Choir Room Organ Completed

Pipes And Pedals

Installation of our new portable choir room organ, gift of the late Richard Knapp, is now completed! During the 1940s Richard was a boy chorister at St. James's and grew up to be an MIT trained nuclear physicist, retiring as Director of Nuclear Systems Business Development from ABB- Combustion Engineering in 1997. Throughout his long life he also worked as a professional organist, choral conductor, organ builder, designer, and regional representative of Casavant Frères, a world-class organ company based in Quebec.

The installation and construction of our choir room organ was his final project. It is brilliant in its construction, versatility and musical result. What's even more remarkable is that Richard completed nearly all of the project himself, from the original construction to its installation in the choir room.

On February 21, Richard passed away following a heroic fight with cancer. With some tuning and final adjustments standing in the way of completion, the organ was finished by Bill Czelesniak and his assistant Gary Smith.

We are grateful to have this component of Richard's legacy here at St. James's and look forward to many years of great music making in the choir room.