The sound of another time

Supported by Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung and his wife Ivy Wu Kwok Sau-ping, the restoration of the organ started in 2021. The organ was shipped to Canada and the repair project was undertaken by Canadian organ building company Casavant Freres in collaboration with Jeff Weiler, president of Chicago-headquartered JL Weiler, Inc, a noted restorer of pipe organs.

The organ, which weighs about 2.7 metric tons, has more than 35,000 parts of various sizes, some of which have been lost over time. All the remaining parts were numbered and packed, which took the team about 25 days.

"We didn't put in any new wood screws or new hardware in the instrument. Instead, we preserved the original screws and hardware, which are 100 years old," says Weiler.

Now the hard work is done.

"It was very rewarding when it finally came back to life and sang again in the auditorium," says Wang.

According to Shen Yuan, who has been appointed as the artistic director of organ performance at Peking Union Medical College, the college will train students with a piano background on the organ. There will be concerts featuring the organ and other instruments, both classical and contemporary.