Schantz Organ Builders, Orville, Ohio

I spent two wonderful days in Orville, Ohio with the people at Schantz Organ Builders. Orville is a lovely town in mid-Ohio. Even though I lived several years in Ohio, I had no idea this charming town existed with the Schantz Company and the Smuckers brands.
Vic Schantz was an awesome host answering a myriad of questions, sharing the inner workings of the facility, sharing his vast organ library, and introducing me to Jeff Dexter to teach about acoustics and other physical factors for pipe organs in churches. What a great education in two days. It would be fascinating to shadow him at a series of church visits for a potential client. Having been a member of many churches, I can imagine the process he needs to lead them through just to understand the profound addition a pipe organ is to worship.

Pipe organ lessons

Having been away from the pipe organ keyboard for well over 15 years, I am finding it very hard to feel at all confident when playing. My patient teacher, Carol, has accepted this and is helping me work through my difficulty. While I have an old, small, electronic organ at home, it is a world of difference to play on a large organ that fills the space. I need to find a good place to practice. I have been able to attend a wedding and a funeral to watch Carol play. These observations are valuable in my personal renewal of skills. My main challenge now is getting practice time in with being gone on site visits so much of the time. After one unsuccessful visit and phone call, I have now located a pipe organ for at least one practice session.

School is out

As soon as the school year ended, the pipe organ work stepped to the forefront. The first Saturday I traveled to Philadelphia, PA to hear the Wanamaker Organ, with its 28, 414 pipes, in the Wanamaker Building that now houses a Macy's store. This organ was built for the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. The noon concert was nice but strange as shoppers milled around while the twenty or so of us listened. Some people walking into the hall were taken aback by the sounds and stopped to figure out what was happening. The instructions for the tour following the concert were to meet Nick by the eagle. Having never been in this store before, I did not know what that meant but easily understood by spotting the large eagle statue in the middle of the store between shoes and jewelry. The tour was so enlightening and took us to pipe rooms, the organ console, and the many rooms where work is constantly being done to maintain and improve the organ. The foundation that raises money for the organ work also enlists many volunteers who give a day a week or one a month to help with the constant care required by such a magnificent instrument. Much work was currently being done to prepare for the initial sharing of the 2 manual Wurlitzer in a side hall of the building. That preview will be June 25th weekend. The $20 price of the tour was well worth it as Nick shared his wealth of information with us. Thanks Nick.

Background

In late February I received notification of being a recipient of a Lilly Foundation Teacher Creativity Grant. I was overwhelmed with gratitude upon reading the acceptance letter in my packet. My grant proposal allows me to take organ lessons, visit organ builders, and travel throughout the United States to hear pipe organ concerts. I began the next Sunday, the first Sunday in March, visiting near-by churches to hear a variety of pipe organs. Throughout March and April Sunday visits continued with a visit to Bunn=Minnick Organ Builders in Columbus, Ohio. Bob Bunn was a most gracious host explaining his facility and answering my numerous questions. I proudly display an organ stop tab on my keychain from Bunn=Minnick. While in Columbus I attended a concert at the First Congregational Church and heard Scott Dettra from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. play an outstanding concert using both sanctuary organs. One organ was in the loft with no visuals. The second was moved to the middle of the chancel to allow full view of his hands and feet. In May I continued local church visits as well as attending another amazing concert by a Spanish organist at the Cathedral-Basilica St. Louis King of France in New Orleans. The organ was in the loft but a camera feed projected his performance onto the screen at the front of the church. His pedal work was very impressive.