An 89-year-old pipe organ has been given a new lease on life in Charlottetown after making its Island debut Friday night.

The pipe organ was shipped piece by piece from Montreal to P.E.I., three years after the Montreal church that housed the organ for nearly a century, closed.

Father Floyd Gallant is delighted by the new acquisition.

"You can feel the vibration in the pew," he said. "There's a real visceral sound to this that engages you at all kinds of levels, so it's pretty thrilling."

The organ is so thrilling, he wanted to share the music with those outside the parish. Friday night a packed house listened to organist Leo Marchildon belt out 18th-century classics.

The instrument has even inspired him to compose a new piece for the occasion.

"To hear a pipe organ these days, in a concert setting like this, is becoming a more and more rarified experience," said Marchildon.

Gallant said that experience made months of reassembling four thousand pipes worth it.

"It brings an opportunity for the city to celebrate music with this mother of all instruments, to celebrate music in a great style, in a great environment," he said.

The hope is that it won't just be heard on Sundays. The basilica wants the recital to be the first of many free concerts for the public.