The Organ

The organ at Pine Street Presbyterian Church was originally designed and installed in 1926 by the Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts as a part of the rebuilding of the church under the direction of architect Ralph Adams Cram of Boston. It was originally scheduled for installation in an area above the choir loft, but for unknown reasons, the location was changed to two shallow chambers on either side of the loft, providing a much better location in all respects. At the time, Skinner was the premier organ builder in the United States.

This instrument served virtually unchanged until 1963 when it was rebuilt and enlarged by the M.P. Möller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. During this rebuild the best of the Skinner pipework and virtually all of the original chestwork were saved, renewed and reinstalled in what was a mostly new instrument. Of particular importance was the retention of the Solo Organ with its magnificent State Trumpet and colorful solo strings and French Horn. The Principal, Mixtures and much of the flue work were new, as were the (Sw)ell Reeds, which are a wonderful example of the work of Adolph Zajick, Möller's legendary chief reed voicer.

In the late 1980's the organ again needed repairs and again the Möller Company, this time under the direction of Tonal Director Daniel Angerstein, was called upon to restore, upgrade and enlarge the organ. From this rebuild came the installation of the Nave Organ which speaks from the two grilles surrounding the Choir Loft window and the dazzling Trompette-en-Chamade on the West wall of the church. This work was carefully guided by then organist, Donald L. Clapper whose diligence paid off in what is surely one of the finest instruments in Central Pennsylvania and one of the best installations of the Möller Company. The new organ was dedicated in 1991. This work was made possible by the Million for Ministry campaign which also provided significant changes to the building including the new Gathering Place directly behind the Chancel, and the Chapel area in the South transept.

In 2000, the 32 foot stops, retained from the 1963 rebuild, were in need of replacement. This was accomplished by the Walker Technical firm of Zionsville, Pennsylvania with state of the art digitally sampled voices which give the needed underpinning to the organ in this large space. This final work on the instrument was made possible by a generous gift from the estate of Albert Herbert.

List of Organ Stops

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