Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release
Dec. 9, 1999

Restored Historic Organ Finds New Life in Lawrence University Memorial
Chapel 


     APPLETON, WIS. -- A 92-year-old pipe organ that was once condemned
to the musical graveyard has been resurrected and will enjoy a new life
in the balcony of the Lawrence University Memorial Chapel.
     The 16-foot tall, 640-pipe mechanical-action organ, once the
property of both Temple Zion and the Outagamie County Historical
Society, was refurbished and recently installed in the middle of the
balcony on the south end of the Chapel.  
     Used for the first time in its new home during Lawrence's "Italian
Christmas" concert Dec. 3, the organ had been publicly played only once
in the past 22 years.  Appleton music teacher Frank Rippl performed "Dew
of the Morning" on it as part of the Organ Historical Society's national
convention in 1990.
     The A.B. Felgemaker Organ, opus 930, was built in Erie, Pa., in
1903 and presented to Appleton's Temple Zion -- where Harry Houdini's
father once served as Rabbi and renown author Edna Ferber sat in the
choir -- by the Ladies Sewing Circle in 1907. The Assemblies of God church 
purchased the organ and the building from Zion Temple in 1932 and renamed 
it Appleton Gospel Temple.  The organ was used regularly for a variety of services by the
Appleton Gospel Temple congregation during the next 45 years.The Outagamie County
Historical Society purchased the organ and the building in 1977.
     Largely through the urging of now-retired university organist
George Damp, who began lobbying for the organ's acquisition as early as
1994, Lawrence purchased the organ from the OCHS in 1996.  Lawrence then
turned it over to local organ builder Ron Wahl for a complete overhaul.
     "This is an organ we basically saved from the landfill," said
Kathleen Murray, acting dean of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music.
     Wahl and three co-workers spent the better part of two summers
working on the organ, disassembling it, cleaning it and refurbishing
many of its worn leather and felt parts.  In addition, the organ was
"expanded" -- two stops were added -- to accommodate the larger space
the Chapel afforded and two side cases were built to match the front.
The organ had originally sat in a closet at Temple Zion. Wahl's son,
Christoph, hand-painted and stenciled the 19 largest pipes on the facade
of the instrument.
     "You always learn quite a bit by working on original instruments
like this," said Wahl.  "This one provided some good insights into
turn-of-the-century organ building and playing."
     The organ was installed in the Chapel in late November.  While some
balcony seating had to be reconfigured to accommodate it, amazingly the
organ was added without losing a single seat, maintaining the Chapel's
capacity at 1,248.  
     "It's a remarkable fit and looks very natural in that space," said
Murray.  "You almost think it's been there all along."
     The latest addition to the Lawrence conservatory's instrument
collection will function as both a teaching tool for students and a
performance piece for the community according to Murray.
     "The Felgemaker is a truly historical instrument that will offer us
a different sound and character than the larger Brombaugh organ on the
stage. This organ will have pedagogical significance and will be used in
performance both with the Brombaugh and as an interesting alternative to
the Brombaugh." 
     Wahl said pairing the Felgemaker with the five-year-old Brombaugh
organ distinguishes the Lawrence Chapel as a concert hall.
     "The Brombaugh organ is a very fine example of 17th-century
European style organ building and the Felgemaker is an excellent
representation of 19th-century American organ building.  To have two
fine mechanical organs in the same room is certainly rare."   
     Although the organ was available for use in the Christmas concert,
Wahl is still completing the "finishing" stage of the installation in
which he regulates the loudness of the pipes to blend the sound.  Work
on the organ is expected to be finalized by the start of Term II the
first week of January.