If you asked the average man or woman in the street, what are the odds that they would know what a pipe organ is? Not likely, I would guess, and I can’t count the number of people who walked into the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and exclaimed to me, “That’s a really big PIANO!” (Uh, no, that’s an organ.)

So whenever news of a pipe organ hits the mainstream news I get really excited.

Today, the Flentrop organ at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, was in the spotlight in a story in the Seattle Times called “Music and medicine at work at Saint Mark’s vaccine clinic.” While people were being vaccinated downstairs in the nave of the huge cathedral, there was organ music being played on the 1965 Flentrop organ. In January, we heard a similar story about people being vaccinated in Salisbury Cathedral, England, with the accompaniment of organ music: “Organ music and the vaccine.”

Bettina Hansen wrote:

As soothing tones resonated from the organ above, sunlight streamed in massive windows and people trickled into the cathedral nave. 

One coronavirus vaccine clinic in Seattle has ambience you won’t find at your local drugstore. Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, has been the site of more than a thousand shots in arms so far.

Music floated out of the 1965 Flentrop organ, played by associate organist John Stuntebeck, out of sight to those below. He brought a wide selection to play, including some Mozart church sonatas. “They are so fun and light, and people really like them,“ he said. Many of the same songs he has earmarked to play at weddings when the bride is running late.

I can’t but help remember that the St. Mark’s Flentrop organ is part of Peter Hallock’s legacy—our former business partner who was responsible for many innovations in organbuilding, liturgy, and church music. From the Compline Choir website, you will read “He also fought successfully for installation of the Flentrop tracker-action organ at the cathedral, making Saint Mark’s the first Episcopal cathedral to have such an instrument.”

Closer to home, The Garden Island newspaper highlighted the new Rosales organ at All Saints Church, in Kapa’a, on the island of Kaua’i. The dedication of the instrument is scheduled for Sunday, May 16th at 2:00 pm, HST and will be played by Adam Pajan. The concert will be livestreamed from the church’s website homepage at 2pm Hawaii Standard Time, May 16, 2021. AllSaintsKauai.org. The program will feature works by Dupré, Callahan, Howells, Bach, Peeters, Gershwin, and Widor.

Here are some pictures of the organ taken by Kevin R. Cartwright. The beautiful façade pipes were manufactured by Jacques Stinkens Orgelpijpenmakers in Zeist, Netherlands, as specified by Manual Rosales when Opus 41 was under construction.

I had actually bought an airline ticket to Kauai a couple of years ago in order to attend this concert, but then had to cancel when the organ wasn’t ready. Then the pandemic hit which further delayed the installation. Now, finally, the organ is a reality, and I can watch the livestream! I’ll actually be flying over on May 18th to give a lesson to the church organist, Henry Adams Curtis. (A new ruling by the Governor allows fully-vaccinated residents to fly inter-island without quarantining or a coronavirus test.)

Congratulations, All Saints!