Bryn Athyn Choir, Organists to Unveil New Digital Organ at Cathedral

Five area organists and the Bryn Athyn Cathedral Choir will present a repertoire Oct. 16 to showcase a state-of-the-art digital organ newly installed at the in Bryn Athyn.

The program, beginning at 7 p.m., is a prelude to an Organ Dedication Service at 8 p.m., at the cathedral, 900 Cathedral Road (at Huntingdon Pike), led by the Rt. Rev. Thomas L. Kline, executive bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

The prelude and service are open to the public; free will offerings are welcomed. The 50-minute service, which will include additional organ selections, will be followed by a reception at which attendees can meet the organists.

Featured organists are: Terry Schnarr, head organist at the cathedral; Betsy Walsh, assistant organist; Kenneth Coy, organist at The Lord’s New Church, Bryn Athyn; 16-year-old Leah Martin of Huntingdon Valley, a student at Settlement School - Kardon-Northeast Branch, Philadelphia; and Rudy Lucente, an assistant organist at the Grand Court Organ (formerly Wanamaker’s) in Philadelphia and a holiday organist at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square. He also is director of music and liturgy at St. Rose Catholic Church, North Wales, and dean of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

The program will include organ works by composers J. S. Bach, Theodore Dubois, James Aylward, Richard Strauss (arr. by Max Reger), Cesar Franck, Alec Rowley, Tomasso Albinoni (arr. by Virgil Fox), Jean Langlais, Sir Edward Elgar, Eugene Englert and Kenneth Coy.

Choral selections composed by John Rutter, Robert Elmore and Ralph Vaughan Williams will be presented by the Bryn Athyn Cathedral Choir under the baton of Music Director Christopher Simons.

The four manual quantum Allen organ console boasts a 48-speaker audio system “that gives new meaning to ‘surround sound’ in this beautiful acoustical setting,” said Schnarr. The speakers in the rear of the cathedral’s nave, she said, will be encased in beautiful oak, gothic-style cabinets designed and being built by Steven Hendricks of “Historic Doors” in Kempton, Pa., using the same wood from which the ceiling of the cathedral originally was constructed. Funds for the organ and its installation were donated by members of the Bryn Athyn Church, a congregation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem whose central place of worship is the cathedral.

The Bryn Athyn Cathedral, dedicated in 1919, is a highly acclaimed Gothic and Romanesque style complex known for its stained glass windows. The decorative aspects of the cathedral are governed by distinct symbolism based on the teachings of the New Church, an international Christian faith founded on the teachings of the Bible as illuminated by Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th Century theologian, scientist and philosopher. In addition to the new Allen organ, the cathedral houses a three manual Schlicker pipe organ that was installed in 1974.

For directions to the cathedral, visit www.brynathyncathedral.org or call 267-502-4600.