Detroit AGO Organ Crawl
It was great fun!
The crew listening to Charles Raines demonstrate the Klais Organ at Grosse Pointe Memorial
Our Banquet at "Under the Eagle"
Special Thanks to our hosts: Charles Raines, Douglas Dykra, and Daniel Misterovich.
Our crawl this year will show off three contrasting instruments of completely differing tonal and structural designs. Each, however, strives to be the finest church instrument in its space. The crawl will also offer us some cultural immersion by enjoying the Polish heritage and cuisine of Hamtramck by eating at the beloved “Under the Eagle” restaurant before enjoying the dazzling beauty of St. Florian’s sanctuary.
The Schedule is as follows:
9:30 am Meet at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church for coffee and donuts.
10:00am Demonstration of the Memorial organ
11:00am Convene at Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church, demonstration of the Berghaus organ
12:30pm Lunch at Under the Eagle (Family Style $16.00 per person with tip)
1:30pm Convene at St. Florian, demonstration of the 1928 Austin
Registration: Please register by phone or email with Stephen Warner
sjwarner@umich.edu. (734) 945-1783
Please register by Wednesday, March 22 to ensure the headcount for the banquet!
Each member of the tour will be given a booklet with an annotated stoplist, photographs and any technical information available about each instrument. It will also contain directions to the venues. We will continue the tradition of singing a hymn at each location and try to provide some open-console time on each instrument. We will collect $17.00 at the door from each person to cover the cost of the banquet and the donuts at 9:30. Non-AGO members are welcome to attend as well.
If you are coming from the highway I-94, the simplest way to come is Moross Rd. Take Moross to Lake Shore Drive. (While on Moross, you will pass Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church.) Then go left on Lake Shore Drive. Shortly after the shore distances from the road, Grosse Pointe Memorial and the War Memorial will come up on your left.
Starting at Grosse Pointe Memorial, we will enjoy a brief demonstration of the 1989 Klais Organ, built in Bonn Germany. Bill DeTurk wrote in the dedication booklet “With the utmost respect for the past, our new organ is modern in concept, drawing from the best traditions of the French and German Schools of organ building with an insistence on warm, beautiful, singing sounds. The simple reliable mechanical action for the best response is coupled with the latest solid state electronic combination action,” The organ is a large three manual. It has the Great in a free standing French Classic Case of white oak, a Rückpositive behind the detached keydesk and a swell division sharing the wall with the pedal behind the great case.
Next, we will visit Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church. There we will enjoy the new 2000, 3 manual organ of 43 stops built by the Berghaus Organ Company of Bellwood, Illinios. The lovely modern façade complete with hooded trumpets surrounds the front stained glass window. It an electric slider instrument with an eclectic tonal design. It features a terraced draw knob console.
The 1928 Austin Opus 1526 at St. Florian is a wonderful example of their work. It is a three manual and pedal organ of 41 ranks. The entire great was originally enclosed, containing the second diapason and octave (and a Tibia!), while a second larger first pair stood unenclosed. It has had some additions to it, some of which have since been disabled. The Great Trumpet was moved to the choir, which along with a Larigot, took the place of the English Horn and French Horn. The trumpet space was used for an air switch that ran new upper work added on new unit chests. The Great and Swell chests are “walk-in” chests complete with an airlock!
The airlock to the swell universal windchest.
You lift the little flap under the name plate to equalize.
The venue information is as follows:
Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
16 Lakeshore Drive
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
(313) 882-5330
<www.gpmchurch.com>
Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church
211 Moross Rd
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
(313) 886-2363
<gpumc.org>
St. Florian Catholic Church
2626 Poland
Hamtramck, MI 48212
(313) 871-2778
www.stflorianparish.org
Under the Eagle Restaurant
9000 Jos. Campau
Hamtramck, MI 48212
(313) 875-5905
Hope to see you all there!
All Photos by Stephen Warner