Trinity Cathedral embarks on fixing organ
Last year, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown San Jose celebrated the expansion and restoration of its bell tower. Now, the congregation has its sights set on a new musical mission: The restoration of the church’s majestic pipe organ, an instrument that’s beginning to show its 124 years.
“What we’re trying to do is restore the organ to the way it was when it was built in 1894,” said Mike Joyce, who is in his sixth year as Trinity’s organist and choirmaster. “It really is a magnificent instrument. It is really, really stunning.”
The instrument was manufactured by famed Massachusetts firm Hook & Hastings for Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, but was moved to the San Jose church in 1922. Over the years, it has been refurbished and added to, but some parts were installed improperly and some have just worn out. Five notes have “died” since Joyce started at Trinity, and he expects more will follow without a restoration.
It also didn’t help that a contractor left the organ’s approximately 3,000 pipes unprotected during the replacement of the
church’s roof several years ago — they were flooded during a rainstorm.
Trinity’s goal for its Pipes & Glory campaign is to raise $325,000 for the restoration, which would allow them to take the pipes out and ship them to a restoration company that would clean them up and rebuild the channels and chests that control the air flow. Some stops will be reconfigured and the machinery will be updated.
Music at Trinity, the nonprofit arm leading the campaign, organized a month-long series of fundraising concerts showcasing the organ. The final concert is at 5 p.m. Sunday, with Joyce on the organ accompanied by brass and percussion musicians. (Tickets are available for $20 through Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.) People can also “sponsor” a pipe for $300 or make a donation of any size to the effort at www.trinitysj.org/pipesandglory.
Joyce says it’s a real pleasure to play the Trinity organ, which he says creates a stately yet mellow sound in the tradition of English organs. At one time, the instrument was “the” organ to play in the South Bay and was sought out by stars of the genre, including Virgil Fox, E. Power Biggs, Alexander Schreiner and Carl Weinrich. Both Joyce and Trinity’s Dean, the Rev. David Bird, said they would like to see the church again become a regular concert venue, as it was in its heyday.
And with more residences being constructed around St. James Park, there’s definitely a possibility for Trinity to make a musical connection with its new neighbors. “One of the things we’re really trying to address is how different this area is going to be in the next few years,” Joyce said. BIRTHDAY BASH » There should be nice weather Saturday as History San Jose celebrates the city’s 241st birthday at two historic sites downtown, the Peralta Adobe and Fallon House. The festivities, which honor San Jose’s Tamien, Spanish and Mexican roots, begin at 11 a.m. with a flag-raising in the courtyard of the San Pedro Square Market.
Live entertainment includes music from the Mission and Rancho periods and a dance performance by Los Lupeños. There will be children’s crafts and activities as well as birthday cake. Tours of the Fallon House, the home of 19th century San Jose Mayor Thomas Fallon, will be offered for $8 ($5 for kids 7 and under and free for History San Jose members).