Concert will highlight the expansion of pipe organ at St. Matthew Lutheran Church
A celebration of music heritage
Gary Ritter plays at the new electric organ console installed as part of the existing pipe organ at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Washougal. The community is invited to a celebration on Sunday, when Portland organist Bill Crane will perform. Ritter and Ian Guthrie are the regular accompanists for the congregation during Sunday church services. Heather Acheson
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Thirty-five years ago, Gary Ritter helped design the first pipe organ installed at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Washougal. And today, as one of the church organists, he is celebrating the expansion of that instrument into one that can now produce rich, complex tones.
"It's a wonderful way for us to have so much more capability," Ritter said. "This church really has a history of honoring the musical heritage of the Lutheran church, so it was important to them to have a good speaking instrument."
The new installation consists of a Dutch built Johannus electronic organ connected to the existing pipes to produce a hybrid instrument of greater scope than before, Ritter explained. Pipes and speakers combine to add strength to each component's qualities, the strength and beauty of the pipes and the greater tonal resources of a large instrument.
"One of the things that is the beauty of an instrument like this is that it can do a lot of the things a traditional organ would never have been able to do," he said.
