Our new organ was dedicated on Sunday, November 16, 2003 at 6:30 PM. 

 Musicians were Ralph and Patricia Spoettle.

Ralph P.A. and Patricia W. Spoettle

 Ralph Spoettle holds a degree in Music Education from Montclair (NJ) State University and has taught instrumental music in the public schools.  His interest in electronic music led him to form his own company, KBD SYSTEMS of Virginia Beach, specializing in sales and repair of high-technology electronic keyboards.  Through the SOUND/ORGAN DESIGN division of his company, Ralph installs and services Ahlborn-Galanti Classic Organs and other electronic musical instruments in churches throughout the mid-Atlantic area.  He also serves as Liturgical Organist at Hope Lutheran Church in Virginia Beach, and is Organist-Choirmaster of St. Bride’s Episcopal Parish in Chesapeake.

Patricia Spoettle holds a degree in Music Performance from Montclair (NJ) State University.  She has served as organist at churches in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and the Hampton Roads area.  She is currently Music Minister at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Chesapeake, where she is organist and director of the adult, youth and children’s choirs and a four-octave handbell choir.  Patricia has brought music to dozens of other lives through her teaching in both private and group lessons, and through her work as accompanist for the Norfolk District United Methodist Men’s Chorus.  She is past dean of the Tidewater Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, a professional organization dedicated to the advancement of organ and choral music, and now serves as its treasurer.  She is currently preparing a recital program to be given in May, 2004 in The Organ Swell series, an event in the Waterfront Wave of the Virginia Arts Festival.

ABOUT THE ORGAN

 Ahlborn-Galanti is unique in the pipe less organ world in the utilization of Sampled Wave Processing -- recordings of some of the world’s most distinguished pipe ranks, played back digitally –in all of its models.  More than mere digital sampling or synthesis techniques which can only approximate organ sound, Sampled Wave Processing combines technology and artistry to deliver the full, resonant sound and very experience of real pipes, from the initial blossom of the note to the closing of the valve.  Each speaking stop in an Ahlborn-Galanti organ is a separate voiceable collection of digitally stored recordings representing the entire compass of sound found in pipe ranks: articulation, harmonic content, pipe wind, and scaling for every register, lowest note to highest.  Because of this attention to detail, Ahlborn-Galanti is known as “The Electronic Organ for Pipe Organ People.”

 The Ahlborn-Galanti Chronicler I installed at Gloucester Point Baptist is a two manual, 32 pedal classic organ with 34 speaking stops representing tonal resources equivalent to 2,209 pipes (43 ranks) and a 25 not set of tubular chimes.  The elegant oak-finished console features traditional tilting-tablet stop controls, a full complement of thumb and toe pistons, and an adjustable music rack.  To increase the sonic potential, an Ahlborn-Galanti Archive Module with a Romantic Organ specification has been made an integral part of the instrument.  Twenty additional solo and ensemble stops are available from the module, adding the equivalent of another 1,287 pipes (23 ranks).  Sounds emanate from twelve custom-designed speaker enclosures located in the chambers to either side of the choir stand.  Stops in the Swell division can also be played antiphonally from two enclosures located in two enclosures mounted above the entrance door.