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The Organ at First United Methodist Church
The Organ in the Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church at 203 South and 200 East dates back to 1906 when the building was originally built. This pipe organ has more of its original components in their original location than any other organ, thus with this distinction, making it the oldest pipe organ in the Intermountain Region (Utah, Nevada, Idaho). The organ originally had 33 ranks of pipes with 18 ranks of those currently playing. The two keyboard organ was built by the George Kilgen and Sons Organ Company of St. Louis, Missouri who also built the Organs at Carnegie Hall and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
Over the years, the organ has gone through some repairs and adjustments. In the 1980’s the original console was replaced with a 3 keyboard console by the Rodgers Organ Company. Additional pipes were installed that had been donated by Deseret Mortuary. A number of electronic sounds were also added along with deactivating some of the sets of organ pipes. Throughout the years the original air blower has operated reliably from the basement of the church.
The Church has had several organists and music directors over the years. Among them was Frank W. Asper from 1923-1937. During this same period of time, Dr. Asper was also an Organist at Temple Square when Dr Alexander Schreiner sat at the great organ of the Tabernacle. Other organists at FUMC have included Leandra Prisk, Ardith Stewart, and Margaret Warrick. In January of 2008, First United Methodist Church hired Ron Richardson as music director and Scott R. Mills as principal organist.
With time, the old is often discarded for the new. However, gratefully, this has not been the case with this wonderful historic instrument. A project is in progress to revive the original sets of pipes, add additional sets of historic Utah pipes, renovate the wind chests and replace the console with a distinctive historic one. With this restoration, the organ will be a singularly unique instrument playing in all of its finest glory for another hundred years continuing the tradition of great music at First United Methodist Church.
Last but not least, we owe a great deal of gratitude to the organ technicians who have taken care of the organ over the many years. Among these technicians are Vincent Gilbert, Mel Dunn, Jack Wear and Bill Hestermann.
Consider making a donation or pledge today, whether it is a quarter a week, a dollar a week or to buy a pipe ($100) or a rank of pipes ($6100).
Please contact us at music@firstmethodistslc.org to make a donation.
We appreciate your wonderful support.
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