St. Mary's Assumption Church

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Photography by John DeMajo and Kathleen DeMajo Adams

ST. MARY'S ASSUMPTION CHURCH
2030 Assumption Street at Josephine.
Home of the Shrine Of Blessed Francis Seelos

(Designated as a National Landmark in 1974)

The organ at St. Mary's Assumption is an 1861 Simmons and Wilcox. It was revised, in 1900, by William Schulke, who was also performed work on the organ at neighboring St. Alphonsus. Schulke added tubular pneumatics and revised the winding system. The organ was damaged by Hurricane Betsy, but restoration was done and it was again playable for the 1989 OHS convention. Some of the pipe work had disappeared over the years, and Roy Redman replaced this with Austin pipe work that came from the original organ at Trinity Episcopal Church on Jackson Ave. Currently, the organ is on its fourth console, a 1950's vintage Moller which was recycled from St. Jude Shrine at 400 N. Rampart Street in New Orleans. The previous console was an Austin which had been installed in 1960. The organ is still used weekly for Mass and weddings. Organ specs can be viewed at the bottom of this page

ST. MARY'S ASSUMPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH, New Orleans, LA. PIPE ORGAN SPECIFICATION 1861 - Simmons and Wilcox, Boston MS. ca: 1900, William Schuelke, Milwaukee, WS. Opus 148
GREAT (58 notes)	SWELL (58 notes)	PEDAL (27 Notes)
Open Diapason 16	Bourdon 16	Great Bass 16
Open Diapason 8	Open Diapason 8	Bourdon 16
Viol Di Gamba 8	Stop d' Diapason 8	Quint 10-2/3
Dulciana 8	Viol Di Amour 8	Octave 8
Hohl Flote 8	Principal 4	Super Octave 4
Principal 4	Spitz Flute 4	Trombone 16
Harmonic Flute 4	Mixture V	Great to Pedal
Twelfth 2-2/3	Trumpet 8	Swell to Pedal
Fifteenth 2	Oboe 8
Mixture V	Tremulant
Trumpet 8
Clarion 4
Swell- Great

The Simmons and Wilcox organ was a mechanical action (tracker) instrument. It was modified to Schuelke membrane chests, and later to electro-pneumatic action. The original console was replaced in 1960 with an Austin console. Later in 1977-78, that console was replaced with a Moller console which had been removed from St Jude's Church at 400 North Rampart Street. Substantial work and modifications to the organ were performed by Piano and Organ Center, of Metairie, LA. during a Federally funded restoration in 1977, and the Organ Historical Society of New Orleans, along with organ builder Roy Redman of Ft. Worth, TX, have performed additional work on the instrument since that time.

A new Pels & VanLeeuwen organ was added to this church after Hurricane Katrina. Here are photos and specs for that organ:






Pels & VanLeeuwen Alkmaar, Netherlands Opus 775 (1971)
56 note manual, 30 note pedal LEFT STOP JAM MANUAL Roerflute 8' bas Roerflute 8' disc Prestant 4' bas Prestant 4' disc Ged Flute 4' bas Ged Flute 4' disc Fluit 2' bas Fluit 2esquialtera II disc Mixture IV 1-1/3 bas Mixture IV disc --------------- RIGHT STOP JAM PEDAL Sub-Bass 16' Manual-Pedal Tremulant THIS ORGAN WAS ORIGINALLY INSTALLED IN THE CHAPEL OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN AND RELOCATED TO ST. MARY'S ASSUMPTION IN JULY OF 2015. IT WAS DISASSEMBLED AND TRANSPORTED BY RENAISSANCE PIPE ORGAN CO. OF ANN ARBOR, AND INSTALLED BY REDMAN PIPE ORGANS, LLC OF FORT WORTH.

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