Wyoming Organ Visits

Bryan at the Walcker organ at the Fine Arts Center at University of Wyoming.

Bryan at Console at St. Matthew's, WY.

Bryan at the Austin original console at the A & S Building.

This past weekend, I visited three organs in Laramie, Wyoming. One was at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, and the other two were at the University of Wyoming. The first visit was at St. Matthew’s. The organ is an E. M. Skinner organ with four manuals and 51 ranks. The current console was originally a Casavant console, and was rebuilt by I. P. Morel and Associates of Denver. The room has about 1 to 1-1/2 seconds of acoustic. It is not a large room, but the organ completely fills it. The strings and reeds are the best part. The next organ is a 1924 Austin at the University of Wyoming arts and science building. It has four manuals and the original console. The room is a theatre, with not much acoustic, but the organ caries very well. This was a fun one to play, although I only had a few minutes on it. The third and final organ is a Walcker organ in the Fine Arts at the University. It has three manuals and 40 ranks. This a truly German instrument with the funniest reeds in the positive. The tracker console (except the combination action) is lots of fun to play. I went into the pipe chamber, and got to see every division. The 32′, 16′, 8′, and 4′ reeds are all independent ranks. The acoustic is fairly good in the theatre, given that it is carpeted and softer walls. The curator for all of these organs, is a very nice man, and I was very happy to meet him. Mr. Williams was very accommodating, and took us to the various instruments in his 1980′s Rolls Royce. I had a great time, and hope to visit again soon. Please see the photos page for pictures of these instruments.