NYC – Sapsis Rigging is proud to have been chosen to provide installation services for the new Miller-Scott Pipe Organ at St. Thomas Church in New York, NY. The installation work spanned over five months and involved lifting and setting all large components of the 102-stop organ. Working with the Dobson Pipe Organ Builders was both a pleasure and a privilege.
More details from Sapsis www.sapsis-rigging.com
SRI rigger Daryll John reported back from the job site, “Over the last ten years at Sapsis, I’ve worked on a number of Pipe Organs. Hoisting organ components is an exciting mix of confined and difficult access, creative rigging, and white glove delicacy.
This summer we were part of the installation of the entirely new 7,700 pipe Miller-Scott organ at St Thomas Church in New York City, with Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa.
We built the most inventive 12″ truss rigs, used rope and pulleys, chainfalls, chain hoists, and of course – ratchet straps, and everything else in our road cases. Combining our teams’ ideas and opinions with the gear from our kit, we came up with inventive and ingenious custom-made lifting and positioning solutions.
As unique as the organ itself, so were the teams involved in its construction. Organ builders, riggers, the general contractor, and scaffolders all coordinated to meet daily challenges. The church remained active all the while with daily and weekly services, concerts, special events, and a constant parade of sightseers and visitors.
Building an instrument, a work of art that will outlive ourselves, is the polar opposite to much of our usual work – shows that last hours or maybe just minutes. The camaraderie on this project combined with rigging challenges faced, and accomplished, made it truly unique and a highlight of my career.”
A time-lapse video of our crew at work can be seen here: https://youtu.be/QuCBRUg3I2I
Sapsis Rigging has, and continues to perform, similar services for the Auditorium Pipe Organ in Ocean Grove NJ, the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s in Philadelphia, the Midmer-Losh Pipe Organ in Atlantic City, NJ, and the Great Organ, built by the Ernest M Skinner Company in 1910, which resides in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
