Open House at C.B. Fisk

Thursday's GDTimes announced "The Secret World of Organ Making".
C.B.Fisk sent out this invitation. The Open House featuring the just completed organ, Opus 133, commissioned by the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, NM, was from 2 - 6 p.m. on Saturday. I had toured the Fisk facility several years ago and had opportunity to see the company 'in action'. Saturday was the chance to actually see and hear a Fisk organ up close.

Now, please note that the above photograph is of the 'model' of the organ as it will appear installed at the church. Fisk has a very involved design procedure that customizes each organ for its location and use. Here are some photos of other models in the Fisk design offices.
Back to Opus 133. 133 is a three-manual, 29 voice, tracker pipe organ. It weighs 10 tons and has 2,065 pipes, stands 20 feet tall and is 18 feet wide. It has taken the 30 talented craftsmen of C.B. Fisk over 6 months and 15,000 hours in construction thus far. After the open house, Opus 133 will be dismantled and loaded on a moving van to make the trip to Santa Fe. Once there, a team of four will reassemble the organ in approximately three weeks. Then over a period of four months, the organ will be voiced under the direction of Fisk's tonal specialist.
The C.B. Fisk home is located in a 25,000 sq. ft. building in Gloucester, MA. At that facility all components are custom built for each organ, including all woodwork and custom alloyed metal pipe work. Since 1961, they have designed and built over 85 instruments that have enthralled audiences worldwide. In addition to the many organs installed in churches, schools, and universities in the US, in 2003 Fisk completed their largest organ for the 13th century Cathedral of Lausanne, in Switzerland. They have also built two organs that reside in Japan. One in Yokohama and another in Kobe.

To say that Saturday's open house was quite successful is a bit of an understatement. My Mom and I arrived on Kondelin Road to find a near traffic jam! Both sides of the road for over a quarter mile were lined with parked cars. The small Fisk parking lot was packed full. I drove to the end of the road and turned around, desperately watching for someone to be leaving. Just as I passed the drive to the Fisk lot, a car pulled out of a space. Yay! Convenient parking directly across the street! We stood in line for 20 minutes for the chance to cram in to the room where Opus 133 was erected. Once in the room we were treated to a short talk about the company and the organ. Then a brief concert followed. After that we grabbed some little edibles and a drink and wandered the workshops at our leisure. At one point, I overheard it mentioned that over 1500 people had attended. It was only 2:30 with three and a half hours left to go.

Check out the sidebar link to the outstanding C.B. Fisk website, meet the team and see many more of the wonderful organs that they have built.