Celebrate the unveiling of Fritts Opus 54, a large instrument bound for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City. While it is not being called a “Bach Organ,” it is definitely an organ that Bach would have liked.
Paul Fritts has extended an invitation to the Tacoma AGO to join him and his staff at the shop on Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Light refreshments will be served.
More information, including driving directions, is available in the calendar entry.
Members of the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists are uniquely privileged to live in a region rich with world-class organ building. On July 29, 2026, I had the pleasure of visiting the workshop of Paul Fritts & Company Organ Builders in Parkland, Washington, to inspect their newest creation: Opus 54.
The interview included Zane Boothby, assistant director at the shop; David Dahl, Organist Emeritus at Pacific Lutheran University and a stalwart leader of our Tacoma AGO chapter for over four decades (including 40 years as a board member and currently serving on our program committee); shop director and founder Paul Fritts (also a Tacoma AGO member); and organ builder Andreas Schonger.
Opus 54—a large, three-manual and pedal organ of 63 stops and 4,096 pipes—is scheduled for installation this fall at the historic Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City.
Architect’s drawing of Fritts Opus 54 installed in the gallery of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, NYC.
A Vision for Music and Liturgy
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is world-renowned for its Bach Vespers series, which features complete cantatas presented within their intended liturgical context. While designed to support both the church’s regular worship services and its celebrated concert series, the builder and church intentionally avoided narrow labeling.
“This project was a unique opportunity because the church gave us full artistic control.” — Paul Fritts, Director & Founder
“I don’t want to call it a ‘Lutheran organ’ or a ‘Bach organ.’ Calling an instrument a ‘Bach organ’ suggests to many people that it can’t be used for any other music, which simply isn’t true.” — Zane Boothby, Assistant Director
Rather than adopting a strictly North German aesthetic, Opus 54 looks to the Central German school of Bach’s region, taking tonal and visual inspiration from master builders such as Heinrich Gottfried Trost, Gottfried Silbermann, Zacharias Hildebrandt, and Johann Friedrich Wender.
The historic organ at St. Marien Church, Berlin, whose casework helped inspire the layout of Opus 54.Lateral view showing the gallery placement and spatial depth of the St. Marien instrument.
Mechanical Action and Case Architecture
For those unfamiliar with traditional mechanical key actions, a tracker organ connects the organist’s fingers directly to the air valves (pallets) under each pipe using thin wooden strips called trackers. Opus 54 utilizes a suspended tracker action, where keys hang directly from the pallets, offering an exceptionally sensitive, durable, and intimate connection between player and pipe.
The organ’s free-standing case is constructed from solid wood, Interior framing is made of white oak, and the painted case front of poplar, embellished with gilded baroque carvings created by Alexander Grabovetskiy. Grabovetsky is one of the nation’s premier wood carvers. The casework features hand-applied Dutch oil paints in the vibrant Thuringian tradition.
Main portion of the solid poplar casework above the keydesk.Detail of a pedal tower framing the main case.Sample block showing the deep red accent paint used to frame the casework.Three manual key desk and stop knobs.Intricate wood inlay details framing the manual keys.Detailed wood inlay work featured on the organ bench.
To solve a common modern challenge, critical action components are constructed from heat-treated wood. In the 18th century, unheated churches experienced gradual seasonal humidity shifts. Modern, climate-controlled environments present sharp humidity fluctuations; heat-treating the wood stabilizes the action components, ensuring consistent key adjustment year-round.
Zane Boothby displaying the technical floor plan of half of the windchest layout.Zane demonstrates how a custom-milled toeboard supports the pipes, each racked in a custom burned hole.
Traditional Sand-Casting and Pipe Craftsmanship
Every single pipe in Opus 54 was cast on a bed of sand—a centuries-old technique that Paul Fritts & Company is currently the only builder in America to maintain. Molten tin-lead alloy pipe metal poured over a bed of sand cools rapidly, creating a finer crystalline structure in the alloy. This metallurgical physical structure produces pipes that sing with sweetness, character, and speak with elegant, precise speech.
Zane holding sand from the shop’s casting table.This rough, sand-textured underside of a freshly cast metal sheet will first be scraped then hammered smooth.The smooth upper side of the cast metal sheet will become the outside of the pipe.A sheet of pipe metal hand-hammered to compact the grain before pipe formation.
The pipework is voiced using low wind pressure and open flues, encouraging maximum harmonic development and vocal character.
Tonal Concept and Color
The tonal design of Opus 54 balances expected chorus elements with a remarkable variety of instrumental colors across its three manuals—Hauptwerk, Positiv, and enclosed Oberwerk—and Pedal. The tonal concept was developed with Nathan Laube as an advisor, including multiple conversations about the stop list and what to include. Eric Winkel, of Flentrop Orgelbau, provided historical data that informed the construction of this organ.
A particularly striking feature on the Hauptwerk is the inclusion of a full string chorus at 16′, 8′, and 4′ pitch (Salicet-Bass, Salicet, and Fugara). This string ensemble provides a lighter, clear instrumental texture. As David Dahl pointed out during our visit, when J. S. Bach submitted his famous 1708 renovation requests for St. Blasius in Mühlhausen, he explicitly asked for string stops, noting their ability to blend beautifully into the full ensemble. The Hauptwerk also features two distinct 8-foot flutes, including a narrow wooden Traversflöte that authentically mimics the sound of a baroque traverso.
The secondary divisions offer their own distinctive color palettes. The Positiv includes a narrow, sweet-sounding 4-foot Flauto Minor alongside its bright principal chorus, while the enclosed Oberwerk pairs a narrow Rohrflöte with a 4-foot Spitzflute. Both the Hauptwerk and Oberwerk allow a Tierce to be added independently to their respective mixtures, giving the organist great flexibility in building synthetic reed sounds and solar plenum colors.
The Pedal division provides a solid foundation anchored by a full 16-foot plenum including a 10 2/3-foot Quint-Bass that generates a rich 32-foot resultant effect, as well as a full 32-foot Groß-Posaunen-Bass reed. Compared to North German traditions, the reeds throughout Opus 54 are designed with narrower scaling in both their shallots and resonators. This creates a vibrant instrumental timbre that integrates smoothly into chorus registrations rather than overpowering the flue work.
Human-Powered Wind: The Bellows Demonstration
One of the highlights of the workshop visit was inspecting the organ’s wind supply. Opus 54 incorporates four large multi-fold bellows that can be operated via foot pedals. The multi-fold bellows provide a cushioning effect on the wind which reduces jitters, and provides a stable, ample supply of wind.
“We are excited at the scope and the quality of this very elaborate bellows system.” — Andreas Schonger, Organ Builder
“Because of these bellows, the organ breathes while you play it—it feels remarkably alive.” — David Dahl, Professor Emeritus of Organ at Pacific Lutheran University
While an electric blower is installed for standard use, the organ can be pumped entirely by foot, functioning precisely as it would have 400 years ago. Foot pumping supplies a wonderfully flexible, buoyant wind supply that breathes naturally with the music.
Overview of two of the multi-fold bellows.Alternate view of the multi-fold bellows assembly.Overhead view of the four foot pedals used for manual pumping.Zane Boothby operating the bellows foot pedals.
During our visit, David Dahl played while Zane Boothby operated the foot levers. The buoyant quality of the human-pumped wind supply was immediately apparent.
Anticipating the NYC Debut
Although the organ is still awaiting its final pipe voicing in the church, hearing the pre-voiced flues in the shop already offers a promising glimpse of the finished instrument.
“We look forward to delivering the instrument this fall. We are privileged to build this instrument for such an important church.” — Zane Boothby
Our chapter extends its congratulations to Paul Fritts, Zane Boothby, and the entire team at Fritts & Company. We look forward to following Opus 54 as it makes its journey from Parkland to its new home in Manhattan.
Media & Video Recordings Index
The following video demonstrations recorded during the July 29 visit illustrate the mechanical wind supply and tonal layout of Opus 54:
Sand table
Pipemakers pour molten metal into a box that releases the metal in a thin sheet over the sand.
Bellows refilling
Demonstrates air depletion during David Dahl’s playing and the replenishment of wind as Zane Boothby pumps the foot pedals.
Lobe den Herren played by David Dahl with foot-supplied wind
David Dahl plays an excerpt of Lobe den Herren under foot-pumped wind power.
The Organ as a Treadmill
Zane Boothby pumps the bellows while David Dahl plays a fragment of the hymn tune Azmon.
Zane Boothby showing chest layout drawings
Zane Boothby details the layout of the windchest using half-scale technical drawings.
Zane Boothby demonstrates how toeboards work
Video demonstration of how toeboards distribute wind and support pipes.
Our annual chapter picnic on Monday, June 22, was a delightful evening of food, fellowship, and transition. Chapter members gathered in the beautiful Parkland garden of David Dahl and Loi Le, enjoying perfect summer weather complemented by a refreshing breeze.
Attendees enjoyed an abundance of food and drink while catching up and enjoying the serene outdoor setting.
The garden itself was in splendid form. Board member Will Stuivenga captured some of the vibrant floral highlights of the evening.
Annual Business Meeting & Election Results
During a brief business meeting, the chapter voted on and elected the leadership team for the upcoming term. Please welcome your newly elected officers and board members:
Dean: Paul Tegels
Secretary & Webmaster: Thomas Clark
Treasurer: Van Hardison
Board Members at Large: Cheryl Drewes, Sandra Tietjen, and John Stuntebeck
Expressing Our Gratitude
The chapter extended a heartfelt thank you to David Dahl for his many years of dedicated service on the board. While he is stepping down from his board role, we are thrilled that he will continue to share his expertise on the program committee, where he will be joined by Dana Robinson and Cheryl Drewes.
Finally, the Chapter expresses its deep appreciation to Loi Le for his incredible hospitality in helping host such a wonderful event.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making the evening a success. Here’s to a wonderful year ahead for the Tacoma AGO!
On the morning of Saturday, April 25, members of the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists gathered in the Lagerquist Concert Hall at Pacific Lutheran University for an immersive exploration of one of the 18th century’s most significant, yet often overlooked, organ collections: Georg Friedrich Kauffmann’s Harmonische Seelenlust.
The presentation was led by David Dahl and Thomas Clark, whose collaborative research brought a fresh perspective to the life and legacy of a composer who was once a finalist for the prestigious St. Thomas post in Leipzig. The setting of Lagerquist Hall was particularly apt, as its Fritts organ—modeled after the North German and central German traditions—offered a disposition that echoes the tonal world of the Wender organ (1717) that Kauffmann famously played at Merseburg Cathedral.
David Dahl opened the session by contextualizing Kauffmann’s importance in the late Baroque era. He emphasized that the Harmonische Seelenlust (Harmonious Soul’s Delight) is a landmark in the repertoire, being the first large-scale collection of chorale preludes to provide specific registration indications by the composer himself. Dahl’s remarks underscored why it is essential for modern organists to rediscover this document: not just for its historical value, but for its practical utility in contemporary liturgical service and concert programming.
As the morning progressed, Thomas Clark delved into the structural intricacies of the collection. One of the highlights was an analysis of Kauffmann’s preface, which serves as a fascinating pedagogical “toolkit” for the 18th-century organist. Clark distilled Kauffmann’s philosophy into several core principles, most notably the “Priority of the Melody”—the insistence that the chorale tune remains audible and perceptible, even amidst artful variation and figured work.
In a move that sparked both laughter and furrowed brows, the lecture was punctuated by a series of pop quizzes. These questions were intentionally “unfair,” designed to challenge the guild’s experts by highlighting the composer’s inconsistent application of his own “rules.” For instance, while Kauffmann was notoriously precise in his registration for Trios, he left nearly three-quarters of his ornamented chorales without specific instructions. This provided a perfect entry point into Kauffmann’s “tough love” technical advice: he assumed that if a player possessed the talent to execute complex Manieren (ornaments), they already possessed the “good taste” and judgment required to select the appropriate stops.
The academic rigor of the session was balanced by a gracious mid-morning break. Members enjoyed a selection of coffee and doughnuts provided by Loi Le, allowing for collegial discussion on everything from German Baroque fingering to the merits of various modern editions of the Seelenlust.
The second half of the program shifted from the lecture podium to the organ bench, featuring live musical examples that demonstrated the sheer variety of Kauffmann’s writing. The audience was treated to the magnificent sound of the Fritts organ in both solo and collaborative settings. Paul Tegels and Dana Robinson provided masterful interpretations of several chorale preludes, illustrating the composer’s use of diverse textures—from simple figured settings to complex, dance-like Trios.
A particularly stunning moment was the performance of the Trios with Obligato featuring Shannon Spicciati on the oboe. These pieces, which Kauffmann specifically designated as “a 2 Clav. et Ped. con Oboè,” offered a rare glimpse into the composer’s orchestrational imagination. The blend of the oboe’s reediness with the clear, singing principals of the Lagerquist organ brought the Harmonische Seelenlust to life in a way that moved beyond the historical page into a vivid musical reality.
At the end of the program, all four participants sat down in front of the audience to answer questions in a lively discussion.
For those who wish to delve deeper into the research, a comprehensive resource page remains active at tacomaago.org/kauffmann-program-resource-page/. The site includes links to historical documents, registration tables comparing the Merseburg and Lagerquist organs, and further insights into the editions of the work.
By the time the final notes had faded, it was clear that Kauffmann’s music is far more than a historical curiosity. As we left the hall, we took with us a renewed appreciation for a composer who demanded much of his performers but offered, in return, a profound sense of “harmonious delight.”
