News Archive

On this page we have included past news articles that may be of interest.

Fire Destroys Opus 34
Fire can do great damage to an organ. The intense heat from the fire will destroy pipes. The wood case will burn. Sprinkler systems are also equally damaging. Adding water to the mix usually causes more damage to the wood parts of the organ than the fire. General recommendations by the organ building industry state that it is better to let an organ burn than to have a sprinkler system in and above the organ. If the fire is contained and extinguished, some parts can be salvaged. Of course, if the fire is not caught in time, the entire organ can be destroyed. However, the risks of sprinkler systems malfunctioning and causing water damage when there is no fire is greater than the risk of losing the entire organ. In addition, fire codes mandate that sprinkler systems be tested periodically and there is no way to test a system that is above an organ without damamging the organ.

We had always known these principles but had never expected one of our instruments to be in a fire. After receiving news that our Opus 34 had been badly damaged in a fire at St. Anne's RC Church in Oswego, IL, we had an opportunity to see how our organ had survived. Much of the casework was charred but still holding together. Many pipes, especially metal pipes, were damaged beyond repair. The intense heat from the fire had discolored the pipes and made them brittle (see photo at right). It was painful to see a once beautiful instrument in such poor condition.

Without hesitation, St. Anne's expressed their intention to rebuild their church and organ. In the process of planning the new building, they decided to expand the organ. Our restoration became a rebuilding project. Some of the old casework was restorable and found new life in Op. 102.  Some pipes were salvageable. New pipes were added to increase the scaling of the retained ranks of pipes to fulfill our goal to have a larger sound for the new larger church. St. Anne's wanted to use as much of the old organ as possible for sentimental reasons and we agreed with this approach.

With the new building, the organ could be place at the front right. Previously, it has been on the side. The oak case of the organ is a beautiful complement to the stone in the church. The five towers design of the façade follows the slope of the rafters. Although the new organ is already larger than Op. 34, St. Anne's also requested preparations for additional ranks. The story of Op. 34 is not over. Reborn as Op. 102, it will continue to grow for the future generations of St. Anne's.

New Life for Opus 16
Creative solutions for buying a pipe organ are always possible. When Peace Lutheran Church decided to close, their organ became available. The Martin Ott firm purchased the instrument with the intent of expanding it to custom specifications for the buyer. This instrument, originally built in 1981,was purchased by St. George's Episcopal in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Both manuals of this organ are under expression with the exception of the Prinzipal 8' which is in the façade. A new larger case was built in the style of the architecture of the church, which is over 100 years old. The organ was rescaled and revoiced for its new environment. We added a Viola and a Viola Celeste on Manual II and a Fagott 16’ and a Choralbass 4’ in the Pedal. This will yield a total of 19 ranks and 17 stops in the completed instrument. The Nasat and Terz share a double draw stop, and the manual Trompete 8’ can be played either from manual I or Manual II, allowing more flexibility with the existing instrument.This organ will have the same 5-year warranty as a brand new instrument. However, by purchasing an existing, high quality pipe organ, St. George's is able to get a custom organ for much less than a brand new organ would cost. For the complete specifications, click here.

Convention Recital Review
The 2002 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists was held from July 2 through July 6 in Philadelphia, PA. The highlight of the convention for us was hearing Cherry Rhodes play our Op. 90 in recital. Due to convention scheduling, her recital was performed two times each on Wednesday July 4 and Friday July 6. Op. 90 is located in Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lansdale, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Cherry Rhodes is an internationally known artist. She was the first American to win an international competition. Ms. Rhodes has given recitals throughout Europe and the United States and often premiered new works for organ. Those who see her in recital are not disappointed. Ms. Rhodes arrived over one week early to prepare for the recital. She carefully chose stops that were appropriate for each piece but also showed the versatility of the organ. Due to convention time constraints, her program only had 50 minutes of music but it was a demanding and beautiful program.

The recital opened with J.S. Bach's Pastorale in F Major. This charming piece was effortlessly played but those who were at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran the previous week knew how much time Ms. Rhodes spent choosing just the right flute stops. Many convention participants never had heard a live performance of the next piece: Jean Guillou's Scènes d'Enfant d'après 'The Turn of the Screw' d'Henry James (Scenes of a Child, inspired by Henry James' literary work). This piece really put the organ through its paces but Op. 90 was more than capable and kept up with Ms. Rhodes' athletic performance. Meditations on "Salve Festa Dies" by Fr. Marius Walter was soft and gentle yet joyful and was a stark contrast to the previous piece. Fr. Walter adapted these two meditations for a solo performance from his larger work which was originally composed for two organs. The original work was composed for the dedication of the Mount Angel Abbey organs (Opus 79 and 80) and was first premiered by Cherry Rhodes and Ladd Thomas. Her final selection was Variations on "Victimae Paschali Laudes" by Jiri Ropek. The Gregorian chant is first presented in a modal harmonization followed by eight variations. Ms. Rhodes' performance made this work sound like it was written just for Op. 90 although the piece was actually composed in 1963. We are very pleased that Cherry Rhodes demonstrated the versatility of our instrument to the convention attendees. Her performances were delightful.