SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — As the Cathedral of St. Joseph prepares to host another “Christmas at the Cathedral” some behind the scenes changes are creating a buzz for the future. Those in charge of the music at the iconic church are preparing for the arrival of a world class musical instrument. A massive new hand built organ.
It may very well be the most impressive interior space in the region. Walk inside the cathedral of St Joseph and you can’t help being affected, fascinated even dazzled by the beauty.
Add in some music, and the visit becomes an experience. On this visit we are hearing the St Joseph Academy choir
“You are up so high and its like,” said Charlotte Pease age 10.
“Yeah, its kind of you are in a new world,” said William Murray, age 11.
“Its beautiful to see the Cathedral and everything in it like all the saints above,” said Eleanora Heldenbrand, age 11
“Its really cool in the loft because of the acoustics and we get to hear our voice echo” said Lillian Ostermann, age 11.
Lillian is right, the acoustics are incredible, but unfortunately the cathedrals main instrument, is lacking. The current organ is over 30 years old, which isn’t old by pipe organ standards, however there are paper towels and pipe cleaner in some of the pipes to make the organ sound like it should.
After looking into fixing up the old organ they found the cost just could not be justified, so they decided to start from scratch.
And as the old saying goes if you are going to do something do it right.
“This organ will be on par with anything in the world we really mean that , world class., We’ve done research with the organ builders going over to Europe, looking at some historical instruments and this will be built kind of in that old world high craftsman ship tradition. 43:00
Ostermann says the new organ will be built to last centuries not decades
The organ isn’t just an instrument it is part of the architecture of the building.
“You are actually building into the building itself an instrument that is going to inspire music making for generations to come,” said Ostermann.
Father James Morgan says a wide range of people come to the cathedral as a place of worship and they want to give people the experience of being close to God. The combination of the building itself, the organ the children’s choir help accomplish that goal.
“There is this understanding in liturgy and sacred music that choir as you heard today in our children are supposed to be the angels in heaven who are singing to us, and so we copy here in this choir loft, with the organ and the choir who are singing the heavenly liturgy in heaven we copy that here on earth,” said Morgan.
After a nationwide search of the best organ builders father Morgan and Ostermann say they chose Juget-Sinclair based in Montreal, Quebec
The multi million dollar project will begin next year when the organ pieces arrive in September.
Then it will take a few months to assemble. Assistant Music Director Nicole Gerdes says they are beyond excited to hear the first notes.
“The new organ is going to open up a whole world of possibilities for the music we are going to be able to make and the quality we are going to be able to make it at,” said Gerdes.
The church is working on building an endowment to pay for the upkeep of the new organ
“We want people to be able to experience not just the cathedral and even a new organ but in all of that to have an experience of God in their life, that’s the whole point. We call ourselves the beacon of hope here at the cathedral and we hope that when people come here they get a sense of hope and this organ is certainly when they hear it is going to give them a sense of hope,” said Father Morgan.
They hope to have the new organ in place for Christmas at the Cathedral in 2025. By the way tickets for this year’s performance are still available Most shows are sold out, however they have a limited number of tickets remaining for the Thursday and Sunday evening performances. For tickets follow the link below.
https://ccfesd.org/events/christmas-at-the-cathedral
