Pictured above is a photograph of the church, and superimposed over this is a picture of the organ cases taken from a model built to promote the organ in the area.

Le Bouchet, a quaint village approximate 200 miles southwest of Paris, in the Loire valley,

The original portions of Eglise Sainte-Pierre (The church of St. Peter) date back to 11th century, with further additions in the 12th and 16th centuries, and a restoration of the interior was done in 1850. The church is constructed in cruciform style out of stone and masonry. Inside the church features stone carvings of masks, cats, owls, and even dragons!

Michael Williamson, of Williamson-Warne & Associates was visiting the village in 2006, and was invited to see the church. “I was awed standing in a building that was a 1000 years old. You could just feel the presence of a place that had been around for a very long time.” The person giving Michael the tour of the church, Alain Lejude, whose family has lived in the area for almost 1700 years, told Michael that the church was interested in having a pipe organ for their church, and would Williamson-Warne & Associates be interested in submitting a proposal for a new instrument. Williamson-Warne & Associates graciously accepted, and submitted an initial proposal. After much negotiation, a final proposal was accepted. Included in this process is the project’s consultant, Jean-Louis Coignet, the former ‘expert organ consultant’ for the city of Paris, and former tonal director of the Casavant firm of Canada.

To date, the specifications have been finalized, and a model has been constructed and delivered to the church. Construction will begin in late 2010, with anticipated delivery in 2011.

When the organ is built and installed, it will be the first organ built by a United States organbuilder for a church in France.