Roger shares the truth about the Spreckles Organ

Pastor Andreas recently mentioned that he heard I had played the pipe organ in Balboa Park. I'd like to put that rumor to rest. I have not. (I did, however, substitute a few times at Ascension Lutheran for Bob Plimpton when he was their music director and organist. Bob Plimpton was the Civic Organist at Balboa Park for many years. Maybe that's the source of the rumor? Just before he started there, I was Ascension's interim organist from August 2014 to August 2015, after which I started at Carlton Hills.) 

During my 50 years as an organist, I have, however, played a trio of exceptional pipe organs. 

1. Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne Indiana, which I attended from 1972 to 1976. (This is now Concordia Theological Seminary, operated by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.) I attended the school in preparation for going on to the seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, and becoming a Lutheran minister, which -- like playing at Balboa Park -- didn't happen, either. The pipe organ in the chapel was installed in 1958 by the Schlicker Organ Company. When the late British organist E. Power Biggs gave a recital there, he pronounced this to be one of the best marriages of building and pipe organ in the world because it has just the right amount of reverberation. It has a very powerful Trompeta Real (literally, "Royal Trumpet"). This is a trumpet mounted horizontally, rather than vertically, projecting out into the chapel. It is meant to be used for fanfares and solos. It also had a 32' Trumpet which has, unfortunately, been removed. (The 32' means that the largest pipe is thirty-two feet long.) This loud trumpet produced lower sounds than anything else on the organ. It was more felt than heard.

2. First Wayne Street United Methodist, Ft. Wayne Indiana. The pipe organ was built by the outstanding builder Rudolph von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany, and was installed in 1974. I substituted for their organist a few times and was permitted to use it as my practice instrument during the summer of 1975 (for a $5.00 weekly rental fee to cover use of their electricity -- they may have lost money on this deal because of the number of hours I spent practicing). 

3. First Congregational Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. I served as their interim organist for six months in 1981. They have a 131-year-old pipe organ installed by the Hook & Hastings organ company of Boston in 1889, the same year the church was dedicated. The church facility is the oldest church building in Colorado Springs continuously used by the same congregation.