Mount Academy Chapel, Esopus, NY
Möller Op. 9218

Brief History of Chapel Organ
Joel Thomson Sept. 2015 from notes dated 1990 by Fr. Frederick Brinkmann

The organ was built by Tellers-Kent Company of Erie PA in the years 1913-16. It was a modestly sized instrument, with 17 sets of pipes (stops). It had at least one major refurbishment, probably sometime mid-century. In 1977-80 a proposal was submitted to totally overhaul it, move it downstairs, and bring it up to current Catholic musical standards, at a cost of $40-$60,000. That was not done. From 1980-1990 it was neglected, and in 1990 a modest repair was made for about $6000, including a new blower and a little new wiring and leather. It was played until 1998, then neglected again for the last 14 years.

When we bought the property, the organ was nearly non-functional. Even if totally restored, it would have been inadequate for how we intended to use the chapel. Remember that Catholic congregations, particularly monastic orders, did not participate in singing until after Vatican II in 1962, a half century after the original organ was installed. There were no brilliant or loud sounds among the original 17 stops, so it would have been completely overpowered by several hundred voices. The console was permanently mounted on the balcony with the organist facing the back wall, so there was virtually no communication possible between the organist and the congregation.

The Kilgen organ (1926) was an expansion on the original Tellers-Kent. When we disassembled it we found parts with both names on. Nothing remains of either organ except the casework and façade pipes on the balcony, and ten pipes inside the antiphonal organ. Most of the original pipes were sold to a hobbyist in New Jersey to become yet another instrument.

The organ as it stand today was built by M. P. Moeller in Hagerstown MD in 1959 (main organ) and 1972 (antiphonal and trumpet). It was originally installed in Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Harrisburg PA. In 2010 that church was sold to a Muslim congregation, and in 2012 we bought the organ and moved it to the Mount Chapel. It has 2000 pipes total, in 34 stops.

Extensive remodeling and re-wiring was done to make it fit the new space. New enclosures for both sections were built. 25 miles of wire were used to connect the console with the main organ on the balcony.

Addendum: (JLZ, 2016) The Redemptorist history books tell us that the original organ in the chapel was one moved from St. Mary's, their junior college at North East, in 1907; "It was replaced in 1926 by a new Kilgen organ." Around 2005, funds ($50,000) were raised at Mount St. Alphonsus to buy a new Allen electronic organ for the 2008 centennial; it now stands in the Mount Community Brotherhood Room.