Three organs, three recital halls, three acoustic spaces: Designing the right organ for each project

Abstract

Building organs for concert halls or churches is almost always an exercise in adapting an instrument to a space which was not designed for an organ, neither physically nor acoustically. The author has designed and built four organs in university recital halls and will discuss three of these, one of which is a rare exception: (1) Redpath Hall at McGill University in Montréal—a former lecture hall turned recital hall, due in large part to the addition of a new French-baroque style organ in 1981. Besides a new hardwood floor and air conditioning, no acoustical changes were made to the hall. (2) Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan—a 1930s chapel rebuilt and restored in 1986 and now mainly used as the college’s recital hall. Significant improvements to the room’s acoustics were made, and a three-manual eclectic-design organ installed in 1987. (3) Bales Organ Recital Hall at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas—a new space built in 1996 exclusively for use of the organ faculty and for organ recitals. A large three-manual French-romantic organ is the centerpiece of this spectacular hall.