UCC organ dedicatory recital at Sanbornton church

SANBORNTON — As part of their 250th anniversary celebration, the Sanbornton Congregational Church will be hosting a dedicatory recital for their newly expanded pipe organ on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. The church is located at 21 Meeting House Hill Road and will feature their resident organist, Laura Belanger.

Among the works that she will be performing will be music by Bach, Elgar, and Widor. Following the recital, which is free and open to the public, there will be a reception in the undercroft.

“Keeping the Pipes Alive”

About 4 years ago, as the former pipe organ had begun to fail, a decision was made to replace the pipe organ. A team of people from the church was assembled and, working with local organ builder, K. Robert Bengtson, began the process of determining a course of action. It was decided that only the very best pipes from the former organ would be retained. To keep expenses within the proposed budget, members of the team began the challenging task of locating the necessary replacement parts to make their pipe organ glorious once again.

With the unfortunate closures of so many churches, an opportunity has arisen for those with resources and ingenuity to give new life to pipe organs that no longer have a home. Thus, it was for the Sanbornton Congregational Church.

With patience and a careful eye for quality, pipes and other components, everywhere from New Hampshire to as far away as Tennessee, were acquired and then carefully matched to create a new cohesive pipe organ. The final result is an instrument that keeps alive the commitment of past churches while being in service to the Sanbornton Congregational Church now and for many years to come. More information about the new organ can be found on the church’s website: uccsanbornton.org.