When acclaimed musician Jonas Nordwall played a concert dedicating the organ installed at Vancouver’s First Presbyterian Church in 1983, he never imagined his son would be the one restoring it 36 years later.
“We were trying to steer him in a better direction,” said Nordwall, 71, only half joking. He knew music would be a tough way for his son to make a living.
But Chris Nordwall, 45, caught his father’s passion for the organ, anyway. He is co-owner of Rose City Organ Builders, which recently completed restoration of the church’s organ. Jonas Nordwall will play a free concert to rededicate it at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Jonas Nordwall advised the church back when it selected Van Zoeren Organs to install the instrument and its 2,500 pipes.
If You Go
What: Jonas Nordwall organ concert.
When: 3 p.m. Sunday.
Where: First Presbyterian Church Vancouver, 4300 Main St.
Cost: Free.
Information:www.vanfpc.church
Chris Nordwall had to take them all back out to replace the digital system that connects the console to the pipes.
Allan Van Zoeren and his company, which was based in Aloha and then Hillsboro, Ore., are long gone. Replacement parts weren’t an option. Chris Nordwall installed a digital system from Syndyne, a Vancouver company.
He had to string 12 miles of new copper wire to rebuild the system, which now has 5,000 electrical connections. The pipes, which are malleable because of their high lead content, also needed attention. Several had bent over because their elevated perch in the sanctuary could reach 105 degrees.
Chris Nordwall brought the console — which operates the pipes through the keyboard, pedals and stops — to his shop in Portland so he could equip it with new key contacts and make other repairs.
Chris Nordwall grew up in Portland, but he went to Clark College because of its strong music program. For about four years, he played at Uncle Milt’s Pipe Organ Pizza Co., which rode the “pizza and pipes” fad of the 1970s and ’80s. The pizzeria on Grand, just off Fourth Plain Boulevard, closed in 1999.
Interest in the organ declined over the years, as churches turned to more contemporary music, and places like Uncle Milt’s and the Organ Grinder Restaurant (where Jonas Nordwall played) in Portland closed.
“There’s still enough demand out there,” Chris Nordwall said. His company sells Allen Organs, installs new instruments and rehabs old ones like the one at First Presbyterian.
The $140,000 organ restoration was just a portion of First Presbyterian’s $500,000 remodeling project, which included installing a new heating-and-cooling system, reupholstering the pews, and replacing orange carpet.
Wilma Doane, a member of the church for 24 years, came up with the idea of having Jonas Nordwall back for another concert to celebrate completion of the project and thank the congregation for raising the needed money. She secured an anonymous donor to cover the cost, so admission is free.
Jonas Nordwall, organist and musical director at First United Methodist Church in Portland, has played internationally, appeared on television, and has made 30 recordings on a variety of labels.
He plans to play “The Lord’s Prayer,” “Oregon, My Oregon” and several pieces by Bach, among other selections.
