Tabernacle Organ Renovation Featured in the October 2025 World Report

From May through August 2025, daily organ recitals at the Salt Lake Tabernacle moved to the Conference Center exclusively to allow for thousands of pipes and other parts to be removed from the Tabernacle organ as part of an ongoing renovation project. Upon completion, over 75,000 pieces will have been assessed and replaced or refurbished.

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This project is one of the many stories highlighted in the October 2025 World Report, which will be available on October 3, 2025, on the Church Newsroom YouTube channel in English only. With the passing of President Russell M. Nelson and the tragedy in Michigan this past weekend, those stories will be included in World Report, which will be released in the following languages — Cantonese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish  — on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.

The Purpose of the Project 

The purpose of this renovation is to make the organ mechanically sound and more accessible for routine maintenance, as well as to revive historic sounds that were lost or altered over time. 

Joseph Nielsen, master organ technician at Temple Square, oversees the project. “We want to make sure that this instrument is heard by the masses, that it plays the music of the generations, but also that it is the most efficient and most lovely instrument of its kind,” he explained. 

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The Tabernacle organ is recognized and loved worldwide and has served an essential role in the cultural and musical identity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “It is one of the best-known organs in the world,” said Emily Utt, Church historic sites curator. “It’s one of the symbols of the Church; the facade of this organ is on our hymnal.” 

The organ has also heavily influenced the famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, “The organ is immediately associated with the Choir,” said Choir Music Director Mack Wilberg. “The organ has played a major role in not only the identity of The Tabernacle Choir but also in the sound of the Choir.” 

Restoration Work Underway

The first phase of renovations started over a year ago, and the most intricate steps in the process began in May. 

“The organ is constantly in need of maintenance,” said Utt, noting that the work had reached a point where routine adjustments were no longer enough. She pointed to one example: “The leather that was largely here from 1948 was completely rotted out.” 

Some of the organ’s reservoirs — large rectangular boxes that hold wind at a steady pressure and feed it to the pipes — had worn-out leather that was causing air leaks. Fifteen of these large pieces were removed for refurbishment and leather replacement. To get to them and other key components in need of repair, technicians had to remove a section of the front casing and roughly a quarter of the organ’s 11,623 pipes. 

Different parts of the pipe organ were sent across the country for repair by specialists. One of the specialists, Joe Lambarena, owner of Villemin Pipe Organ Co. in Porterville, California, worked on pouch boards with worn leather. These boards contain small leather pouches that open and close valves, controlling the flow of air into the pipes. 

Lambarena performs all repairs by hand, carefully cutting new leather piece by piece to avoid uneven spots or imperfections. “Everything is glued up here, everything is punched out here, and that way we can have quality control,” he said. 

Repairing and Preserving a Musical Legacy 

The first Tabernacle organ was built in the late 1860s by Joseph Ridges. Since then, the organ has undergone design and structural changes roughly every two decades. The facade stayed the same until 1915, when the Austin Organ Company’s unique design pushed the case out 15 feet on either side, giving the instrument its present look. In 1949, a new organ was constructed using a small amount of historic pipework by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company under G. Donald Harrison. It has continued to be updated over time. 

“[G. Donald Harrison] considered this to be his magnum opus. … That’s why we want to honor his vision, which is to make this the best instrument that it can be and realize its full potential,” Nielsen said. 

Nielsen and his team consulted letters, documents, and old plans regarding the construction of the organ to restore the instrument to its intended form and voice. In doing so, they discovered components that weren’t working as designed. 

“Some of those components needed to be updated … so that they work like they intended it to,” Nielsen said. These efforts are resurrecting the organ’s original voice.  

“We’re restoring a lot of the sound, the tonal parts, to what you would have heard in the days of David O. McKay,” he added.  

This includes reintroducing two sets of pipes that were removed in the 1970s, which will restore string voices that have been missing for decades. 

“One of the things I love about this organ is that it allows me to hear the past,” said Utt, who is excited to hear these lost sounds. “Visitors to this organ will hear sounds that have not been heard for 50 years.”  

Final Steps and Future Care 

By the end of August, refurbished and renewed pieces were placed back into the organ. All the pipes were reinstalled, reconnected, and tuned so recitals could resume along with the weekly program, Music & the Spoken Word.

But the work doesn’t stop here. Gravity, dust, use, and time have worn many of the thousands of pipes. Nielsen will inspect and repair each one, a process that will continue for years to come.  

The ongoing improvements have made a noticeable difference. “I actually can hear a difference now in the Tabernacle organ. There is really much more presence in the sound than there used to be,” Wilberg said. 

For Nielsen, this careful maintenance ensures the organ’s iconic and inspiring voice will endure for generations to come. “It’s a vision of the past, but also it’s something that we can have in the future. … It’s so important that we have these types of instruments so that we don’t lose [our] heritage.” 

An expanded video on the renovations accompanies this article, while a shorter version will be part of the World Report.