Its physical stature is imposing, and its sonic beauty is a sound to behold.
The John Brombaugh-built pipe organ at Eugene’s Central Lutheran Church can dazzle with the whimsical (think bird-like sounds) and move a congregant to deep introspection with its throaty bass pipes. Since its dedication at a Vespers service in 1976, it has accompanied Sunday morning processions, given support for the hymn of the day and captured the attention of many with its capabilities during the end-of-service voluntary, music performed freely, without strict liturgical guidelines. It has also helped marry couples and helped soothe the hurt at memorial services.
And you don’t have to be a congregant to get to know this magnificent instrument. Outside of church services in recent years, it has been featured in the Oregon Bach Festival and other concerts and recitals. If you are simply walking past the church at 18th and Potter at a given moment, you can hear either Andrew ElRay Stewart-Cook, the lead organist, or Lindsey Henriksen Rogers, the associate organist, hard at work rehearsing. The sound carries above foot and vehicle traffic and makes you pause.
Central Lutheran signed a contract with John Brombaugh and Associates of Germantown, Ohio, in 1972. Upon completion four years later, the organ had three keyboards, 38 stops, the part of a pipe organ that allows pressurized air to flow to a set of pipes, with 2,821 pipes total. The final project cost was $120,000, but its replacement value today is estimated to be close to $2 million.