Organ n. 38 | Organ in the Immanuel church Tel-Aviv Jaffa
The organ of the Immanuel Church is the property of the International Lutheran Federation of Norway. It is installed in the lateral organ loft in this little Jaffa church and serves worshiping needs, but it also plays a considerable role as a part of the artistic and cultural life in Tel-Aviv. It is the only organ there where organ concerts
have been regularly held for decades, and we should stress here the huge role
played in this by the resident-organist, Mr. Juan Onasis.
The church itself had been constructed with a lateral loft of great dimensions for the very purpose of installing an organ there. The old Walcker organ which had previously been there had deteriorated quickly (partly because of the hot and humid climate), so the Federation preferred to buy a new organ rather than invest in costly repairs. The old organ was dismantled, bought by Mr. Jacob Muscat, and Gideon Shamir fit this organ to the salon of Mr. Muscat’s residence in Petah-Tikvah.
The new organ was constructed by the German organ-builder Paul Ott of Göttingen in 1977, and the Russian organist Valery Maisky, who just then imigrated from Russia, gave the inauguration recital.
In 1994 it was cleaned and partially refurbished by Ernst Junker, himself a student of Paul Ott.
The organ case, of clear varnished oak, is composed of three separate units: a pedal case on the right side of the main case, and a Rückpositif.