In November 1987, St. Matthew's installed a new Rodgers pipe organ to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the church. The organ casework, which houses 15 ranks of windblown pipes, is a handsome sound- enhancing enclosure made of American white oak. The Great Principal chorus is mounted in the façade and is made of beautiful flamed copper pipework. This instrument is rather historic in that it is the first “MIDI” pipe organ to be installed in Los Angeles. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) permits the organ to talk to other MIDI capable equipment, thus expanding its tonal dimensions immensely.

In 2007, as a part of the church's 60th anniversary celebration, a “modernization” of the Rodgers pipe organ was completed. Ten of the original fifteen pipe ranks have been retained and reworked to interface with a new 3-manual custom Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece Series organ. The pipe ranks are: Great Principal, Octave, Quint; Swell Viola, Celeste, Gedeckflöte, Spitzflute, Gemsprincipal, Nazard, Tierce. There are over 600 individual pipes that can all play at one time!

The new console, which replaces the front console, contains digital pipe samples, which have been recorded in stereo from some of the world's finest and most renowned pipe organs. Robert Tall, in consultation with St. Matthew's musicians, has created the stoplist from Rodgers vast digital sample library. The impressive 138 digital samples comprise over 200 ranks of pipe equivalent ranks! The tonal resources available to the organist are now virtually limitless, permitting accurate performances of the organ literature, be it French, German, English or American.

The new instrument has the organ industry's most advanced MIDI capabilities, permitting the tonal palette to speak beyond organ sounds and realistically reproduce digital sampled sounds from instruments of the orchestra and the human voice. It is the ultimate musical tool for today's modern worship.

Rodgers Instruments LLC is located in Hillsboro, Oregon and is a member of the Roland Corporation. Robert Tall & Associates, Inc., San Dimas, California, accomplished the installation under the supervision of David Demers, Director of Technical Services. Dr. Robert Tall completed the tonal finishing on the digital voices, John Ballard and Pascal Boissennett, San Antonio, Texas, did the pipework.

A small congregation of 55 first met as a church in the community hall of Western Federal Savings and Loan in Mission Viejo in May 1986. Soon the founding individuals and families, supported by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, had raised enough funds to purchase six prime acres amid the 5,000 acres of Plano Trabuco, nestled in the lap of the Santa Ana mountains. The first phase of permanent construction of a school was completed in 1990. While the church met in the gymnasium of St. John's School, staff and volunteers launched a capital campaign in 1998, culminating in the consecration of St. John's Church and the school's high-tech Enrichment Center in August 2003.

Architectural plans included space designed for a fine pipe organ. In 2005, an organ search committee, headed by Dr. Ron Koons was formed; Gary Toops was invited to be their consultant. In June 2006, a contract was signed with Robert Tall & Associates, Inc., San Dimas, California, area representatives for Rodgers Instruments, LLC, Hillsboro, Oregon. Rodgers is the world's largest and most prestigious builder of digital and pipe/digital combination organs with over 4,000 combination instruments installed worldwide. Rodgers is a member of the renowned Roland group, the world's largest builder of digital musical instruments.

St. John's organ is a pipe/digital combination instrument interfacing four windblown pipe ranks with a custom 3-manual Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece digital organ. In consultation with the committee and Rodger's engineers, Dr. Robert Tall created a Signature Series custom specification exclusively to meet the musical needs for worship at St. John's Church. A copy of that specification is included in the program booklet.

There are 4-ranks of actual windblown pipes totaling 244 individual pipes combined with 108 digital stops, which are recorded samples from some of the world's most celebrated pipe organs. The combination of both technologies results in a seamless instrument of nearly limitless tonal color allowing the organist to perform all organ literature authentically.

There is a full Antiphonal Division installed in the rear balcony along with the crowning jewel of the organ, the Festival Trumpet!

Mrs. Jones recently purchased a Rodgers 3-manual Trillium Masterpiece Series organ for her home, where she intends to continue teaching her many students at her house. Mrs. Jones continues to be an inspiration to all of her many students who continue to flourish musically under her guidance. Congratulations to her for her many years of excellent success as Professor of Organ at California State University, Fullerton and Concordia Lutheran University, Irvine.

Holy Family Catholic Community was established in 1907. This year, 2007, marks the 100th Anniversary of the church and there are plans for a big Centennial Celebration. Under the guidance of Reverend Joseph Shea, Pastor and his staff, Holy Family is currently undergoing an extensive remodeling with the intent to restore the church to the way it was 80 years ago. The Centennial will be celebrated in December 2007.

Two new Rodgers organs have been installed to help celebrate the anniversary. A large 4-Manual Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece Series organ has been installed in the choir loft and a large 3-Manual Rodgers Trillium has been installed in the altar area. Although both organs play from independent speakers systems located near each console, both organs “talk” to each other and each can be played from either console. The speaker system for the choir loft console is disguised behind a handsome custom pipe façade (pictured below). There is an Antiphonal organ in the west sanctuary, which plays from both consoles, as well.

Dr. Christian Marcoe, Parish Organist and Director of Music, spearheaded the organ fundraising project to raise money for a matching fund gift by parishioner, Mrs. Ruth Charles in the name of her late husband, Mr. Richard Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Charles have long enjoyed the title, “Mr. and Mrs. Music of Glendale” and are important leaders in the Glendale community.

Dr. Marcoe, Dr. Robert Tall and Dan Miller, Product Manager for Rodgers created the custom specification. David Demers, Director of Technical Services for Robert Tall & Associates, Inc., accomplished the challenging installation with his team of technicians and installers. Eminent organist, Dr. Frederick Swann played the dedication concert on January 9, 2007 beginning at the altar console and concluding at the 4-manual console in the choir loft.

Dr. Marcoe said about the new installation: "When we use one or both of the instruments alone or in tandem the acoustic experience is celestial and has been termed by the congregation as 'awesome.' These organs truly portray the voice of God speaking sometimes in a whisper, cajoling, caressing, compelling, consoling, uplifting, rejoicing and always thrilling in sound and timbre. It has been, in my estimation, the finest project come to fruition in our 100th anniversary restoration of Holy Family Parish Church."

Famed organist Hector Olivera will play a second concert on Friday evening, September 28th, 2007.

Founded in 1889, Trinity Episcopal Church in Escondido, California is one of the oldest churches in the San Diego Episcopal Diocese. It is the second oldest church in Escondido. Having worshipped in the original church since the turn of the century, the congregation moved into its present building in 1963. The sanctuary seats 350 people. Reverend Meg Decker has been in charge since 1995, one of the first women to serve a ministry in the Escondido area.

The pipe organ was built by the Reuter Organ Company and was completed in 1974. It has 21 ranks of pipes including a celeste, two mixtures and three independent reeds. The church chose to modernize the pipe organ by interfacing it with a new Rodgers 3-manual Trillium 957 digital organ.

Program notes for the dedication concert read, "The fact that every note of every single stop can be voiced to match any acoustical pipe has made Rodgers the leader in digital musical instruments for years. The goal was to have the Reuter play exactly as it always has with the digital stops adding color, intensity and flexibility. This has been accomplished perfectly. The combined instruments play as one. It is a joyous sound."

Famed local organist, Robert Plimpton, played the dedication concert to an enthusiastic and packed house on Sunday, April 15, 2007. He performed works by J. S. Bach, Widor, Franck, Sibelius, Elmore and Scott Joplin.

Steve Park is now the proud owner of his third Rodgers organ! In 1972, he bought a modest 2-manual self-contained Rodgers Model 110 for his practice instrument at home. In 1982, he traded his 110 in for a larger Rodgers 2-manual Model 800, which he interfaced with 6-ranks of used windblown pipes. The pipes and speakers were installed in the garage and played through a swell-shade opening into his dining room, which opened directly into the living room where his console was installed. It was one of the first pipe/electronic instruments in Los Angeles and was a very successful marriage of the two technologies.

Steve explains, "I had very little maintenance on that instrument over the years. The keyboards and pedalboard played for over 25 years without failure, it was a very stable instrument. Although I choose Rodgers because I like the sound, I'm certainly pleased with the quality of construction and stability of their instruments over the years."

Steve is a full-time employee of Hewlett Packard, District Manager for the Van Nuys/Los Angeles Area and has been with HP for 26 years. Just as remarkable is his 27-year tenure as senior organist at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks, California. There he commands a large Rodgers large 4-manual digital instrument with 33-ranks of windblown pipes. The former all pipe Walcker organ was replaced with a new Rodgers pipe/digital combination organ following the Northridge earthquake in 1994.

Last Fall 2006, Steve Park's mother surprised him with a birthday gift of a new Rodgers 3-manual Trillium Masterpiece Series organ for his home. It arrived just in time to be used in a choir and orchestra concert at St. Francis de Sales, prior to the installation in his home. The choir and orchestra under the direction of famed conductor, Jeannine Wagner, with Steve at the console of his new organ was an evening long to be remembered!

Frequent phone calls often begin with, "I love my new organ!" Robert Tall understands that all too well, since Steve's organ is nearly identical to the Robert Tall residence organ.