal design. A demonstration by organist Jim Stolpa was given at that time. A second visit was made to the Ascension Lutheran Church in Albert Lea where the committee was able to hear and observe a rebuilt instrument done by the Fenris Pipe Organ Company. Finally, a second general meeting of the committee took place on April 24 at which time the committee reached a consensus to recommend the following:

1. Since the Fenris Pipe Organ Company was the only builder interested in using the pipe work from our present instrument we would be best advised to pursue a contract with them.

2. Since buying an all new organ would mean selling our present instrument for an amount much less than we paid for it, it is better stewardship to keep what we have. (Selling, if there would be a willing buyer, might bring us $10,000 to $30,000 at best.)

3. Because no organ builder would recommend reconfiguring nor is willing to rebuild the present organ in a new location without any tonal changes, the Fenris Company appears to be the best choice because of their interest in this project.

4. On the strong recommendation of Jim Stolpa, Richard Lurth of the Lurth Organ Company should be engaged as needed as a consultant on this project. Mr. Lurth is a semi-retired organ builder and has among the instruments he has built, organs at the Motherhouses of the sisters in both Mankato and Rochester as well as the organ at St. Stan's in Winona.

Other proposals in hand are all for new instruments and range from $600,000 to $900,000 including casework. These prices, including those of the Fenris company can and will change as costs of materials continue to rise. The Fenris proposal, including case work is approximately $650,000. One company specifically stated their price is guaranteed for 60 days only.

I am available for purposes of sharing research that has been done on this project as well as explaining as best I can the choices made in this recommendation.

Jim Stolpa