Organ

2026 of course marks the centennial of the Irvine Memorial Chapel. One of the many improvements made to the Chapel in the runup to the celebration was the renovation of the pipe organ with a complete overhaul of the intricate instrument. Beginning in summer 2025, the renovations took nearly a year to complete, with the entire instrument being absent from Chapel ceremonies and occasions for all of the 2025-2026 school year. 

The funding for the project came from Nicholas Taubman ’53, former Chair of the Board of Regents and former United States Ambassador to Romania. According to Chief Advancement Officer John Richardson, “Mr. Taubman was in the Chapel for his 70th reunion about three years ago and said to Mr. McDowell that if there was ever a situation where we needed to make repairs to the organ to reach out to him.”

Multiple contractors overseen by pipe organ manufacturer Lewis and Hitchcock participated in the redesign and reconstruction of the instrument. “It was about an 8 to 11 month process, so [the work] started about this time last year,” said Richardson.

Though the repair began only recently, the need for the work dated back several years when the organ started falling into disrepair. 

“See, this organ, like the Chapel, is 100 years old,” said school organist and carillonneur Jim Brinson. “I remember one time before Baccalaureate, a whole section of the organ died. We had to do some emergency repairs just to get the organ playing again.”

According to Brinson, every pipe was cleaned and returned. “The organ contains about 4,000 pipes, it’s quite a machine, but you just think they took everything out,” Brinson said. “When they tune the organ, they have to go pipe by pipe by pipe and tune it,” he added. 

Beyond replacing the aging mechanical components within the machine, the reconstruction also restored parts that had fallen silent. Furthermore, a forgotten rank of sixty-one pipes stored in the Chapel basement was incorporated into the instrument.  “It used to have a lot of notes that wouldn’t play,” Brinson said. “Now everything plays.” 

The organ received a new console, keyboards, and pedalboard, but the century-old instrument retains its character, fulfilling Taubman’s wish to leave it as original as possible. 

The renovation revived a sound that has been entirely absent from Chapel life for the previous school year. While the piano took the organ’s place, Brinson noted that the two instruments have totally different characteristics in so great a space. “The piano doesn’t have the same volume as the organ,” he remarked. “So to lead 600 people singing the Alma Mater, it’s hard with the piano.”

While new students from both this and the previous year had not had the pleasure of hearing the organ, returning students eagerly anticipated its return. “The organ was a special part of Chapel meetings in my freshman year, and now I’m a junior,” said Lam Nguyen ’28. “It was painful to see it absent. It truly brings joy to anybody who sits in the Chapel and listens to that wonderful instrument, a work of art.”  

For Brinson, however, the organ is much more than its volume or complexity or a background for school meetings. It accompanies some of Mercersburg’s richest traditions such as Convocation, the Christmas Candlelight Service, and Baccalaureate. 

“Every time I play, it’s special,” he said. “Even if it’s just playing the Alma Mater so we can sing, it’s special.”