Silent night, wonderful sound: A church's brand new organ has a digital edge
Years of fundraising allowed congregation to purchase $140K organ
A cathedral in Corner Brook renowned for its stunning wooden architecture is embracing the digital age — not in its appearance, but in its sound.
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist recently purchased a $140,000 state-of-the-art organ, largely paid for by years of fundraising from the congregation.
"It's been a long time coming. It means a lot to the whole congregation," Catherine Short, the church's dean and rector, told CBC News in a recent interview.
"Music just brings a wholeness and a fullness to our worship as Anglicans...As the psalms are sung as as the music is played and the choral scholars take part, it just fulfils all that is meant to fulfil."
Doreen Klassen has been playing the church's organ since 1960, and said she was initially blown away by the technology.
The new organ's sound fills the air of the cathedral, including — at this time of year — Christmas hymns like Silent Night.
Klassen still learning the ropes, but is particularly amazed by the organ's Raspberry Pi, a British-developed computer system that has been used in many places, from schools to the International Space Station.
"I saw the organ and I said, 'Oh my goodness, what am I going to do with this? And I said 'You're going to make it sound as good as possible," she said.
"We can really say that our organ is out of this world."
See — and hear — the new organ in the video above.
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With files from Leila Beaudoin