Tom Granum, Director of Music and Organist at the First Presbyterian Church, Athens, for more than 20 years, will present the dedicatory recital for the Church of the Mediator’s newly-renovated and restored Kimball pipe organ on Sunday, January 15.

The organ has been restsored and renovated by Spearman-Hawkinson Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., and will be dedicatead in the special program to be presented at three o’cloci in the afternoon. The public is invited to attend.

“Although the organ has always had a pleasing sound, the stops have been revised and enlarged to enhance its flexibility of sound,” say Eleanor Blackmon, current organist at the Church of the Mediator.

Blackmon explained that the Kimball Company built these organs around 1915-1920 when schools and churches were ready to replace their pump organs with pipe organs. They were contained in a unit small enough for practice rooms and small churches.

The Mediator organ was secured from the University of Georgia in the early 1950s.

Tom Granum’s program of dedication will include selections from J.S. Bach, Cesar Franc, Louis Vierne, and hymns. His varied musical experiences have helped shape his presentation of organ recitals which are enjoyable to a wide range of musical tastes – both to those who attend recitals frequently and to those for whom this might be their first organ recital.

Granum is a native of Warner Robins and has studied piano, harpsichord and organ at the University of Georgia and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He has been awarded the honor of “Colleague” of the American Guild of Organists.

His wide-ranging music experiences include his singing in numerous choral groups with the late Robert Shaw; singing in the back-up group for Gladys Knight for the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics, teaching band and general music in a remote Eskimo village, and serving as interim conductor for the UGA Men’s Glee Club.

The music ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Athens, has flourished under his leadership. The Chancel Choir and orchestra present several major works each year. The youth choir has traveled extensively on mission trips, and the children’s choirs are a major part of the congregation’s Ministry Through Music.