Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Hicksville, NY

 

1946 Kilgen

Opus # ??

II/12

Stoplist

Exterior     Interior     Console     Organ

The pipe organ at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Hicksville is a 1946 vintage Kilgen, a fine example of high quality craftsmanship in American pipe organ building. By 1999, more than 50 years old, the organ needed restoration and updating. As opposed to an electronic organ, where the whole instrument would be junked, a pipe organ retains most of its value and can be rebuilt for substantially less than the cost of a new organ.        In this instrument, restoration included the re-leathering of the chests, reservoirs, primaries, secondaries and wooden pipe stoppers. Also, any leaking ductwork was sealed. All pipework, chests, including toe and rack boards, reservoirs and both organ chambers were completely and thoroughly cleaned.        We updated the electrical system first with a new power supply. A new, Peterson solid-state keying system and combination action were both installed as well. These updates ensured that the pipe organ will be reliable and also greatly increased its' flexibility.        The church nearly chose an electronic imitation to replace this beautiful instrument, and they are extremely thankful now that they chose Elsener Organ Works to restore their pipe organ instead. As they said at the rededication concert, "without JoEllen Elsener and her true labor of love, you may be sure the Kilgen pipe organ would be silent today."