EBay find now largest organ in South Dakota

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal staff | Saturday, May 05, 2007

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RAPID CITY - With the touch of a pedal, a low, throaty rumble resonates off the walls of the Milo A. Winter Fine Arts Theater at Stevens High School as organist Justin Matters demonstrates the power of the Allen digital computer organ sitting center stage.

It may not be a genuine pipe organ, but with 78 tone cabinets (speakers) supporting its sound, the organ can quite literally shake the theater's walls.

"The sound from where I'm standing is so intensely beautiful," Stevens' orchestra conductor Bill Evans said. Conducting the senior high orchestra with the organ accompanying "is a glorious, supreme, human experience," he said.

The public will have an opportunity to share that experience when the organ is dedicated during the Stevens Strings Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10.

Matters will perform solo and with the orchestra. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Senior passes will be honored.

The organ is being presented to the school in memory of Jay Sharp, a 1988 graduate who died unexpectedly two years ago. Sharp's memorial funds provided the "seed-money" that led to the organ's fantastic journey to a new home in South Dakota, Evans said.

"It happened through the magnanimous generosity of a complete stranger who believes in music," Evans said.

After Sharp's death, Evans set out to find a suitable, lasting memorial to his former student.

Evans discovered the Allen organ while scouring eBay for a used church organ that he planned to hook up to the Stevens' clock system so students could change classes to the melodies of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Allen organ was listed for sale for "pennies on the dollar," Evans said.

Only 20 years old, the organ was a rare find because of its size and quality, he said. New, it would cost close to $250,000. The speakers alone represent a $60,000 to $70,000 investment.

With the blessing of principal Katie Bray, Evans set out to raise the cash to bid on the organ.

"Here's something that we could do to really change the music curriculum," Evans said.

Electronic synthesizers were the school's only resource for organ music, he said. Synthesizers are adequate, but lack the quality of an organ.

"It's not a real instrument," Evans said. "The sound is not the same," he said regarding synthesizers.

Nor are they big enough to do adequate justice to the music. It takes thousands of watts to make that sound, he said.

Evans scrambled to raise $15,000 to bid on the organ, only to lose the bid because of a glitch in eBay's system.

"We should have won the auction," Evans said.

The organ went to a lower bidder, North Carolina businessman and philanthropist Keith Renger. As a hobby, Renger buys organs and donates them to churches, Evans said.

When he lost the bid, Evans "stewed and stormed around" before finally tracking Renger down and calling to explain why he wanted the organ.

After listening to Evans' story, Renger gave Stevens the organ.

So last summer, Evans and Stevens student Brian Keck drove to Terra Haute, Ind., where the organ resided on the third floor of a church. It took them a week to make the trip, dismantle and load five tons of equipment and return. Professional movers were called to load the 1,400-pound organ.

Evans has spent the school year running more than a mile of electrical cable and mounting speakers to give the organ a new life at Stevens.

Matters and his brother, Mark, own a company that builds aluminum organ pipes in Hermosa. The Matters brothers built cabinets for some of the speakers.

In all, it cost about $8,000 to ready the organ for its first performance, Evans said. That includes a "garage" off-stage where the organ is stored and the portable platform it sits upon.

With the capability of producing sounds replicating 103 ranks - that's organ-speak for sets of pipes - the organ is essentially the largest in South Dakota and probably the third-largest high school organ in the United States, according to Evans.

In comparison, the pipe organ at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help has 67 ranks. The organ at First Methodist Church has 24 ranks and the Matters are in the process of upgrading the organ at The First Congregational Church to 35 ranks.

Church organists will appreciate that the organ has three manuals (sets of keys) and 84 stops, or buttons, that control the sounds for the manuals, Evans said.

"The organ does what no one can do in an orchestra - it can play multiple pitches," Matters said.

Evans said having the organ gives his orchestra and other orchestras the capability to perform music written for the organ that they have not had in the past.

His own students have been inspired by the music they produce with the organ, he said.

"The kids have never heard anything like this," Evans said. "It's just such a massive sound."

Evans said he hopes the organ will inspire a new generation of musicians to learn to play the organ.

"That's how little children get inspired," Evans said, "when they see greatness happen in the third grade."

If you go

What: Stevens Strings Concert.

When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 10.

Where: Milo A. Winter Fine Arts Theater at Stevens High School.

Cost: $5 for adults, $3 for students.

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com