Brian Evers has serviced pipe organs for most of his adult life. He knows the instrument inside and out and knows what makes them sound pleasing to the ear.
As for playing them, though – he’ll pass.
“I do all the rest and I let the professionals play,” laughed Evers during a recent interview at Saint Ninian Cathedral Parish in Antigonish where he is piecing together a 1962 Casavant organ that consists of about 1,100 pipes and thousands of individual pieces.
In a way, you could call Evers a key contributor. After all, he’s on a short list of technicians who service organs throughout the Maritimes as the owner of Maritime Pipe Organ Builders in Memramcook, N.B.
“There used to be quite a few people around, but it died off,” he says.
The organ that Evers and his wife Cecile are cleaning, servicing, and putting back together at Saint Ninian’s came from The Bethany House in Antigonish, which was home to the Sisters of St. Martha. Evers believes the electric-pneumatic organ if purchased today would cost about $500,000.
“This is in excellent shape, this one,” he says.
“It’s nice to see that it’s staying in the area; it’s not being shipped away somewhere else.”
The organ had been in the Bethany Motherhouse since 1963. In the spring of 2018, it was dismantled and moved to Saint Ninian's, as the Sisters of St. Martha relocated to Parkland Antigonish.
"We were looking for a place where it would be respected and used and it seemed to be a great fit to have it at Saint Ninian's, so we were quite pleased that it found its home there," said Sister Florence Kennedy, a counselor on the leadership team for the Sisters of St. Martha.
It took about a week for Evers to tear the organ apart so it could be transported to its new home. It will take up to six weeks to piece it back together.
“Everything comes apart, everything goes back together… it’s clean as we go,” Evers said.
Evers first started working on pipe organs when he was 19, alongside his father, Ben. He said he learned a lot from his dad, but gained knowledge throughout the years on his own by servicing hundreds of the instruments during a more than 40-year career as a technician.
Evers is familiar with Saint Ninan’s, having worked on a Hook and Hastings pipe organ in the church in the past. That organ dates back to the mid- to late-1800s.
Installing the new organ is part of major renovations that are happening at Saint Ninian’s this summer. Since being shut down during the third week of March due to COVID, work has been ongoing to restore artistic renderings of the Twelve Apostles, John the Baptist, and St. Cecilia. The inside of the building is also being repainted, and a birch floor in the sanctuary has been restored after the carpet had been lifted.
While work is being done in the sanctuary, services – which started again in early July – are being conducted in the parish hall.
PHOTOS: Historic Antigonish church undergoing major renovations
“They’re always work putting back together and people should think twice before getting rid of one because you’re never going to buy another one because the cost is extreme.” – Brian Evers speaking about a Casavant organ he is installing at Saint Ninian Cathedral Parish.
The history of Casavant Frères (Casavant Brothers)
The Canadian organ building company in Saint Hyacinthe, Que., was founded in 1879 by brothers Claver and Samuel Casavant.
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Claver and Samuel got their start in organ building in the shop of their father, Joseph, under his successor Eusebe Brodeur. Claver worked with Brodeur from 1874 to 1878, then went to France for a 14-month apprenticeship with the firm of John Abbey in Versailles. He and Samuel then visited many organs and workshops in western Europe before establishing their factory in 1879 on the site of their father's workshop on rue Girouard in Saint-Hyacinthe.
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The instrument that firmly established Casavant Frères as organ builders of international repute was a four-manual mechanical action of 82 stops completed in 1891 for the Church of Notre-Dame in Montréal. The instrument included adjustable combinations and 32-foot speaking pipes in the façade.
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During their career, the brothers received much recognition for their work, including being awarded the Grand Prix at the International Exhibition held in Antwerp, Belgium in 1930. In addition to the numerous organs in North America, they installed organs in France, the West Indies, South and Central America, South Africa, and Japan. Voluminous archives abound in letters and testimonials from famous international organists such as Louis Vierne, C-M Widor, Alexandre Guilmant, and Eugène Gigout.
Sources: Wikipedia, Casavant Frères website
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The following are images of Casavant-manufactured organs from churches all over the world.
