After Years of Planning, BYU’s New Organ Will Be One of the Largest in Utah
With performances on hold for the summer, the Music Building Concert Hall has turned into a construction zone for the latest installment on campus: a 72-stop concert organ.
After four years of planning and designing, internationally renowned organ-building company Letourneau Pipe Organs is now installing the instrument, a process that will span ten weeks of construction followed by eight weeks of tuning and voicing the pipes to ensure perfect sound quality.
Each piece and pipe of the organ was handcrafted in the Letourneau workshop, located in Quebec, Canada, and then transported to Provo for installation. “We’ve poured everything we have into this organ—all our knowledge and resources,” said Andrew Forrest, president of Letourneau. “I can’t wait to hear how it sounds.”
The new BYU organ will combine traditional building methods that have been used since the time of Bach with cutting-edge technology. For example, one of the organ’s consoles is placed in the center of the facade, but there will also be a detached console that can be moved around the main stage and is connected to the pipes electronically.
While the internal elements of the organ, set almost 16-feet deep in some places, make up more than 95% of the instrument, what the audiences will see is a meticulously designed facade, with staggered placement of pipes inspired by the movement of wind chimes.
Utah has a strong tradition of organ study and performance, largely because of the hymnal tradition in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worship services. There are multiple iconic organs throughout the state, and the Concert Hall’s new organ will be larger, as to size, than the organ in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
“Having our own organ will make it more accessible for our organ students to practice and perform on a high-quality instrument, rather than going off-campus to find a suitable option,” said Jeremy Grimshaw, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
BYU’s organ program has a reputation for training talented musicians who go on to play in venues internationally. “When we tell people we’re building an organ for BYU, their eyes light up,” said Forrest. “We’re honored to build this organ to accompany such a renowned program.”
As the largest vineyard-style music hall at a university in the country, the Music Building Concert Hall is already unique. Now, with a concert organ made up of 4,603 pipes, it will be a true hallmark on campus.
“The vineyard-style hall allows the audience to gather around the music, it’s less presentational and more congregational,” said Grimshaw. “The organ will be the centerpiece in the hall.”
To commemorate the completion of the organ, the School of Music will host the inaugural organ concert series, which will feature performances by BYU professors, visiting organ professionals and Salt Lake City Tabernacle organists.