Our Peragallo Organ

John Peragallo, Sr. installed the present organ in the balcony of the church in 1947. It was expanded and upgraded by John Peragallo, Jr. in 2004. This project represents four generations of care and professional development of our musical instrument. Since the present condition of the organ is that it is held together literally with duct tape and screws, Father ST contacted John Peragallo, III to see what could be done. After over five (5) years of finding the right “fit” for our parish and budget, John proposed a complete redesign of the two manual and pedal organ utilizing many of the pipes that were already in place. The organ console will be taken from the closed parish of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bayonne, where a new refinished hardwood cabinet will be stained to match to the newly refinished pews and floors. There will be a lot of technical changes from coupling, combination actions and MIDI functions (for those who have knowledge or interest in these areas). The bottom line is that our organ will sound as beautiful as the people who sing along with it each and every week.
The total restoration charge for the organ would normally be over $200,000. However, since Father ST has a personal relationship with John Peragallo, III and his entire family, they have agreed to do this new job for only $100,000. Additionally, it was recently decided that an additional cost to repair the outside ornamental pipes (which were silver) to be removed, straightened and painted gold to match the interior of the church. Finally, all the surrounding oak casework will be taken down (as seen in the picture above) cleaned, re-stained (again to match the pews) with the grill cloths behind the screens all being replaced. That brings this project to a total of $112,000.
To date, we have forty-thousand dollars ($40,000) in donations toward this historical project. Any and all donations you would like to make in honor of someone living or deceased will be greatly appreciated. Please email or contact Father ST at 973.383.1985 or [email protected]. We are certain that this is yet another project that so many of us can support in order to continue beautifying our church to its original glory of 1864.