Peace Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod
Kansas City, Missouri
About Us      The Johannus Organ


On May 21, 2006,  Peace dedicated its new Johannus organ to the glory of God while having
the opportunity to celebrate the capabilities of this grand instrument with special services.  
Pastor Marvin Kuhlmann, Pastor Emeritus of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Grandview,  
preached and Sylvia Ratcliffe (organist), Sandy Sauter (keyboardist) and Kent Oexman
(Bybee Organ Company representative)  participated in the service joining choirs and
instrumentalists on this celebratory occasion.



Those in attendance were invited to the balcony following the services to take a closer look at
this magnificent instrument. This American Classic 90-rank, three manual organ was
designed and built by Johannus Organ Builders of Ede, The Netherlands.  Established in 1968,
Johannus offers classically designed organs in a variety of specifications to satisfy the needs
of churches and institutions worldwide. The Johannus American Classic is ideal both for
service playing and concerts.  You will be captivated, as we were,  by the warm strings,
broad principals, fiery reeds and silvery mixtures.  In keeping with the concept of the
American Classic tradition, this organ is capable of playing the widest array of literature with
thrilling effect.  The unique feature of the floating solo division gives the organist the
flexibility of a fifth division of chorus reeds and solo voices without requiring a fourth
manual.  

The American Classic organ features state-of-the-art 32-bit digital technology, providing magnificent and
authentic pipe organ tonal quality.  Johannus has digitally recorded/sampled over 1,500 pipe ranks from some
of the worlds most respected names in organ building – Aeolian-Skinner, Silbermann,  Cavaille-Coll, Henry
Willis, Harrison & Harrison and Flentrop.  The American Classic organ includes built-in
orchestral and percussion MIDI instrumentation.  The main and antiphonal audio systems
consist of twenty-four (24) channels including a heavy-duty sub-woofer powered by 800
watts RMS with ten (10) wide-range speakers, twelve (12) upper-range speakers and two (2)
bass speakers.  These systems are powered by 3,280 watts of audio power.  The organ has
240 programmable memory levels, reversible illuminated drawknobs and tilt-tablets, individual
expression controls and indicators for each manual division and a 17 position transposer.



A 9-bell Zimbelstern will be installed.  The Zimbelstern is a musical instrument which rings
small bells at random as an accompaniment to organ music. The word Zimbelstern means
"cymbal-star".  The original Zimbelsterns were made in the shape of a star with small bells at
each point. The star was turned, either manually or pneumatically, and the bells were struck
by stationary clappers mounted around the star. Modern Zimbelsterns are electrically
operated. The bells do not rotate. Instead, a rotating device in the center strikes the bells.
Bybee Organ Works, Inc. of Overland Park, KS and Edwardsville, IL installed and tonally
finished our Johannus American Classic Organ.



On Monday, September 25 2006,  J. David Hart, renowned American organist and Fellow of
the American Guild of Organists  presented an Inaugural Concert.  He  brought  a broad
knowledge of this instrument, extensive mastery of organ repertoire, and skill as a performer
and improviser.  His selections  demonstrated the extraordinary versatility of the organ.  We
look forward to seeing him again.
Sylvia Ratcliffe, organist