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The Organs at Trinity Church: A Brief History
1876: The original
organ at Trinity was built by Hilborne L. Roosevelt in 1876, his Opus 29. It had
mechanical action, assisted by Barker levers on all divisions and an electrically
controlled Echo division, but its location in the chancel proved unsatisfactory,
and the organ was moved to the gallery. 1903: Hutchings-Votey built
a new instrument for the chancel in 1903 and made both organs playable from a
single console. 1924: Ernest M. Skinner undertook a rebuilding project,
Opus 479, involving changes to both the Roosevelt and Hutchings-Votey instruments,
but by 1926 it had expanded to Opus 573 as a virtually new organ in the gallery,
as well as a new chancel console. 1956: Aeolian-Skinner provided
a new console in 1956 and, in 1960, installed a new chancel organ. 1962:
The gallery organ was extensively rebuilt, and major tonal modifications were
made by Jason McKown, who maintained the organs for many years. 1987:
Jack Steinkampf installed a rank of horizontal trumpet pipes under the west gallery
window. Late 1990s: In conjunction with the parish's building campaign,
a plan was set out with Foley-Baker, Inc., for the cleaning and refurbishment
of both organs and their joint console. This work is ongoing. To date, most of
the gallery organ has been cleaned and refurbished, and the console has been updated
with digital systems. Planning is underway for the cleaning and renewal of the
chancel organ. | 
