The Casavant Organ at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church
The Casavant Organ, Opus 3861 was installed in the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church sanctuary in the spring of 2007. It is a three manual, 37-stop, 45-rank organ leaning toward the English Romantic aesthetics, with a colorful tonal palette, generous fundamental tone, and darker reed stops. Of note is the Tuba Mirabilis, which is the most commanding stop of the organ. Tonally the instrument has been designed to address the multifaceted requirements of an active music ministry encompassing congregational signing, choral and instrumental accompaniment, and the performance of the organ literature. Installed in the chancel, in close proximity to the choirs, the organ occupies the best position for a musical instrument in the church. The chancel ceiling creates an excellent reflective shell for the choirs and organ to literally “bloom” into the sanctuary. The elegant organ case was designed and made in the Casavant workshops. The visible pipes are of polished tin.
In 2020, we engaged in a three-part process of long-term care and improvement to the instrument, which included updates to the organ’s digital control systems, tonal refinishing of some pipework, and the addition of several digitally-generated pedal stops to fill out parts of the specification that had been omitted due to limitations of space in the organ chambers.
The organ was made possible through the generous support of the Cooley family, and the inscription on the organ reads: In Memory of Fred Elizar Cooley, (1901-1970).