Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd, 2014
New organ
www.orgelbau.ch/ope=114570
II/P/11
Switzerland, Zurich
Franziskus-Zentrum
Organ in Jubilee year
In 2008, the Catholic parish in Männedorf-Uetikon completed the new parish centre of St. Franziskus in Uetikon, which was designed by the architect Daniele Marques; the liturgical design is by Jörg Niederberger.
The church itself, the ceiling of which rises steeply to the altar wall, is accessed through a small lobby. From above, the light brushes along the wall; a narrow horizontal slit lights up the floor. Thanks to the ingenious distribution of light, the whole room, in various shades of white, radiates a deep sense of well-being and peace.
When building the church, the parish decided for reasons of economy not to buy a pipe organ. At the same time, however, the building committee instructed the architect to provide the necessary space for subsequent installation of an organ in the side wall niches. Owing to this far-sighted planning, in 2014 it was possible to install an organ that fits both convincingly and harmoniously into this wonderful church interior.
The acoustic of the church is very successful, and encourages singing and music-making. As a result of the excellent acoustic the sound of the new organ, too, is set off to advantage. The instrument is intended above all to lead the congregational singing, as well as to accompany the Choralschola and Stephanschor choirs. Another important task will be playing together with other instruments.
An organ project group worked very hard on the acquisition of this organ, which is to be financed mainly by donations and by money from sponsors. The order to build the new organ was finally placed in January 2013.
In 2014 Kuhn Organ Builders is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its foundation. We are delighted to have been able to build a new instrument in our neighbouring parish of Uetikon this year, and that we can be at the inauguration on 30 November.
Translation: RS 2014