Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  Colossians 3:16​

History of The Cathedral's Pipe Organ

​As a prerequisite to traveling to Hawaii, Bishop Staley made provision for an organ for the as yet un-built Cathedral. Since that day St. Andrew’s has been the home of significant examples of the King of Instruments. The current organ is primarily an Æolian-Skinner, built in 1961, the largest organ in the State of Hawai‘i and ranked in size amongst the top 50 in the world. Not only is it the ultimate accompaniment to liturgy in the Anglican tradition, it is also the foundation for music outreach into the community and the world, attracting internationally recognized organists for recital and recording opportunities, and accompanying non-liturgical performance.

The organ is a major asset to the musical life of Honolulu.  In addition to cathedral worship, the organ is essential for weddings, concerts by visiting artists and dozens of community groups, and for the worship and traditions of the St. Andrew’s Schools.

Installed in 1961, it is the Cathedral's fourth pipe organ.  It is a four-manual Æolian Skinner organ. The main organ has 4,526 custom-made pipes. Other special features include a half-length 32' Contra Fagotto, a high-pressure Trompette Harmonique, a remote Antiphonal organ in the gallery near the west doors, 120 voices, 148 ranks.

"The Great Organ” Restoration Project Launch January 2024

A Message from the Cathedral Organist and Director of Music

​Dear St. Andrew’s Cathedral ʻohana,
 
As you may have seen in the Cathedral, exciting work has begun on our historic Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ! The Cathedral is fortunate to have Rosales Organ Builders restore our organ to better-than-new condition and provide a new four manual console. Rosales is considered one of the top builders today. Their work includes Trinity Church on Wall Street, St. James Cathedral in Seattle, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, and the iconic Disney Concert Hall organ in Los Angeles. The current restoration project includes releathering the entire organ, replacing the switching electronics and wiring, and replacing two failed pneumatic shutter motors.

Read More

In January and February 2024, large portions of the organ are being removed and will be shipped to California for restoration by specialists. The system of pressurized air that allows wind to blow through the organ pipes relies on thousands of pieces of flexible leather in valves and reservoirs--most of the leather in our organ is over 60 years old, and long overdue for a replacement. Additionally, pipes will be removed and stored while electrical, lighting, and safety modifications are implemented.
 
Later in 2024, a completely new four-manual console will be built to replace our current outdated and malfunctioning console. The largest single portion of the project, the console will account for about 40% of the total project cost.
 
Then, in late 2024 and early 2025, restoration project work will include returning the organ portions that have been shipped to California for renovation, as well as revoicing of existing pipes. While this stage of the organ restoration work does not include new pipe stops, the new console and switching will accommodate future additions.
 
The total project cost is just under $800,000. A 10% deposit has been funded from the organ fund and general operations. A memorial gift is paying for the console portion, and the remaining 50% will need to be raised through grants and gifts from generous donors like you. The restoration project will take over a year, but the organ should be ready to serve another half-century before needing another renovation.
 
Please continue to watch this space for more information about the project and ways that you can get involved!
 
 
Mahalo nui loa,
 
Mark Wong
Cathedral Organist
 
Nicholas Keone Lee
Director of Music

AEOLIAN-SKINNER OPUS 1358 
For most of the 20th century, the Aeolian-Skinner Company of Boston was considered the world’s pre-eminent organ builder. Of the firm’s four remaining instruments in Hawaii, the Cathedral organ is the largest. 

The $88,250 contract to build Opus 1358 was dated August 27, 1957. After 65 years of inflation this would be $963,357. 
In the 1990’s the original console was replaced, and dozens of digital stops were added to enforce the somewhat underpowered pipe organ. 

Several late 1920’s Skinner pipe ranks as well as a large Tuba stop were also added during this period. 
After more than six decades of wear and tear, the organ has became unusable. The Cathedral faced the choice of building a new, smaller organ at a cost of $2.5 to $3 million or restoring the existing instrument. In a lucky coincidence, the Hawaii Theatre is restoring their organ. The two projects have been coordinated to reduce expenses. 

THE ROSALES RESTORATION PROJECT 
The Cathedral is fortunate to have Rosales Organ Company restore our organ to better-than-new condition and provide a new four manual console. Rosales is considered one of the top builders today. Their work includes Trinity Church on Wall Street, St. James Cathedral in Seattle, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, and the iconic Disney Concert Hall organ in Los Angeles. 

Large portions of the organ will be removed in late January 2024 and shipped to California. Pipes will be removed and stored while electrical, lighting, and safety modifications are implemented. 
​
The restoration project will take over a year, but the organ should be ready to serve another half-century before needing another renovation. Once the organ is playable again the Cathedral can evaluate the need to revoice, replace, or augment the pipe work. 

A complex pneumatic system controls the wind that causes pipes to sound. This system relies on thousands of pieces of flexible leather in the valves and reservoirs that admit pressurized air into the pipe chests. After 30 to 40 years the leather needs to be replaced. Most of the leather in Opus 1358 is over 60 years old, and long overdue for a replacement. This will require shipping large portions of the organ to the mainland to be restored by specialists. 

The 1994 console replaced the reliable original wiring with a primitive form of electronic multiplex switching that began to fail within months. The switching is no longer functioning; pressing a note results in a sound less than 1% of the time, and when a pipe sounds it is usually the wrong note or a cacophony of hundreds of pipes. Today’s switching systems use compact digital processors that reliably perform the complex switching using software programs. 

​INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ORGAN 

• ​The Cathedral organ is the largest in the state. Installed in 1961, it is the church’s fourth pipe organ since 1863. Four stops date from 1922 to 1927. While having more pipes and stops than many cathedral organs, it suffers from undersized pipework. Dozens of digital stops were added in the 1990’s to bolster the sound, resulting in an unwieldy console with nearly 200 stop drawknobs. 
• The main chambers are located three stories off the chancel floor, necessitating a scissor lift to remove portions for restoration and storage. 
• There are two additional organ chambers flanking the West Window housing the Antiphonal division and the Tuba Ultima. 
• The organ chambers are normally accessed through the bell tower, a twelve-inch wide slit in the tower wall, and a narrow catwalk. 
• The organ has 79 ranks of pipes, with 32 to 68 pipes per rank, and a total of over 4,000 pipes. There are 32 pipe chests with over 1,200 sets of magnets and leather pouches. 
• Properly maintained organs can last hundreds of years. A few organs in Europe date from the mid-1400s and still have original pipework and windchests. 

​FUNDING THE ORGAN RESTORATION 

​The current restoration project includes releathering the entire organ, replacing the switching electronics and wiring, and replacing two failed pneumatic shutter motors.  A completely new current 4-manual console will be built. The largest single portion of the project, it will account for about 40% of the project total.  The restoration will include revoicing of existing pipes.

While it does not include new pipe stops, the new console and switching will accommodate future additions.  
​The total project cost is just under $800,000. A 10% deposit has been funded from the organ fund and general operations. A memorial gift is paying for the console portion, and the remaining 50% will need to be raised through grants and gifts from generous donors like you.

Give now!

*Designate your gift to the Organ Restoration