Northminster Church
Monroe, Louisiana
Meta Organworks
Argyle, New York
A Tale of Two Organs
By D.H. Clark
Northminster Church of Monroe, Louisiana, is a theologically progressive, welcoming, and affirming congregation, chartered in 1989. Among its founding members were a skilled choir and its dedicated director, all committed to diverse, excellent music that speaks to our watchword: Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). We have prospered for 35 years under the leadership of gifted pastors like Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, an internationally known, prophetic voice for genuine Christianity and social and racial justice. For much of his 25-year tenure, he was also executive director of the Interfaith Alliance, a D.C.-based advocacy group (InterfaithAlliance.org).
In 1981, after a few years of trying to juggle careers as an ob-gyn and church organist, I decided that having an organ in my home might provide an outlet for my lifelong love for traditional church music and free me from scheduling conflicts—like missing church because a newborn had decided that Sunday morning would be a perfect time to make a grand entrance.
William Gray (1936–2021), an active member of the AGO who also worked for the M.P. Möller company, was a friend of mine. He introduced me to a 15-rank mechanical-action instrument that Möller had built in the late 1970s, a prototype crafted in response to the tracker revival. It is a very successful organ, designed by Don Gillett, who was then tonal director. After I acquired the instrument, John Walker gave the dedicatory recital at my home in 1982. The organ was later moved to a larger house with a “great room,” which proved to be a much better acoustic. Fred Swann played the dedicatory recital on that occasion.
In the meantime, thanks to an understanding group of colleagues (who were willing to cover my medical practice while I played for church), a dearth of local organists, and my nearly obsessive drive to be involved in church music leadership, I accepted fulfilling positions with a couple of congregations.
Toward the end of the 1980s, a philosophical conflict at a local church came to a dramatic head, causing an exodus of many members, including the choir and director of music. Many of those affected were close friends of mine, and I joined them as they met regularly in various homes on Sunday afternoons. At the first meeting, a cassette tape of Harry Emerson Fosdick’s famous sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” was played. Perhaps this was one of the sparks that lit the flame that would become Northminster Church about five months later. For Christmas Eve that year, the choir presented Britten’s Ceremony of Carols—remarkable for a not-yet-born church.
In the early days, the nascent congregation met in our home, making good use of the Möller (with guest organists, since I was employed elsewhere). We later accepted the hospitality of Temple B’Nai Israel, where we met for a few years. When our current meetinghouse was constructed in 1991, the organ was moved to its present location: a lovely, small sanctuary. Fred Swann came a second time to play the third dedicatory recital; John Walker returned a few years later, just to even things up.
Our “mighty Möller” has served us well over the years and will continue to do so, but as many organists will understand, there is a big however! There are limits to what can be played effectively on a two-manual, 13-stop instrument with no swell box, no 8′ Principal, and no reed. (It takes a vivid imagination to attempt a Howells Psalm Prelude, for example.) Sometimes it works, and sometimes it falls flat—but either way, it’s an uphill battle. Having learned that lesson over 40-plus years, I was ready to explore new territory.
I had followed the progress of pipe-sampling technology over the years, and I was intrigued by the development of the software sound engine known as Hauptwerk (now available in a nicely refined eighth version). Key to the platform’s success are audio engineers like Jiri Zurek at Sonus Paradisi (SonusParadisi.cz), who provide Hauptwerk’s sound engine with a mind-blowing amount of content in the form of fully sampled pipe organs. The smart and brave people around the world who advance the art of making pipe samples are unsung heroes of the organ world, as the dissemination of these sample sets means new life for great works of art. Think of the millions of people who are introduced to the Mona Lisa through reproductions, as opposed to the much smaller number who get to view the masterpiece in person.
These sample sets allow organists and audiences to experience great organs from around the world virtually, without the time and expense of travel. Of course, it is wonderful to visit destination pipe organs when possible, but access to this technology will increase excitement and knowledge throughout the pipe organ community and beyond. It certainly has for me.
As I began to envision a virtual instrument as a foil to the chamber organ in our sanctuary, our congregation began the search for a reputable builder, which led us to Meta Organworks in Argyle, New York. I direct you to their website (MetaOrganworks.com) to read the full story of how Daniel Lemieux, an Eastman-trained organist and builder of real pipe organs, came to embrace the Hauptwerk platform.
The more that Dan and I conversed and exchanged emails, the more impressed I became with his expertise on the best ways to surround Hauptwerk with real console hardware and a dedicated multichannel live-audio sound system. Having seen examples of his work, namely the four-manual installation at Groton Hill Music Center (TAO Cover Feature, August 2023), I was impressed with his concepts, as well as the firm’s hardware innovations and woodworking.
After contracting our three-manual instrument, I visited Dan and his fiancée, Melissa Burbank, at their workshop in New York—a 2,500-square-foot organbuilder’s paradise. This visit confirmed the intuition that we, as a church, had made the right decision.
Thanks to Jim Hutchison, a professional designer with half a century of rubber-meets-the-road experience, Meta Organworks utilizes 3D solid model CAD to create sophisticated new console designs. Dan and Jim’s synergy is obvious: one knows where to go, and the other knows how to get there. Their collaboration over the last four years represents a new path forward for the organ console, which in the future will include the capability of driving real pipe organs with a Meta console.
The system is easy enough to understand. A standard (but well-appointed) computer supports the Hauptwerk sound engine. Hauptwerk receives console input from MIDI circuit boards and outputs audio to an interface for digital-to-analog conversion. This signal is then sent to the amps and speakers.
Meta uses only professional-grade equipment. Elo touchscreens display the stop/coupler arrays in a satisfying digital replica of the original layouts. The combination system, which represents five years of research and development by Dan and Randy Steere (a consultant specializing in Hauptwerk), features three LCD screens with corresponding pistons for sample sets, combination levels, and sequencer. With joinery inspired by the American Arts and Crafts movement (think Stickley, Roycroft, and Limbert), the cabinetry is of Northeastern red oak, with Meta’s signature dark, fiery red stain under five hand-rubbed coats of satin polyurethane. The bench revives the decorative arts with a spotted-pipe-metal inlay featuring the Meta infinity logo and the Latin motto Per aures ad animum (“Through the ears to the soul”) under a clear epoxy pour; there is also a decorative steel heel-rest. The manuals have ebony naturals and cherry sharps.
Due to Dan’s skilled voicing work, the organ’s sample sets sound natural in our room. While headphones will give the impression that you’re listening to a well-made recording of the actual organ, the speaker-based delivery system produces a sound that may seem “rounded out” to keen listeners. Is the sound lush and beautiful? Yes. Does it help you make music with ease? Yes. Is it inspiring? Yes. Think impressionism: beautiful in a different way than realism (i.e., real pipes). I’m happy to have the full box of paints and brushes, and you can imagine how easy it is to get excited about Romantic and post-Romantic music at Northminster these days.
On principle, is the tracker better? That argument could certainly be made, and the instrument is an old friend that we’d never abandon. We love our Möller pipe organ for what it has to offer—a mechanical key action, percussive chiff, and a great Handel concerto now and then—but with our virtual pipe organ we now have something that can accompany that Handel concerto, play transcriptions, or deliver Howells and Franck with the right registrations. We now have the best of both worlds. As a player, I find this versatility gratifying—and so inspiring when I put on my composer hat. Having the two instruments may seem a bit ostentatious for our modest building, but together they have enhanced our worship services and concerts so much more than we could have dreamed of when we first began to ponder these possibilities.
So come down to visit us and see it in person. Or hear us in action at northmin.org/music.
D.H. Clark is organist and musician in residence at Northminster Church, Monroe, La.
