The Organ                   
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 Organists at St. James 

The first St. James Church was built in 1837 and located at the corner of Cass (now Wabash) and Illinois streets. An organ built by the Erben Organ Company of New York was installed. The first building located on the present site was completed in 1857. For this building, an organ built by the Hall and Labagh firm of New York was installed.

In 1870, Dudley Buck, then Organist-Choirmaster, had a 3-manual, 38-stop, 46-rank Johnson Organ (Op 334) installed in St. James. This organ was destroyed along with most of the building in the Great Fire of 1871. The church was quickly rebuilt and, in 1875, Johnson’s Opus 456 was installed with 3 manuals, 39 stops and 45 ranks. In 1920, Organist-Choirmaster John Norton, had a 4-manual, 40-rank organ installed behind the 1875 Johnson organ case. This was the instrument Leo Sowerby came to know during his tenure as Organist-Choirmaster, 1927-1963.

St. James was designated the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Chicago in 1955, and in 1961, the Chancel was modified to reflect "contemporary" liturgical practices. The organ console and choir were moved to a musicians’ gallery created by building up the North Transept. In this space, a 15-rank , 2-manual and pedal organ built by the Austin Organ Company was installed in 1961 as an accompaniment instrument for the choir. A new, 4-manual console was also built to operate both Austin organs.

By the mid-1990s it became increasingly apparent that a complete overhaul of both organs was necessary. The leather actions were worn; much of the pipework was in need of repair; the chambers were in dire need of cleaning; and the console was nearly inoperable. A committee was appointed to study various options as to the disposition of the organs and make appropriate recommendations to the Cathedral Chapter. The decision was made to rebuild and tonally update the Austin organ rather than replace it. In addition, an Antiphonal division of 5-stops and 8 ranks, including a Trompette-en-Chamade, was to be installed on the west wall, over the entrance from the narthex to the nave. 

In 1991, Canon Miriam U. Hoover and the H. Earl Hoover Foundation made a gift of a 1930 Aeolian-Skinner 4-manual drawknob console, which originally operated the Aeolian-Skinner organ in Royce Hall at the University of California-Los Angeles. In 1996, the bid for the rebuilding project was awarded to the Bradford Organ Company of Evanston, Illinois, and in 1997 the rebuilt and modernized console was installed. In 1998 a campaign was launched to raise funds for rest of the organ rebuilding project, as well as for the purchase of a grand piano and repair of the tower bells.

In 1999, the 2-manual, 26-stop, 35-rank organ built in 1929 by the Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company for Chicago's Civic Opera House was purchased to provide the central foundation upon which the final specifications for the rebuilt organ were made. The Skinner/Austin Organ, the sixth organ associated with St. James and the fifth housed in the present building, contains 99 ranks and is divided into 9 divisions.

Main Organ:	Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company, 1929 with some Austin Pipework
Transept Organ:	Austin Organ Company, 1961
Console:	Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, 1930
Organs and Console Rebuilt:	The Bradford Organ Company, Evanston, 1997-2000
New Pipework and Antiphonal:	A.R. Schoop, 2000

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