Music
The music ministry of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church supports and enhances the worship experience by sharing Christ’s love through music.
St. Alban’s Choir
The St. Alban’s Choir, a volunteer ensemble, provides musical leadership for the worship service each Sunday and for special liturgies throughout the year. With a focus on the music of the Anglican tradition, the repertoire of the St. Alban’s Choir spans many centuries including the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods as well as music from our rich American spiritual tradition and contemporary 20th and 21st century liturgical compositions. In addition to leading the singing of congregational hymns and service music, the St. Alban’s Choir sings an offertory anthem and frequently an introit or communion anthem each Sunday. Rehearsal is held on Wednesday evening, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m. throughout the program year (mid-August through June). Sunday morning warm-up begins at 9:30 a.m. Membership in the St. Alban’s Choir is open to all adult parishioners and members of the wider community. No previous choral experience is necessary. Please contact Dottie Norman, Director of Music at dottie@stalbansaustin.org for more information.
St. Alban’s Handbell Choir
In May of 2015, St. Alban’s expanded its music ministry to include a Handbell Choir through the generosity of an anonymous donor who funded the purchase of four octaves of handbells. This ensemble provides special music for services approximately once a month and on high feast days from September through May. Most people have some music background such as piano, band, or orchestra, but are not necessarily singers. The St. Alban’s Handbell Choir provides an opportunity for such music-loving people to offer beautiful music to enhance our worship services despite their age or vocal prowess. The ability to read either treble or base clef music is the only prerequisite for participating in the Handbell Choir. Rehearsal is held at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays during the school year.
The St. Alban’s Handbell Choir is a fun multi-generational group. Please contact Dottie Norman, Director of Music, at dottie@stalbansaustin.org for more information.
Our Piano and Pipe Organ
The lovely Kohler & Campbell grand piano in St. Alban’s nave was generously donated by our long-time music patron, Bev Drawe. It was dedicated in honor of her mother, Lenora Wedemeyer Drawe, who was active her entire life in the music program of her local Baptist church. With a gleam in her eye, Bev shared that her father commented that her piano lessons were the worst investment he had ever made and suggested that she should return to riding her horses and skip the piano lessons! Despite this, the love of music remains engrained in her heart. St. Alban’s has indeed been blessed by Bev’s generosity in support of all our music programs. Our Casavant organ, Op. 3454, has been a labor of love. When Dottie Norman first experienced St. Alban’s acoustics and saw the empty organ loft, she had a dream that someday a pipe organ would enhance worship at St. Alban’s. That dream was realized through the generous donations of parishioners, Bev Drawe, Jerry Staub, and Betty Staub. Additional contributions to the organ project were received from music patrons, both within and outside the parish.
The organ was originally built by the Canadian organ firm, Casavant Frères, and was installed in the Immanuel Lutheran Church of St. Clair, Michigan in 1979. Its relocation and installation at St. Alban’s was begun in the fall of 2014 and completed in the fall of 2016.
A three-phase organ project was conceived in collaboration with organ builders, Gary Loper of Loper Pipe Organ Service Company and Timothy Patterson of Associated Organ Builders. Mr. Loper served as the initial consultant, facilitated the purchase of the organ, and initiated its installation. Mr. Patterson competed Phases I – III of the project, which included refurbishing parts of the organ, rewiring the console and wind chests, modifying the winding, adding several new stops, re-voicing several ranks of pipes, installing the combination action control system, and restoring the façade.
Acquisition of the antique organ façade was a serendipitous opportunity for St. Alban’s (with perhaps some divine intervention) and a chance to preserve a lovely historical gem. The Victorian façade features a carved oak base and super structure and thirty-one gilded pipes. It graced the balcony of the St. Mauritius Catholic Church of Ashland, Pennsylvania for over 100 years. Due to demographic changes in that rural community, the St. Mauritius parish merged with a nearby parish. When the 115-year-old church building was demolished in 2015, Tom Hughes, an architecture professor, “rescued” the organ façade with the hope that it would find a new home where it would be appreciated for generations to come. St. Alban’s is pleased to be that new home.
Organ Specifications:
GRAND ORGUE (9 Tabs, 5 Stops, 7 Ranks) Montre 8′, Flûte à cheminée 8′, Prestant 4′Doublette 2′ (from Récit), Fourniture IV, Chimes, Récit to Grand Orgue 16′, Récit to Grand Orgue 8′, Grand Orgue to Grand Orgue 4′
RÉCITEXPRESSIF (13 Tabs, 10 Stops, 10 Ranks) Bourdon 8′, Viole de Gambe 8′, Voix Celeste 8′ (t.c.), Flute Conique 4′, Nazard 2-2/3′, Doublette 2′, Tierce 1-3/5′, Larigot 1-1/3′ (derived), Trompette 8′, Zimbel III, Tremblant, Récit to Récit 4′
PEDALE (11Tabs, 6 Stops, 3 Ranks), Basse Acoustique 32′ (derived), Soubasse 16′, Octave Basse 8′, Flûte à cheminée 8′ (GO), Octave 4′ (GO)
Fagott 16′, Grand Orgue to Pedale 8′, Récit to Pedale 8′, Récit to Pedale 4′
MIDI (3 Tabs) Pedale MIDI Out Chan 2, G.O. MIDI Out Chan 1, Récit MIDI Out Chan 3
DISPOSITION (36 Tabs, 21 Stops, 20 Ranks)
Combination action control system includes ninety-nine levels of combination action memory
Thumb piston count: six Récit, six GO, ten Generals, Transpose UP,Transpose DN, General Cancel, memory level UP, memory level DN, Tutti(full organ), Sequencer UP, Sequencer DN, and SET
Toe piston count: four Pedale combination action, Tutti, Sequencer UP, Grand Orgue to Pedale reversible, and Zimbelstern