Summerall Chapel Organ Project

Bring back the glory of a Pipe Organ befitting of the
grandeur and majestic history of Summerall Chapel.
Your help is needed today!

Summerall Chapel serves as the spiritual nucleus for the Corps of Cadets at The Citadel.  It is here that students gather to share their faith, retreat from the daily distraction of campus life, and refresh their spiritual resources to confront the challenges that constitute a Citadel education.  Surely, The Citadel community, along with worshipers and music aficionados across the Southeast, deserves an instrument befitting the grandeur and majestic history of Summerall Chapel.

Upon restoration, the new Summerall Chapel Pipe Organ will have no rival in the state of South Carolina and will be comparable to the instruments in service at military chapels and cathedrals nationwide.

In addition, Summerall Chapel is an ideal environment both visually and acoustically to build a premiere instrument that will be widely recognized throughout the country.  Hence, the proposal is designed for an organ that accomplishes that goal and more.  Overall, the organ specification has been planned to support the Choirs of the Citadel, including but not limited to the Protestant, Catholic and Gospel Choirs in both worship services and official events.  Fully one-third of the stops on the organ are foundation stops to ensure the proper balance for supporting congregational singing.  The organ’s character will be peaceful enough to accompany solos, memorial services and smaller recitals.  It will support an assortment of music curriculums and it will be adaptable to an enormous variety of music from the Classics to more contemporary music.  The organ is designed to compliment the many music programs of the Citadel as well as the regional events sponsored by the City of Charleston such as Spoleto. The diversity of voices recommended in this proposal will excite even the most accomplished of American or European recitalists bringing into the Chapel a whole new realm of recognition.

More specifically, the specifications include a comprehensive tonal design with capabilities for music ranging from the most diminutive subtleties of a memorial or prayer service to the full blown gravity and power needed for rousing ceremonial occasions, where the chapel’s seating capacity is filled. (i.e. the Candlelight Christmas service, Spoleto and other community events.)