Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

The Organ Historical Society 2006 Convention

© 2007 Vic Ferrer Productions

For information about the producer please visit:

http://www.VicFerrerProductions.com

The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is a 19th-century concert hall built in the Italian Renaissance style. At the center of the hall stands a great pipe organ installed in 1890 by John H. and Caleb S. Odell of New York City.

The organ was unplayable at the time organ builder Scot L. Huntington and Stephen L. Pinel, the head of the Organ Historical Society’s American Organ Archives in Princeton, N.J., began scouting the hall in planning for The Society’s 50th-anniversary convention. They were both excited to find that the bank was willing to ist with bringing the organ back to playing condition for the convention.

Under the leadership of Mr. Huntington, a restoration team of 22 volunteer organists, organ builders and theater-organ fans began cleaning, dusting, patching and nurturing the instrument back into playable condition. Several organ building and maintenance companies including the Odell Organ Company contributed material and labor. For more history about the organ builders please visit http://www.odellorgans.com/Organs/HistoricInstruments/troy.html

Thus far two of the three manual divisions have been cleaned and minor repairs have been made. The goal of the project was to make the organ playable for the upcoming convention and to raise awareness about the organ in the community. Several hundred convention participants gathered to hear the partially repaired organ on June 30th of 2006.

The Organ Historical Society first met in New York City in 1956 to find ways to keep old instruments like this one from being destroyed, torn out or just thrown away.

“We got this organ working again,” Mr. Huntington told the audience at the concert. “Full restoration is still needed and will cost somewhere upward of $1 million.”

For more information visit http://www.OrganSociety.org, www.OdellOrgans.com, http://www.SLHorgans.com

Duration : 0:8:36

[youtube 3oyyKSUeQBc]