NATCHITOCHES – Powerful, majestic tones vibrated through Magale Recital Hall this week as specialists from Reuter Organ Company completed reinstallation of Northwestern State University’s newly-cleaned and digitally enhanced pipe organ.
The organ was disassembled this past May, carefully packed and transported to the place it was built, Reuter’s headquarters in Lawrence, Kansas, where the console was cleaned, pipes repaired and digital capabilities expanded.
The reinstall began July 27, about a month ahead of schedule, with Albert “JR” Neutel Jr., organ master and president of Reuter, leading a team of specialists in getting the organ back in place. They began by clearing dust and debris from the organ chamber behind Magale’s upper paneled walls, where most of the instrument’s 2,400 pipes reside, installed additional lights and began wiring in the new equipment. In addition to the Reuters team, additional organ specialists contributed their expertise to the process.
“The new console is much cleaner, but there is about half the equipment in there now. This little green card is the brain that controls all of this and sends a signal upstairs,” he said. “Instead of the big wad of cables and the umbilical, it’s got five cables. There are plug-in locations here and there, so it can be anywhere on the stage. The organ was tied to the umbilical and tethered by a large spool where the cable was stored back in the room over there. Now we just unplug it and if they want to take the across the hall to the orchestra room, they can do that.”
Organ Master JR Neutel showed the inside of pipe organ console where a nest of wires has been replaced with state of the art digital components.
Neutel along with Billie Meyer, Jeff Noll, Joseph Riester, Fisher Neufeld and Kody Goad, worked together to manually install the largest pipes, which are made of zinc and weigh up to 300 pounds. Their skill and efficiency made the job look easy.
Then the real work began with Neutel voicing and tuning the instrument. Voicing has been called the ultimate convergence of art and science. From the console in the center of Magale’s stage, Neutel tested tones while up in the recesses of the organ chamber Carolyn Sargent, a voicer and tuner from Red River Pipe Organ in Norman, Oklahoma, manually tuned and regulated the pipes to refine their tone and strength in relation to the acoustics inside the recital hall.
Organmaster JR Neutel, seated; Jeremy Rush, a tonal finisher, and voicer/tuner Carolyn Sargent refined the new digital components of NSU’s pipe organ in Magale Recital Hall.
By Wednesday, digital tuning was underway. Neutel and Jeremy Rush, a tonal finisher and technician with Walker Technical Company in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, a leading firm in digital pipe organ voice enhancements, and Shreveport organist Bryan Bierbaum fine-tuned the instrument. With the enhancements, the console’s memory level now has more than 29,000 variations.
Bart Ghent, a retired band and orchestra director who has been involved with organs all his life, also tested the console. Ghent was a church organist for over 50 years and served as an advisor on the project at Northwestern. Reuter built an organ for the church Ghent served in Plano, Texas, Christ United Methodist Church. He said the results of NSU’s cleaning and digital upgrade are fabulous.
“The organ needed a lot of general maintenance,” he said. “Organs are a product of their age, the period they were built. The period this organ was built is not as usable with band, choir or an orchestra. One of the goals here was to have an instrument that would function well with band, orchestra, choir and other ensembles.”
The organ is a special asset for music majors pursuing NSU’s concentration in sacred music, the only program of its kind in Louisiana. Dr. Mary Deville is NSU’s current director of organ studies.
NSU’s pipe organ was first installed in 1983 at a cost of $300,000 and had developed problems with its aged operating system. Its replacement value today is about $1.5 million and a capital campaign is underway to cover the cost of repairs, $286,000. Bill Brent, former director of NSU’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, spearheaded the organ enhancement committee and fund raising efforts with the help of NSU’s First Lady Martha Genovese.
“I am thrilled with the response to this project by the NSU and Natchitoches community. The response has been outstanding,” Brent said. “For years to come, audience members are going to be able to enjoy one of the finest pipe organs in this region of the country. A special thank you also to Mrs. Genovese for her leadership and dedication to the effort.”
A concert to showcase the organ will take place in January.
To donate to the organ fund online visit:
https://northwesternstatealumni.com/organ-restoration/. Donations can also be mailed to the Office of Alumni & Development, Natchitoches, LA 71497, with checks made payable to the NSU Foundation and Organ Fund written in the memo.
Information on NSU’s music degree and concentration in sacred music can be found at
https://www.nsula.edu/program/bachelor-of-music/.
Shreveport organist Bryan Bierbaum, seated, and retired organist Bart Ghent tested the capabilities of NSU’s refurbished pipe organ in Magale Recital Hall.