The First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain was destroyed this evening by fire. The church housed one of the last unaltered pre-Civil War organs with three keyboards left in America. Leonardo Ciampa, church organist from 1989-2001, says, "In terms of the sheer beauty of every pipe, this organ was probably the finest organ in Boston, and one of the finest in the United States."
The organ was built in 1859 by the Hook Brothers, "the Number One organbuilders in America at the time." Thanks to expert maintenance and refurbishment over the years by the Lahaise family, the organ was virtually unaltered at the time of the fire.
"Tonight was one of the saddest nights of my life," said Ciampa. "The hole left in my heart will never be refilled."
Tragically, only two commercial recordings were ever made on this organ, "No Room at the Inn" and "No Room at the Inn, Volume II," both made by Ciampa and released on AFKA Records.
Photo of organ:
(large) http://www.leonardociampa.com/HookConsoleLarge.jpg
(normal size) http://www.leonardociampa.com/HookConsole.jpg
Information about the organ:
http://www.leonardociampa.com/NoRoomNotes.jpg
About the CDs:
http://store.yahoo.com/ohscatalog/noroomatinnv.html
For further information:
[email protected]
January 20, 2005
Leonardo Ciampa
