We are proud to announce that Johannus has been commissioned to supply an imposing organ for the Philippine Arena, the largest indoor arena in the world.
The finishing touches are currently being made on the Philippine Arena, a gigantic complex in the Filipino capital of Manila. The ultra-modern 55,000-seat stadium (243 meters long, 193 meters wide and 62 meters high) is the largest covered arena ever built. The building was commissioned by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), the second-largest church denomination in the Philippines, with more than 6 million members. The church will use the building for a variety of purposes.
The INC has asked Johannus to build the large custom-designed organ. The organ will be used in the congregation’s centenary celebration, to be held in the arena on Sunday, 27 July.
Mass congregational singing
Johannus has never before built an organ for use in accompanying such a mass congregational singing. With hundreds of speakers, dozens of amplifiers and several sub-woofers, we will make it possible for all 55,000 worshippers to sing along with the three-manual organ. The custom Monarke organ has 64 stops.
The delivery of the organ will be a race against the clock. From the confirmation of the order, we have only six weeks to build the instrument and install it on location.
The production is now complete, and the instrument is currently undergoing testing at the Johannus concert hall. As soon as the testing is complete, the organ will be shipped to the Philippines by air cargo in early July. It will then be installed and carefully voiced by our team of specialists. The voicing will require a high degree of specialisation from our engineers, due to the enormous space in which the organ will be installed. The deadline for completion is 16 July.
Explosive growth
Johannus is increasingly asked to build organs for large international churches. While the demand for organs in Europe is gradually decreasing, the market in countries such as China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines is growing explosively. Christianity has been thriving there in recent years, and with it has followed the construction of mega-churches, where tens of thousands of believers come together to pray, to listen and to sing.
Johannus’ years of experience in more than 100 countries, and the relationship of trust that we have built together with our international clients, give us a major advantage as an organ builder. We have shown that a custom-tailored Johannus organ has the capacity to be able to accompany congregational singing at such a massive scale.
The instrument in the Philippines is not the first organ that Johannus has sold in the country; the INC has previously ordered 100 smaller organs from Johannus. We will also be installing a comparable instrument in the Capitol Worship Building in Manila shortly after the completion of the Philippine Arena organ.
Our film crew will be recording during the construction and installation of the organ in the Philippine Arena in Manila. A video report will be posted on our website and our YouTube channel soon!