A chapel renovation and the drive to keep trying new things has led to a chamber music series at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in West Akron.

Cellist Michael Haber, a professor of music at the University of Akron, has for years led chamber music through ensembles such as his Gabrielli Trio. For his latest project, Haber found an enthusiastic partner in Jamie Hitel, the organist and choirmaster at St. Paul's. Programs will be presented with the support of St. Paul's and the University of Akron.

On a recent sun-drenched morning, Haber and Hitel met to rehearse a duo-recital of music for organ and cello by J.S. Bach and Vivaldi that will inaugurate their series at 4 p.m. Sunday. Together, they showed me around the chapel.

The main church faces busy West Market Street. Around the corner, on Kenilworth Drive, a brick courtyard provides a quiet, sheltered entrance to the small chapel, which holds about 125 people. Over the last couple of months, the looks of the chapel have been transformed. Walls are a soft seafoam green, set off by neat white pews and gleaming wood floors. With the carpeting removed, the acoustics are live, as Haber demonstrated with a clap of his hands. (The audience will soak up some of the sound.)

The chapel is cozy, not intimidating in the way that large churches and cathedrals can be. The intimate atmosphere is a good start for chamber music.

After each Sunday afternoon concert, the audience will be invited to a reception down the hall in the beautifully maintained parlor, where banks of windows look out on an arbor. In warm weather, Hitel said, he'd like to move events outdoors.

Hitel came to Akron from England to take the job at St. Paul's five years ago. One of his goals in leading the music programs is to take music into the community, he said. He hopes the free series of concerts will connect with listeners outside his church.

And he hopes to draw attention to the chapel organ, which is deeply connected to one of Akron's rubber families. The chapel itself is named for Idabelle Firestone (1874-1958), the wife of Firestone Tire founder Harvey S. Firestone. The organ was actually Idabelle's own instrument. After her death, it was installed in the chapel.

``What was a really interesting and well-voiced house organ was transplanted, put into a place that wasn't suitable for it,'' Hitel said. There it has remained for nearly 50 years, with little more than tuning to maintain it.

``From a player's point of view, the organ has seen better days,'' he said, his English roots showing as he added, ``It's got bags of potential.''

Every Sunday at 8 a.m., Hitel plays the chapel organ for a church service, so he has had plenty of time to think about what could be done to bring it up to speed. For now, he and Haber are concentrating on the new series. So far, they have planned two other concerts, on Feb. 5 and April 2. Musical collaborators over the course of the series will include violinist/violist Alan Bodman, the concertmaster of the Akron Symphony; violinist Peter Salaff (formerly in the Cleveland Quartet, now head of chamber music at the Cleveland Institute of Music) and Cleveland Orchestra violist Eliesha Nelson.