St Andrews Episcopal Church

I had the pleasure of listening to the new French organ and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Adult Choir on October 23, 2011.
Purchased from Michael Hart of the Di Gennaro-​Hart Organ Company, the new organ provides the church stunning acoustical results of the nave renovation such as:
* Reverberation lasting more than two and half seconds in the room
* Minimizing the impairing of spoken words
The existing infrastructure was also renovated to support the new organ. These enhancements included:
* Re-​voiced pipework to produce a much fuller /​warmer sound
* Revised stoplist
* Additional stops and related windchests
* Rescaled ranks of pipes
The end result produces a more refined and flexible sound with tonal variety than the former organ.
Along with the choir, Dr. J. Reilly Lewis played the finely tuned instrument as part of the new organ dedication «An Afternoon of French Organ and Choral Music».
Dr. Lewis is the founding conductor of the Washington Bach Consort and the music director of the Cathedral Choral Society. It was quite an honor to see him perform as he is internationally recognized as a conductor and keyboard artist as well as a specialist in baroque music, particularly the music of J. S. Bach.
Dr. J. Reilly Lewis played:
* Allegro (1^st movement) from Symphony No 6, Op 42, No 2
* Cantique de Jean Racine
* Fantaisie No. 1 in E-​flat major
* Mediation from Suite Medievale
* Pastorale, Op. 19
* Tu es Petra et portae inferni non praevalebunt adversus te
* Messe solennelle in ut# mineur (C# minor)
If you would like an opportunity to listen to the choir and new French organ feel free to visit St. Andrew’s during their Holy Eucharist Services on Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10 a. m, Wednesdays at 9:20 a.m., and Saturdays at 6 p.m.