Seeking Part-Time Organist
Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Ave Seattle, WA 98104
206-624-5337
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Trinity Parish Church seeks a part-time organist to play for 10:30 am Sunday worship and seasonal services, and accompany the choir on Thursday evenings from 7:15 pm-8:45 pm. The organist will work with Trinity’s Choir Director Markdavin Obenza and the Rector Rev’d Sabeth Fitzgibbons to prepare anthems for services, accompany hymns for congregational singing, and provide preludes, postludes, and musical interludes to enhance worship. The ideal candidate is comfortable with improvisation and able to use those skills to bring excitement to the hymns, particularly in the final verses. Familiarity with Episcopal worship is desirable.
Trinity Parish Church (est. 1865) is an open and affirming congregation located in downtown Seattle. Music for worship features traditional Episcopal church music with hymns from the Hymnal 1982, supplemented with Wonder, Love, and Praise and Lift Every Voice and Sing hymnals. The Trinity Choir is made up of 25-30 experienced singers that prepare a variety of traditional sacred music for service including Renaissance polyphony, early 20th century British anthems, and Shaker and Shape Note music. Trinity’s All Souls Memorial Organ, built by Seattle builder Rene Marceau and Associates, is a three manual instrument containing over 3,000 pipes. Trinity also has a grand piano.
The position is 0.25 FTE, $20,800 annually, with 4 weeks paid vacation and no additional benefits. Application Deadline: Open until filled.
Send cover letter and resume to Rev’d Sabeth Fitzgibbons sabeth@trinityseattle.org and Markdavin Obenza markdavin@trinityseattle.org.
ALL SOULS MEMORIAL ORGAN
Trinity Parish is home to one of the finest organs in the city. Built by Seattle builder Rene Marceau and Associates, the three manual instrument contains over 3,000 pipes and plays a central role in our worship and concert life.
The original organ was built by W.W. Kimball of Chicago in 1905. It had 3 manuals and pedal with tubular pneumatic action. The Kimball console was attached to the case work below the first section of the facade. The contrasting woodwork that filled in the space can still be seen. The organ had 29 ranks and about 1,673 pipes.
The Kimball organ was electrified and alterations were made in 1945 by Charles W. Allen. A new electric console was positioned on the opposite side of the chancel. Several tonal alterations were made to all three manuals in 1945. Balcom & Vaughan made further additions in 1949, bringing the organ’s three manuals to 30 stops and 30 ranks.
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The organ was entirely renovated in 1978 by Balcom & Vaughan as their Opus 837. This included a new layout, new windchests, windsystem, and a completely new tonal and visual design. Great and Positiv chests were cantilevered forward out of the two archways in the chancel with a brown grill cloth behind. The console installed by C.W. Allen was retained and updated. Of the 32 ranks seven original Kimball ranks made their way to the Pedal and only two ranks added during 1945 remained in the manuals. The rest of the pipework was entirely new.
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Marceau & Associates first became involved with the instrument in 1987 by building a new terraced console to replace the failing and rebuilt C.W. Allen console. Marceau discovered that the B&V chests used an ill-fated leather substitute in the actions. As the chests became unreliable a new layout, new tonal concept, as well as new slider and pallet windchests and expression enclosures, were constructed by Marceau in 1995. The new design also included a facade of polished zinc and tin pipes of the Great, Pedal, and Positive 8' and 4' principals that paid homage to the original Kimball while adding a few more elements of visual interest. The revised design is much more at home with the architectural features and shapes of the historic sanctuary then the exposed design from the 1970s.
The church was closed for several years following the Nisqually earthquake of 2001. Fortunately, the organ was not significantly damaged. In 2005, Trinity was able to continue planned expansion of the instrument: selected used pipework from Marceau’s
inventory and re-purposed pipework of the previous instruments created the present instrument of 41 stops, 56 ranks, and 3,115 pipes. In 2012 the Haskell 16' open wood of the Pedal, damaged from exposure to the elements during post-earthquake reconstruction, was replaced with a metal Principal that also plays on the Great.
Marceau and Associates continues to maintain the instrument.
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