John Kirk plays Elegy by George Thalben-Ball on the Kegg Pipe Organ Builders new organ at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas.
This new organ comprises 32 ranks, 28 stops, 1,952 pipes across three manuals and pedal. The four manual divisions include Great, Swell, Choir, and Antiphonal. The organ musically encompasses all the essential components required for the American Episcopal choral tradition, appropriately scaled to the size of the building, while also delivering the necessary choruses and structure to render most organ literature in an engaging manner. Several aspects are particularly noteworthy. The 16′ Tuba draws inspiration from an Ernest M. Skinner model, characterized by its richness, power, and smoothness, serving as a mezzo-piano solo voice as it is placed behind the Choir shades. The Flute Celeste elevates the listener’s experience akin to aural incense. The Solo Diapason mimics the effect of a First Open Diapason by incorporating three principal stops, all at 8′ pitch. The stops employed for this purpose are the Great Principal, Octave, and Pedal Principal.
The new Kegg organ is featured on the cover of the December 2025 issue of The Diapason:
https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-kegg-pipe-organ-builders-st-andrews-houston
https://www.thediapason.com/sites/diapason/files/Diap1225_FullIssue.pdf
John Kirk is Director of Music & Organist at Saint Andrew’s. He attended Capital University, studying both religion and double bass, and then started taking organ lessons. After college, he moved to Houston through Teach for America and eventually began studying organ, voice, and church music with Robert Brewer and assisting in the music program at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany as a Choir/Organ Scholar. Following his work at Epiphany, John was Music Director of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Dickinson, Texas, and Organ Intern at Saint Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. He earned a master’s degree in organ performance from the University of Houston's Moores School of Music, where he studied with Robert Bates, Matthew Dirst, and Sigurd Øgaard. In August 2021, John was appointed University Organist of Houston Christian University. He and his wife, Sally, have three children: Fiona, Joni, and Llewyn.
Builder’s website: www.keggorgan.com
Church website: saecheights.org
Photo credit: G. Lyon Photography, Inc.
