Wild Air

Thad ReynoldsThe last time I posted to this blog was last spring, just before the spectacular rededication concert on the E.M. Skinner/Reynolds Associates organ at High Street United Methodist Church in Muncie, IN.  Raul Prieto Ramirez, the world-renowned virtuoso who now TEACHES ORGAN AT BALL STATE UNIVERSITY gave us a wonderful program.

After High Street, we finished the new Shelbyville organ.  I had tried to blog this whole project, but the time constraints became too much.  So, I will add postings to bring you up to date on the parts of the process I did not blog.  I hate it when blogs and websites are not kept current, so I am engaging in a certain amount of self-loathing now when I look at my own sites.  The concert in Shelbyville has not been scheduled yet, but I will let you know when it is.  The organ is spectacular, and well worth the extra weeks and months we lavished on it!

Presently, we have two projects moving in tandem.

First United Methodist in Connersville, IN is getting a complete makeover of its 1940 Moller organ, which was par-boiled when a big steam pipe in the basement (right under the pipe chambers) vented for several hours.  We are building new chests and adding to the organ.  We have had to deal with a lot of hidden damage, especially in the wood pipes.

We are also building a new 4-manual organ for First United Methodist Church in Plainfield, IN, which will begin installation right after the Holidays.

Both the Connersville and Plainfield organs are discussed on our website, but I will tell you more as they move along.

The other news is that I have completed a new book!  “The Harmonious Echo: The Life and Times of the Barley Memorial Organ,” is literally the biography of a municipal pipe organ.  It traces the instrument’s history from its construction in 1928 to the present.  Along with the organ’s history, the book also describes the history of the town that loved it and abandoned it.  This book has everything, murder and mayhem, forgiveness and reconciliation, abandonment and rediscovery, and the development of a young college student (me) into an organ builder.  The book is available from amazon.com at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Harmonious-Echo-Times-Barley-Memorial/dp/1514825252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447983966&sr=8-1&keywords=harmonious+echo.

Finally, years of going up and down ladders have finally ruined my knees.  So, in the midst of everything else, my first knee replacement is scheduled for January 11.

Life is certainly full!

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