August 5,, 2019
Here at Whitesel Church Organs, we’re extremely excited to announce our 1,300th pipe organ contract! Today, we’ll be discussing this new pipe organ installation which is taking place in the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Client
This client is especially exciting, considering the fact that their church is brand new. In fact, it’s so new that it’s still under construction. The space will be the perfect home for one of our amazing, uniquely designed pipe organs as it will house a parish and myriad musical performances after its completion.
In addition to the parish and its musical activities, St. Thomas Aquinas will be housed at the edge of the University of Virginia’s campus, which means that the church will also serve as a performance venue for choirs, string and woodwind ensembles, and other musical performances. With a Whitesel Organ in tow, St. Thomas Aquinas will be the perfect place for musical expression in Charlottesville.
The Organ
The organ we’re developing for St. Thomas Aquinas is a custom hybrid organ that has been engineered to fit the space both sonically and aesthetically. The tonal design of this organ has been meticulously optimized to serve both the liturgical and musical needs of the space.
This organ is a hybrid, as it will feature a variety of physical pipes as well as digital organ voices that are exclusively available via Viscount Organ’s latest Physis® Physical Modeling Technology. We’ve selected both the pipes and digital organ voices to suit the acoustics of the church and create an ‘All American’ Sound.
In regard to the console, we are fabricating a gorgeous, solid oak console that embodies the French curved terrace design. It will feature a hydraulic adjustable bench to accommodate any and all organ players, and the overall design will allow the organist behind the manuals to observe the entire space.
Additionally, we’ve styled the accents of the console to match the shrine which will be located in St. Thomas Aquinas’ chapel.
Whitesel Church Organs
Keep tabs on our blog to stay updated with our organ development and installation project at St. Thomas Aquinas in Charlottesville, Virginia. We will continue to release updates and details as we progress through this amazing project.
If you’re interested in an organ project, be it a design and installation, update, or repair, Whitesel Church Organs in the first and only call you need to make. We specialize in providing the world with elite, top-of-the-line pipe and digitally voiced organs.
No job is too big or too small — so give us a call!