VISITATION PARISH-Akron, Ohio November 2023

Cheri & I enjoyed our drive up I-71 through Columbus to Akron, Ohio in early November 2023 for a dedication of a new Rodgers 233 Digital Organ at VISITATION PARISH.  On arrival we found an incredibly beautiful worship space with almost perfect acoustics and a delightful two-manual Rodgers INSPIRE Organ that FILLED the room with GLORIOUS Sound.  Superbly installed by the TSGood Church Organ Company, this instrument while modest in physical size, is PACKED with tonal resources including ADDITIONAL VOICE PALLETE Stops behind every stop taking the organist through almost any style and country.  Then there is an additional Pipe Stop Library, and a number of Orchestral Sound available through two seperate stops on each manual and pedal.  This little organ has amazing versatility and I expored it with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, North German, Italian, French Romantic, American Orchestral, and several beloved traditional worship songs from the Roman Catholic Faith.  The hour twenty minute program (no breaks) felt WAY TOO SHORT for me with all these resources to explore, but folks “couldn’t leave” following with many surprised at what they heard, and many questions about the organ and performance.

Cheri and I did finally exit to I-71 South with an equally amazing visit at our favorite SCHMIDT’S SAUSAGE HAUS for an “ensemble” of a variety of Schmidt’s sausages and purple cabbage, and mashed taters, and apple strudle and german chocolate cake, with a piece of coconut creme pie for the remaining 1.5 hour drive to Cincinnati!

Thank you TSGood Church Organ Company for this amazing installation and the opportunity to play it!