Pipe
Organs of Malaysia
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MASLAND METHODIST CHURCH
SIBU, SARAWAK Rodgers Instrument - MPOS
II/P, 2009
In the early 1900s, the Chinese Methodist minister, Rev. Wong Nai Siong, negotiated with the second Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Brooke, to resettle a group of largely Christian immigrants from Fujian province, China in the town of Sibu. Rev. James Matthew Hoover, an American missionary was sent to minister to this flock, and as a result, the church which became Masland Methodist Church was founded in 1905. As the church’s membership outgrew the original church, the decision was made in 2006 to raze it down and rebuild an even bigger RM20 million modern church complex called the Hoover Complex in honour of Rev. Hoover. The new worship sanctuary offers seating for 1,700 people and a state-of-the-art audio visual system. Its centerpiece is a stunning cross illuminated by a flock of dove-like lighting fixtures and embraced by organ pipe-work that rises like uplifted hands on each side. In addition, there are 3 conference halls, a kindergarten, a primary school, and a 3-storey car park. The whole complex was completed and dedicated in August 2009 and the church membership now stands at 5,000. Rodgers representative Sonata Music House, based in Singapore, and Modular Pipe Organ Systems Ltd. (MPOS), based in the United Kingdom, worked with the church architect from the beginning to incorporate the pipe-work into the unique altar design. The instrument is a Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece 788 integrated with seven ranks of speaking pipes. Mr Lim Chin Kai, of Sonata Music House, invited MPOS Ltd to design and build all the pipe components as well as to install and voice the complete instrument. Tonal consultant David Wilson (MPOS) noted that it is the first time that MPOS has built an organ with a full 16' front, since digital voices are normally used for such a large rank. The church's Rodgers console was revoiced to blend flawlessly with the seven ranks of winded pipes. The organ was installed and voiced on site in early 2009 by David Wilson and Paul Mortier (MPOS) and Mr C. J. Lim (Sonata). The effort achieved the designer's goal to create a visual focus for Masland Methodist's lively music ministry and an unmistakable symbol of the joy of worship. There are seven pipe ranks.Great Open Diapason 8' (from Tenor C, with an electronic bottom octave) Great Principal 4' Great Mixture IV Pedal Principal 16' Specification of the organ is: (pipe ranks indicated with *)
Information from Andrew Hwang. Refer also to Modular Pipe Organ Systems Ltd. And Rodgers Instruments Corporation Inc. Rodgers/MPOS Case Study on Masland Methodist Church, Sibu, Malaysia.
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Clackline
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