If We Spelled it Out, You Wouldn't Get the Newsletter

Two recent articles in the New York Times point to a resurgence in interest in pipe oregons [misspelled on purpose, and hereafter referred to as "O's," so your email filters don't think we're sending you… well, you know].

In a July 14, 2003 piece, we learn that the American Guild of Organists (AGO) has run a summer camp called Pipe O. Encounters, or POE, since 1988. More than 1000 young musicians have participated at various venues around the US.

This summer, in the first POE in New York City, students from around the country are taking lessons, getting workshops, and meeting the masters. They put on a lot of miles during their week, visiting 30 churches around the enormous city.

Even playing the instrument is taxing. One 16 year old describes the playing (which requires coordinating both hands reaching across multiple keyboards and both feet stepping on large wooden pedals) as "a cross between being an electrical engineer and a soccer player." Another gave up playing sports because he was afraid he would injure his hands and spoil his dream of becoming a church organist. "It's good to get paid to do something you love," he explained.

A June 1 article describes how the real deal -- not electronic facsimiles -- is "making a comeback in American concert halls."

The number of qualified players is shrinking (hence the program described above), but major institutions are raising large sums of money to build or restore large O's [do you see our problem here?] in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities. For example, Boston plans to spend $2 million to restore their seldom-used 1949 instrument in Symphony Hall, to make it "more symphonic."

The article points to the 1992 commissioning of a 4,500 pipe O for Dallas' new Meyerson Symphony Center as the start of the current boom. That instrument was not intended as a copy of Baroque instruments of Bach's day, but rather a modern instrument that could play any kind of music. Every three years, Dallas hosts the world's top organists in an international competition.

In Los Angeles' new Disney Concert Hall (scheduled to open in September), the visible pipes of their new German-built instrument will "look as if an earthquake had already hit them." By 2006, Philadelphia's recently-opened Kimmel Center will also house a $5 million instrument designed and built in Iowa.

Learn about POE at the American Guild of Organists

Interact with their "Young Person’s Guide to Pipe Oregons [yes, we know]" an online presentation [Real Player required for the music]

Read the New York Times article [fee required]

Visit the Associated Pipe Oregon Builders of America and see a gallery of pictures of instruments from around the world and their extensive Encyclopedia Organica