The Schoenstein & Co. Organ

Music is integral to life and worship at St. Alban’s. At the very heart of this is our organ, built in 2021 as Opus 180, by the San Francisco firm of Schoenstein & Co. – one of the finest organ builders in the world.

The three manual, 27 stop instrument was designed in the Anglican tradition with the primary goal of accompany the congregation and the choirs with expressivity and elegance with a wealth of 8-foot tone and colourful solo stops. 

The Schoenstein organ case is based upon an historic design for the famous 1912 Harrison & Harrison organ at St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, England, and blends seamlessly with the existing church.

Jack Bethards, President and Tonal Director of Schoenstein & Co. has the following to say about the design of the organ:
The organ we have designed for St. Alban’s is just the right size for the building and contains all of the elements necessary for successful choir accompaniment, congregational support, and special music programs. The organ has a large number of 8′ stops. These are the stops in the piano range and carry the bulk of the responsibility for tonal grandeur and variety in accompaniment quality. There is a good deal of profound deep pedal bass including an open 16′ stop of wood. Subtle high-pitched stops add brilliance. There’s a full complement of reed pipes of the brass and woodwind families as well as beautiful flutes and string-like sounds. A small division of pipes is located in the gallery for support of congregational singing and for the accompaniment of small ensembles. The visual aspect of a pipe organ is important also and our attempt is to make it look as though the instrument was designed in cooperation with the building’s architect to be an integral part of its design.
 
We see working at St. Alban’s to be a very special privilege. It is a vital and growing Parish with a serious dedication to good liturgy and traditional Anglican music presented by a first-class music program, all within a charming, picturesque English-style village church. What more could an organ builder ask?
The specification for the organ can be found here.

The console layout for the organ can be found here.