Great Trip To Denton Today.

FirefightnRick · June 3, 2008

I finally got up to Denton today to finish up some business including ordering my season tickets. I had the F4 and F5 in tow with me this morning and after visiting the ticket office I asked the boy if we wanted to see if we could take a peek at the new $2.5 Million pipe organ at the Dillo Dome, and he said yes. So we got in the Murchison center and we met the facility director. The Winspear performance hall was locked and I asked if there was a way we could take a peek and he said, not only could we take a peek but he would introduce me to the man and woman who built the newly installed organ. We walked in as the director turned the house lights on for us and, damn, the place is just as beautiful as you can imagine and you immediately see the new, massive pipe organ in the back. A schocking site I might add. And sure enough, there was a little ol elderly couple way up high above the stage wearing white cotton gloves busy working on several of the trumpets. We yelled hello and asked if they would like some company and they said sure, come on up. I couldn't believe it at that point. I think they have been working on this thing for 3 to 5 years and I have really been looking forward to seeing it. We went through a tunnel in the back, then up some stairs and got up to where Helmut and Claudette Wolf were working. The director introduced us and they are the absolute sweetest folks you'll ever meet. Helmut is from Switzerland and Claudette is French Canadian and both live in Montreal Canada where they built the Organ. I asked them a lot of questions and they were more than willing to answer them. Then, Helmut took us over to the keyboard station, and fired the Organ up. At this point we are about a story and a half above the stage, and that thing started to hmm and breath, it was awesome. Other than some of the pipes, nuts and bolts, the entire thing was hand crafted out of wood, including the huge base pipes. Helmut played Mouret's Fanfare for us and my kids were bug-eyed when he pulled the lever that makes it play all three keyboards at once. Just increadible! Afterwards he took us up into the encasement of the pipe organ, about 3 stories high. I couldn't believe it when we started to climb up a couple of ladders among the 4,000 some-odd pipes. He showed Connor where the tiniest note in the organ was. When he found it he pulled it out of the mounting pipe and whistled through it. It was so high pitched you'd just about have to be a dog I suppose to hear it competely? Anyhow, those two were very cool. Best tour anyone could have ever wished for on campus. I was pissed that I had forgotten my digital camera but it was great just the same.

There's one special thing about the North Texas pipe organ and that is it's Helmuts' 50th organ he's made in his lifetime, and will be his last. He's retiring. Amazingly his grandest creation is now housed in the Murchison center. He and Claudette have flown back and forth from Montreal and Denton several times now, and will be in town for another two weeks before their job is complete. They both have deep accents and can be difficult to understand somewhat. But they really enjoy visitors so if you get the chance the next two weeks go by and say hey.

Rick

Edited June 3, 2008 by FirefightnRick

June 3, 2008

Wow, what an experience! Connor will remember that forever..

greenminer · June 3, 2008

I would have played the call for "CHARGE" or something like that.

Stupid Wings. Finish the damn Cup!

Green P1 · June 3, 2008

Apparently UNT has quite an extraordinary collection of organs. I took a series of lectures in the main auditorium of the Auditorium Building and noticed the giant organ that resides in there. This was in 2003, but at the time that I inquired about it there were only two if it's kind in all of North America, and the one UNT has is the older of the two. I think it was originally in some church in Michigan or Wisconsin. When it comes to somewhat trivial accomplishments UNT has got it on lock down. If I remember right we also have one of the largest collections of miniature books...

Quoner · June 3, 2008

I would have played the call for "CHARGE" or something like that.
Stupid Wings. Finish the damn Cup!

Nah - let's let this keep going a couple of more games.

KRAM1 · June 3, 2008

Now, what can we do to get some of the grads from the music dept. to actually support UNT after they have graduated? It is a two-way street, I agree, but with the great things happening within the dept (the new organ Rick mentions being just one) it seems strange to me that more of a life-long connection is not made with the university. The music school has some really high profile (and high earning grads...and near-grads), so I wonder why there is no "known" supprt at any significant level for the university outside of perhaps the music dept.? Just wondering. I am not picking on our great music school nor its student and grad base...I am simply asking the question. In part, in the hopes that I am wrong in my understanding of the support by the students from the school of music. Can anyone out there enlighten me a bit?

greenminer · June 3, 2008

Now, what can we do to get some of the grads from the music dept. to actually support UNT after they have graduated? It is a two-way street, I agree, but with the great things happening within the dept (the new organ Rick mentions being just one) it seems strange to me that more of a life-long connection is not made with the university. The music school has some really high profile (and high earning grads...and near-grads), so I wonder why there is no "known" supprt at any significant level for the university outside of perhaps the music dept.? Just wondering. I am not picking on our great music school nor its student and grad base...I am simply asking the question. In part, in the hopes that I am wrong in my understanding of the support by the students from the school of music. Can anyone out there enlighten me a bit?

Not nearly as bad as you might think and, from what I understand, much better than it used to be.

UNTLifer · June 3, 2008

Apparently UNT has quite an extraordinary collection of organs.

SShhhh....don't tell my wife. She thinks mine is the most extraordinary!

Awesome story Rick. Proving, once again, it never hurts to ask.

untbowler · June 3, 2008

sounds like an awesome trip and very nice for them to open up the Murchison for you and your family. I plan on coming up to visit on Friday and look forward to seeing the campus and visiting some profs in the MPA program and over at EESAT.