About the Instrument

The pipe organ for St. Andrew's Church, designed and build by Quimby Pipe Organs Inc., Warrensburg, Missouri, is a four manual instrument of 65 ranks. It uses Blackinton-style electro-pneumatic slider windchests and electro-pneumatic unit windchests for extended ranks. It contains 3,640 pipes, of which 2,219 were retained from the previous 40-rank Aeolian-Skinner organ opus 1411 and revoiced for the new location.

The new casework for the chancel organ is constructed of oak and contains 34 polished zinc pipes with tin mouths. The pipes in the case are functional and are part of the Great 8' Principal, Pedal 8' Principal and Pedal 16' Principal stops. The antiphonal organ, which was the previous organ's Great division, features the Hooded Tuba stop, which is based on examples of the 19th century English organbuilder Henry Willis I. The Pedal organ contains a full length 32' Contre Bombarde to low GGGG with the remaining seven pipes being half length. These pipes are located in the old organ chamber.

The console for this installation was built with drawknobs, coupler rail and marker plates in the Aeolian-Skinner style to reflect the heritage of the previous installation. The drawknobs and tilting coupler tablets are from Harris Precision Products. The key and stop functions are controlled by Solid State Logic multi-plex relay system with player. The combination action, also by Solid State Logic, has 32 levels of memory, four ensemble pistons, four crescendo settings of which three are programmable by the organist, and a sforzando reversible, which is inclusive of stops drawn and independently adjustable on each memory level.

All new pipes were constructed according to specifications provided by the organbuilder by A. R. Schopp's Sons Inc., and Thomas H. Anderson, former pipe shop foreman at Aeolian-Skinner. Electronics are used for notes 1 through 12 of the 32' Contre Bourdon. John H. Hendriksen, former head flue voicer for Aeolian-Skinner, revoiced the original Aeolian-Skinner pipe work and four new ranks, including the Hooded Tuba, in consultation with the builder. The tonal design of the entire instrument and voicing and scaling procedures of the new chancel Great division were accomplished by the builder.

Members of the Quimby Pipe Organs making significant contributions to the construction of the instrument were Richard Miller, supervision, engineering and head of mechanical instillation; Randy Watkins, pipe racking, windchest wiring, electrical and installation; Larry Lasater, woodworking, case construction and reservoir construction; Chris Emerson, construction, pipe racking and installation; Eric Johnson, electro-pneumatic slider windchest construction and installation; Kevin Kissinger, installation tuning, tonal finishing at the console, console layout and office administration; Michael Miller, woodworking, case construction, finishing and installation; Charles Ford, case design and interior structure; Brad McGuffey, electro-pneumatic slider windchest construction, engineering and installation; Gary Olden, woodworking, case construction and installation; Mark McGuire, corrective revoicing original Aeolian-Skinner reed ranks; Mary Anna Townsend, wiring, pipe racking and installation; Stan Sparrowhawk, leathering of pallet pheumatics for the electro-pneumatic slider windchests; Isabelle Hendriksen, releathering of the four stop Aeolian-Skinner windchest retained from the previous organ's Great division; Michael Quimby, administration, tonal design, tuning and tonal finishing.

About the Builder

Michael Quimby, organbuilder, received a Bachelor of Music Education degree (1973) and a Master of Arts degree in music history and literature with applied emphasis in organ (1975) from Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg. Mr. Quimby is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda national honor society of music and the American Institute of Organ Builders, of which he served as president (1991-1994). Additionally he served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Ethics Committee (1987-1989) for the AIO. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists, having served as dean of the greater Kansas City chapter (1988-1989); the Organ Historical Society; and the American Choral Directors Association.

He is president of Quimby Pipe Organs Inc. His company is a member of Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America (APOBA). It specializes in building new pipe organs for churches, educational institutions, theaters and private homes, as well as restoring and rebuilding older organs. It also has an extensive maintenance and tuning service. Mr. Quimby presently serves as organist at First United Methodist Church, Warrensburg, Missouri.