Headline: Restoration revives 19th-century organ at Methodist church.

Byline: By Frederick Kaimann, staff writer
The Home News Tribune, Saturday, November 14, 1998 issue

Article:

The last unaltered 19^th century organ in a New Brunswick church will be rededicated with a concert this afternoon.  Just after celebrating the centennial of its building, the United Methodist Church of New Brunswick has spent $60,000 to restore its 1,450-pipe 1896 Jardine organ.  “It’s the only instrument from the 19^th century left in New Brunswick,” said Mark Trautman, the guest organist who will play the concert with choirs from Mount  Zion AME Church in New Brunswick and Trenton’s African United Methodist Church, a Liberian congregation. “It’s one of the few left that hasn’t been really changed a lot,” said Trautman, director of music at nearby Christ Church.  “It’s a real period piece.”

Two years ago Trautman evaluated the decrepit instrument for the church.  “It was in horrendous shape,” he said.  “It was almost unplayable.”  The church got estimates of $500,000 for a new organ.  “Because of the historical nature of the instrument, it was certainly worth preserving rather than getting rid of it,” said the Rev. Dr. Sydney Sadio, pastor.  An interracial church with many members from West Africa, the church uses a variety of bells and African drums during services.  “The organ is the mainstay of the music for our worship,” Sadio added.

The church was built in 1876 on the corner of George and Liberty streets.  A tower, school addition and organ were added in 1896.  The American-made instrument cost $4,250 in 1896.  The church dedicated as First Methodist, merged in 1961 with St. James and Pitman Methodist churches to become the United Methodist Church at New Brunswick, meeting in the First Methodist building. 

Over the years, the organ had fallen on hard times.  “It was kind of repaired with orange sticks and strings,” said Herman Carr, an unofficial church historian and a member since 1952.  “It was very clear that the organ has potential to be restored to greatness.  When I first came, there was one gentleman who was capable of repairing it.  In a morning service, some key would get stuck, they couldn’t turn it off and it would make a very loud noise long after the organist wanted it to.  As time went on, there would be more and more of the tones that would get stuck.  There were major musical problems.”

“The wind chambers were the big problem,” said Steve Zahorbenski, chairman of the restoration committee.  “We weren’t getting full sound.  We were getting a lot of wheezing.”  The action of the keyboard was also sluggish.  “You really had to pound the keys to get any response,” he said.  The $60,000 restoration bought new wind chambers, a mechanical-action overhaul, reworked pipes and a cleaning of everything from the console to the exposed pipes.  “A hundred years of dust and paint chips removed,” Zahorbenski said.  “It’s actually in tune for the first time in 40 or 50 years. …It’s a major improvement.”