Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour resumes Sept. 28 at First Congregational

The Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour returns for the 2025-26 season with its first concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at First Congregational Church of Elgin, 256 E Chicago St.

The instrument featured is the church’s historic three-manual, 48-rank Lancashire-Marshall pipe organ, first installed in 1893. The organ went through various revisions in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1980s. Though it survived the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado nearly unscathed despite heavy damage to the rest of the church, the organ would eventually succumb to water damage from a storm in February 1997.

Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders of Belleville, Ill., were able to restore the organ to its former glory with a few additional touches of their own. The program will feature First Congregational’s own music director and organist, Dr. Jeff Neufeld, and guest performances by Vilma Dydas, music director and organist of St. Mary Catholic, and Matthew Wahl, music director and organist of Holy Trinity Lutheran.

Admission is free, and a freewill offering will be taken to support First Congregational’s music ministry.

The Great Elgin Pipe Organ Tour is a series of free concerts, begun in 2024, showcasing Elgin’s and the surrounding area’s many pipe organs.

The concerts feature local organists and the host church’s own musicians, and program content varies from formal organ repertoire, to chamber ensembles, to hymn-sings.

The mission of the series is to revive interest in the pipe organ, open up new performance venues, and provide an affordable concert experience to the community.

Freewill offerings are taken at each concert to benefit the host church’s programs and ministries, but additional, general donations to support the Organ Tour or sponsor guest instrumentalists can be made to First Congregational Church. Visit fcc-elgin.org/organ-tour or contact Jeff Neufeld through the church office for more information.