WS Chronicle

Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston Salem is sporting a pair of beautiful new organ pipes that were recently installed, the first GLASS organ pipes in the world in a congregational setting. The twin pipes are the groundbreaking innovation of Xaver Wilhelmy, who has also cared for the pipe organ at Friedberg for the last 20 years. One pipe is in honor of Bill Ebert and the other is in honor of Jerry Tolley, parishioners who have served Friedberg behind the scenes for many years.  

These two glass pipes replace two 37-year-old faceted pipes that recently began to collapse under their own weight. One could be restored, but the second was beyond repair; therefore, it was time to replace them. The Steiner Pipe Organ, built in Louisville, Kentucky, has a number of remarkable features, so the new Wilhelmy glass organ pipes are right at home in this context. The handmade pipes are 5 feet 7 inches tall, polygonal, were created using robust stained glass techniques, and are part of the Principle 8 organ stop. Wilhelmy created them using clear textured and iridescent art glass and mirrored glass for a gently reflective look that is very much in keeping with the instrument’s understated elegant casework.  

For more information on glass organ pipes, visit geshenke.com. To learn about the history of glass organ pipes, visit flagpipes.com. And visit the Xaver Wilhelmy page on Wikipedia for more biographical information.