Music
Our Organ
The first organ at St David’s was custom built using parts assembled from older pipe organs by then organist-choirmaster Fulton Lewis, Jr. The organ served the parish for about 40 years before it was in need of a complete mechanical rebuild in the 1990s. At the time, the parish elected to install an electronic organ instead of an expensive rebuilding of the pipe organ. Unfortunately, very few details on this original organ survive.
A used Allen organ was installed in the 1990s and it served for about 15 years before it was replaced by an Ahlborn-Galanti organ in 2010 which was purchased from a church in New York City. Both instruments were financed through the generous donations of parishoners. In the early 2020s it became evident that the Ahlborn organ was also beginning to show its age. The instrument was approaching 25 years of service, its keyboards were badly worn with dead notes, and the speakers and other electronics were beginning to fail. At the same time, longtime parishioner Bruce Whelihan became interested in making a significant donation to the church and to its music program specifically.
In 2022 Mr. Whelihan made a significant gift to fund the purchase of a brand new organ. Working with Organist-Choirmaster Robert Church, a new instrument was designed and built by Walker Technical Company. This new instrument was installed in the fall of 2023 and it is the first brand new organ, specially built for this church, to have been installed in the sanctuary. This new instrument will serve the parish for decades to come and has already made a significant impact on the musical life of the parish.